During the PhD · Offers and first job

Offers, negotiation and your first job

Getting the offer is not the end. How you handle timing and negotiation can be worth more than a year of extra work.

5 min read · By Marc Sleiman

What an offer contains

Industry offers often have several parts, and the base salary is only one of them. Understand each part before you compare offers or negotiate.

Base salary

Your annual cash pay. It is also the number most other parts of the package are calculated from.

Equity

Public companies usually grant restricted stock units (RSUs); startups usually grant stock options. Grants typically vest over four years, often with a one-year “cliff” before anything vests, although some companies use uneven schedules that give you less in the early years. Check whether the grant is stated as a dollar value or as a number of shares, and for options, what the strike price is. Startup equity can be valuable, but treat it as uncertain.

Annual bonus

Often a target percentage of base salary, paid according to company and individual performance. Ask what share of the target people actually received in recent years.

Refreshers

Additional equity grants after performance reviews. They are an important part of long-run pay at some companies and rarely mentioned at the offer stage, so ask.

Signing bonus

A one-time payment, sometimes split across two years, and sometimes repayable if you leave within a year.

Benefits

Retirement contributions and matching, health insurance, relocation support, paid leave, remote-work policy, education and conference budgets. A generous retirement match alone can be worth thousands of dollars a year.

Managing timing

Different processes move at very different speeds. A large company’s PhD program can take two or three months from first contact to offer, partly because team matching happens after the final round. A smaller company can go from application to offer in three weeks. To give yourself a chance of having several offers at the same time, start the slow processes first and the fast ones later. You can also ask to schedule final rounds close together.

Offer deadlines vary. One to three weeks is common; occasionally a company gives an exploding offer of a day or two. If you receive an offer with a deadline, you can ask for an extension; reasonable requests are often granted. At the same time, tell the other companies where you are interviewing that you have an offer and a deadline, and that you are very interested in them. Many will speed up. If they cannot, decide whether to accept the offer in hand or keep looking; there is no shame in either choice.

Remember that you have more leverage than it feels like. Finding, interviewing and hiring a qualified economics PhD costs a company a great deal of time and money. Once they have decided they want you, they would much rather adjust an offer than start over.

Negotiating

Negotiate, politely, almost every time. First offers are rarely the company’s best, and recruiters expect a counteroffer. A few principles cover most situations.

Avoid naming a number first

If asked for your salary expectations early, say you are focused on finding the right role and trust they will make a fair offer for the level. If pressed, give a well-researched range for the role, level and city based on data from sources such as Levels.fyi and Glassdoor, and from people you know in industry, and make sure the bottom of your range is a number you would be happy with.

Gather information and find your leverage

Ask the recruiter how the interviews went, what the team saw as your strengths, what you would work on and how the offer was determined. Your leverage depends on how much they want you, how hard you would be to replace, and whether you have alternatives. Talk to friends in industry about whether the offer is low, typical or high for that level and location.

Protect information

You do not have to disclose which other companies you are talking to or the details of other offers. Being vague (“I have another offer that is higher”) is usually enough, and specifics can be used against you. Hold the details of competing offers until they are useful, typically late in the negotiation rather than as your opening move.

Give reasons

Asks are more persuasive with an honest reason: a higher cost of living, a competing offer, the market rate for your skills, relocation costs, or a specific financial goal. Be truthful and know your own finances first.

Negotiate beyond salary

If base salary cannot move, other things often can: a signing bonus, more equity, the level or title, the start date, relocation support, remote days, your first project or team, a conference and education budget, or an earlier first performance review.

Expect two rounds and stay positive

Most negotiations take about two rounds. Only make a final request if you are ready to sign if it is granted. Throughout, show enthusiasm for the company and the role, never get angry, and keep the relationship warm. Even if you decline, you may want to work with these people later.

Choose the job first, then negotiate the pay

Decide which offer is right for you based on what matters most: the work you will do, what you will learn, the people, the location, the work-life balance and the outlook for the industry. Then negotiate that offer as well as you can. If pay is truly your top priority, be honest with yourself about that too; some industries, such as finance, pay considerably more for similar skills.

Your first job: prestige or visibility

There is a real tradeoff between a famous name and a role where your work is seen. A prestigious company can open doors later, but a role that buries you with no visible output teaches the market nothing about you. A less famous company where you ship real, visible work and own important projects can build a stronger case for your next move. Neither is automatically right. It depends on what you would actually be doing, not just the name on the offer.

And if the market is tight, do not turn down a reasonable offer just because it is not the one you pictured. Almost any real job teaches you something and gives you something to point to, which beats staying on the sidelines. You can move later. Your first job is a starting point, not a life sentence. Take what you can get, focus on learning and impact, and make the most of it.