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During my prior job hunt I interviewed with a large financial company. I was upfront about my salary requirements and every step of the way they aggressively ne

During my prior job hunt I interviewed with a large financial company. I was upfront about my salary requirements and every step of the way they aggressively negotiated the final amount lower and lower until it was barely more than what I had earned at my prior job and mind you I was already being paid below market rate. Their direct reasoning for this was that the company offered strong end of year bonuses up to a ridiculous amount which in the fine print was dependent on a bunch of nebulous criteria. This was a company making money hand over fist. Needless to say I ended up not going along with that offer. As you've mentioned companies likely do this because not only can they fluff up an offer letter to look better, but because they have multiple avenues to deny you the bonus and save even more money rather than paying candidates a proper amount.

esoterica 8y ago
Bonus-centric compensation schemes are the norm in the financial industry. Discretionary income isn't a fake promise designed to trick employees, for many firms it represents the bulk of actual realized employee compensation. If you had an offer at a large company it should be pretty easy to dig around and figure out what the actual average bonus numbers are like.
balladeer 8y ago
In India this is exactly what happened with me. It was GS. Eventually I choose a startup (one of the large ones) as the GS team I was supposed to get into had a true legacy code and complete focus was maintaining the old, not at all brining in something new. They were offering me monthly salary which was a lot lower than what the startup offered (the one I eventually joined which was CTC = 95% fixed + 5% bonus). I tried to strike a balance with GS HRs but they were adamant and low monthly salary and an insane year end bonus. It was simple take it or leave it. I declined. I think it was a good call. That year that team got fried and bonus was low and there were firings too (knew some people in that team). From my experience I have noticed something that goes on in almost every company - your yearly bonus is dependent directly on your final rating and your final rating, love it or hate it, is almost entirely decided by the last few months and god help you if your manager changes towards the end.

esoterica 8y ago

Bonus-centric compensation schemes are the norm in the financial industry. Discretionary income isn't a fake promise designed to trick employees, for many firms it represents the bulk of actual realized employee compensation. If you had an offer at a large company it should be pretty easy to dig around and figure out what the actual average bonus numbers are like.

balladeer 8y ago

In India this is exactly what happened with me. It was GS. Eventually I choose a startup (one of the large ones) as the GS team I was supposed to get into had a true legacy code and complete focus was maintaining the old, not at all brining in something new. They were offering me monthly salary which was a lot lower than what the startup offered (the one I eventually joined which was CTC = 95% fixed + 5% bonus). I tried to strike a balance with GS HRs but they were adamant and low monthly salary and an insane year end bonus. It was simple take it or leave it. I declined. I think it was a good call. That year that team got fried and bonus was low and there were firings too (knew some people in that team). From my experience I have noticed something that goes on in almost every company - your yearly bonus is dependent directly on your final rating and your final rating, love it or hate it, is almost entirely decided by the last few months and god help you if your manager changes towards the end.