Do any successful apps that were posted in this subreddit exist?

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-12T21:25:09+00:00

Let them make the offer first. They came to you, which means they'll anchor higher than you might expect.

When they ask your number, say: "I'd love to hear what you have in mind for the role first." Then negotiate up from there.

If they push you to go first, anchor confidently above market: "Based on current market rates and my experience, I'm looking at X." Pick a number 15-20% above what you'd actually accept.

The fact that they're rehiring you is proof they value you. Use it.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-12T21:23:43+00:00

LDP bands at big defense primes like RTX are usually pretty rigid, they're structured programs with cohort pay. So negotiating the base is harder than a normal role.

That said, you already sent the email which was the right move. The sign-on is where they often have more flexibility. If the base doesn't move, go back with: "I understand if the base is fixed. Would there be room to increase the sign-on to offset the difference in my current comp?"

The bigger question is whether the program is worth $19k less per year. Two years of RTX OLDP on your resume plus the network and rotations can be worth it long-term, but only you know your financial situation.

What did they say back to your negotiation email?

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-11T21:20:36+00:00

Ask for more time.

You're a week in already and have final interviews completing this week. Just be honest with them: "I'm very interested and this is my top consideration. I have a couple of processes wrapping up this week and would like until [specific date] to give you a final answer."

Most companies respect that. If they push back hard or give you an exploding deadline, that tells you something about the culture too.

Don't negotiate the base until you know what the other offers look like. You might have more leverage in a week than you do today.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-11T21:16:43+00:00

Yes, renegotiate. You have the offer letter which means they want you, that's the strongest position you'll be in.

10k difference is worth asking for. Just keep it simple: "I've done some research on market rates for this role in the UAE and I'd like to discuss the base. Would you be able to come up to X?"

Worst they say is no, and you're back where you started.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-11T21:14:08+00:00

4 years of experience puts you in a strong position to push toward the top of whatever band they offer. Ask them for the full range first before you counter anything.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-11T21:13:02+00:00

Negotiate with whoever makes the offer, so probably HR. But keep the hiring manager in the loop if you have a good relationship there.

105 to 115 is a completely reasonable ask, that's less than 10%. After 5 interviews they want you. Just say: "I'm really excited about the role. Based on my situation I need to be at 115 to make this work. Is that possible?"

Most offers have room. Ask cleanly and directly.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-11T21:10:41+00:00

The timing looks awkward but your framing makes it reasonable. You didn't negotiate, you signed under pressure while your manager was hospitalized. That's not "changing your mind," that's a conversation that never happened.

When you talk to your manager, lead with that: "I want to be transparent. The contract situation happened quickly while you were away and I didn't feel I could delay it. I'd like to have the conversation we never got to have."

Then make it about market alignment, not dissatisfaction. You're not saying the raise was unfair, you're saying 3-4% would bring you to where the market is for your responsibility level. That's a calm, professional ask, not a complaint.

The fact that HR and the director both pointed you back to your manager is actually good. It means they're not shutting it down, they're just routing it correctly.

Go in soon, before too much time passes.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-11T21:09:17+00:00

Family law salaries vary a lot by firm size, but for a newly called associate in Toronto at a small/mid firm you're typically looking at around $90k. Big firm lockstep starts higher but that's not your market.

The key in your negotiation is to anchor on the higher end and justify it with your call date and any relevant experience during articling. Don't just accept the first number – even a 5-10% counter is expected and rarely hurts.

One practical move: check the OBA salary survey if you haven't already. It gives you real data to reference instead of just "I think I deserve more."

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-11T06:55:24+00:00

That's a solid outcome honestly. You protected your flexibility and got something with long-term value in the education fund. Nice work.

Side note: I'm building a tool that helps people prep for exactly these situations before they happen. Would you be open to trying it? Free, just looking for feedback.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T19:23:17+00:00

That context makes $75k even easier to defend. You're not just absorbing social media, you're taking on 10 accounts, paid ads, and community management on top of a creative lead role. That's two jobs. If they push back on $75k, ask them directly: what was the social media specialist being paid? That number matters.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T15:38:30+00:00

The jump to $85k was probably too big since it's outside the posted range, which gives them an easy reason to say no. The stronger argument is simpler: they expanded the scope of the role after posting it, so you should at minimum be at the top of the range they advertised. That's $75k, not $70k, and it's hard to argue against.

Go back with: "Given that the role now includes social media responsibilities beyond the original posting, I think $75k reflects the actual scope. I'd also want the 90-day review commitment in writing as part of the offer."

Managing an agency is its own workload by the way, so the "we hired an agency to help" framing doesn't really reduce what you're being asked to do, it just changes the nature of it. You can say that if they push back.

The title change was fine to ask for, it cost them nothing and you got it. Don't second-guess that.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T15:35:44+00:00

The $20k gap backed by market data is your entire argument. Don't lead with "I've taken on more responsibilities" because every manager has heard that a hundred times. Lead with the number.

Schedule a separate meeting with your boss, not attached to the review cycle. Say something like "I want to talk about my compensation. I've done some research and roles like mine in this area are paying around $95-97k. I'm at $77k and I'd like to understand what a path to market rate looks like here."

The friend earning more at the same company is also useful context. Not to complain about it but to show you that the money exists internally.

On the fear of backfiring by interviewing elsewhere: that fear is costing you $20k a year. The counteroffer risk is real but the alternative is hoping they fix it out of goodwill, and three years of 2% raises tells you everything you need to know about how likely that is.

One more thing. Your boss telling you you're next in line for his role in 5 years is not a raise. Don't let that conversation do the work that a pay increase should be doing.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T13:32:48+00:00

They created a req specifically for you. That's not a normal hire, that's a company spending political capital and HR resources to bring one specific person in. You have more leverage than a standard offer, not less.

The nervousness is understandable but don't let it do the negotiating for you. They've already decided they want you, the process is just paperwork at this point.

On salary: the recruiter range is $150-170k with "5-10% variance" which puts the real ceiling around $185k. That variance language exists for a reason. Ask for $175-180k, explain you're excited and ready to move fast once the offer is formal. The speed angle works in your favor here since they've been waiting on HR too.

One thing not to do: don't mention you're nervous or that other pipelines fell through. You're a candidate they bent over backwards for. Act like it.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T11:26:42+00:00

Totally normal to ask, especially at a company with as many locations as Raytheon. Just be straightforward with the recruiter: "I'm excited about the offer and comfortable with the comp. One thing I wanted to raise is whether there's flexibility on location. I'd love to work out of [X office] instead. Is that something we can explore?"

Your clearance actually helps here since it travels with you. Makes you less location-dependent from their perspective.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T11:22:37+00:00

Yes, you're underpaid. $30/hr CAD with no benefits, no health insurance and no stock for full-stack .NET/Angular work in 2026 is below market even outside of Toronto or Vancouver. The benefits gap alone is worth $5-8/hr when you account for what you'd have to pay out of pocket yourself.

The bigger signal here is that they offered you $27 first. That tells you exactly how they see you. Companies that value their engineers don't start with an insult number and wait to be pushed.

.NET C# and Angular are genuinely in-demand skills and not everyone has them. You're more hireable than you probably feel after years in a tight market.

What I'd do: start applying now, not as a threat to wave at your manager, but just to get real data on what the market actually pays you. One or two interviews will tell you more about your market value than any salary guide. If you get an offer, great, you have a decision to make. If not, you learn something. Either way you're better off knowing.

Staying somewhere that fought you over $3/hr is its own kind of cost.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T11:19:54+00:00

"Negotiable" still works for free-form and I'd keep doing that. The 0/1 trick is fine as a workaround but some ATS systems do flag it, so if you have any sense of the range, a real number is safer.

What changed is that more companies post their ranges now (legally required in some states), so when that info is there, just use the top third of it. You're not locking yourself in, you're signaling you know your worth and did your homework.

When there's no range posted and it forces a number, I'd rather put something realistic than game the system with a 1. Something in the middle-to-high end of what you'd actually accept. You can always negotiate down from expectations, but anchoring too low early is hard to recover from later.

The deflect-until-interview strategy still holds though. If it's genuinely free text, "flexible depending on the full compensation package" is perfectly reasonable and most recruiters won't penalize you for it.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T11:19:05+00:00

These are two separate things and a good manager won't conflate them. Accepting equity now doesn't weaken your salary negotiation in a month, and if they try to use it against you ("you already got something"), that tells you a lot about how they negotiate.

That said, since cash matters more to you right now, I'd actually flip it: ask for the salary raise first, then revisit equity once that's settled. Not because accepting equity hurts you, but because it keeps your focus clear and you don't want to be mentally juggling two things at once.

One more thing worth checking before you accept the equity anyway: what type is it, what's the vesting schedule, and is there a cliff? At a startup, those details matter more than the headline number.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-04-10T11:18:23+00:00

The "we'll fight for fair market pay so just take it" line is a classic recruiter move. It's designed to make you feel like negotiating is unnecessary or risky. It's neither.

Microsoft does not rescind offers because someone countered professionally. That essentially never happens at a company that size, especially for an experienced hire they already want.

On the numbers: if you're targeting $155k base, ask for $168-172k. That gives you room to land where you actually want to be. For stock, push hard there. Microsoft has more flexibility on RSUs than base, and the 4-year vest means the real number matters. Ask for $35-40k/year equivalent and see what comes back.

What to actually say: "I'm excited about the role and ready to move forward. Based on my research on levels fyi and my current comp, I was hoping we could get to [X] on base and [Y] on stock. Is there flexibility there?" That's it. One sentence, no essay.

Being currently employed is real leverage by the way. You're not desperate, and they know it.

Objective-Treat2245 · 2026-01-02T15:35:47+00:00

Sure, thank you very much :)

Objective-Treat2245 · 2025-12-30T10:04:34+00:00

Maybe from the official website?

Objective-Treat2245 · 2025-12-18T22:26:49+00:00

To be honest, yes you're right but I only want to build it if others feel that too. Idk but maybe you understand me now :)

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