Pay, Benefits, and Negotiation

About this course

Most people accept the first number they are offered, compare jobs on base salary alone, and let benefits worth thousands go unclaimed. This course fixes all three. It starts by building the real total compensation figure, then explains how pay is set inside companies: levels, bands, budget cycles, and why staying in a role tends to fall behind the market. The negotiation section covers preparation, the conversation itself, and what to do when base salary is genuinely capped. Then equity compensation, including the difference between RSUs and options and why private company equity should be treated as a lottery ticket rather than salary. The last sections cover the benefits that are really money, protecting the income everything else depends on, and the habit that determines whether a raise actually changes anything.

What you will learn

• Calculate the true total value of an offer, including match, premiums, and leave
• Explain how levels, bands, and budget cycles decide what is actually negotiable
• Prepare and run a salary negotiation, including when base pay is capped
• Tell RSUs and options apart, and value private company equity realistically
• Reduce concentration risk from employer stock without guesswork
• Choose benefits and protection deliberately, and keep a raise once you get it

Before you begin

• No prior knowledge needed
• Your latest payslip and benefits summary for the exercises
• Examples use US benefit structures; the principles carry over