Offer stage and the questions you ask
Two things live here, and both have the highest return per hour of anything in interview preparation, because almost nobody prepares them.
The questions you ask are scored. Every interviewer reports what you asked. Questions do three jobs at once: they gather real decision data, they demonstrate seniority through what you think to ask about, and they let the interviewer talk about themselves, which measurably improves how they remember the conversation. Ask questions only someone who has operated at the level could ask.
The offer stage is negotiable in more dimensions than money. Level determines the band, so level negotiation precedes compensation negotiation. Arguing dollars inside the wrong band is fighting the wrong battle.
What this chapter covers
- [done] Reverse due diligence
- [done] Being down-levelled in an offer
- [done] Ninety seconds with the CTO
- [done] The questions you ask, by interviewer covers the recruiter screen, the hiring manager, peers and future reports, director and skip-level, product and design partners, the bar raiser, the three universal closers, and debrief dynamics with the follow-up that lands first
- [done] The offer: components, equity, timelines, Toronto covers component flexibility, equity literacy (RSUs, options, refreshers, 409A, exercise windows), competing timelines and manufactured urgency, what is negotiable beyond comp, and Toronto cross-border mechanics
- [done] References, rejection, and the long game covers briefing references properly, back-channel referencing, and post-rejection grace
Source: §11, §12, §33, §37.