Meta Salary Negotiation: How To Negotiate Your Meta Job Offer
If you're currently interviewing with Meta (formerly Facebook) or you’ve received a job offer from them, congratulations! But before you celebrate, make sure you negotiate your job offer to ensure you receive competitive compensation.
This article outlines how to negotiate a Meta job offer using The Salary Negotiator’s tried-and-true negotiation strategy. And we’re not just saying that—we’ve had a 100% success rate when helping individuals negotiate their Meta offers, meaning that 100% of the time, Meta offered more compensation to our clients when they used our salary negotiation method.
While the thought of negotiating your compensation with a company such as Meta may seem daunting, we promise it’s more straightforward than you would expect. And just remember: once you’ve received an offer, that means they want you on the team, which gives you more leverage to negotiate your offer. Below, we dive into the components of a Meta job offer and then outline specific steps on how to negotiate better compensation.
Don’t want to go through the negotiation process alone? We get it! We have additional resources to help you navigate the Meta job offer negotiation process.
Get offer-specific advice from a Meta Salary Negotiation Coach to guarantee success in your salary negotiation with Meta.
Or use our Salary Negotiation Templates and take our Salary Negotiation Course to receive downloadable phone scripts and email templates to prepare you for the Facebook salary negotiation.
Understanding the Compensation Components of a Meta Job Offer
Meta is a leader in the tech industry, so you can expect their salaries to be competitive. However, it's still important to know what the company is willing to pay for the role you've been recruited for.
When you receive a job offer at Meta, it will include multiple compensation components that make up your total yearly compensation. Understanding each of these components before you start negotiating will not only ensure you’re familiar with your entire offer, it will improve your chances of increasing your whole compensation package—not just one component.
The base salary is the number most people focus on when they receive an offer, but it’s just one part of your overall compensation at Meta. Your current company may only offer you a base salary, which you’re used to receiving in a recurring paycheck. But at Meta, employees also receive a yearly performance bonus, an initial equity grant, a sign-on bonus (if you negotiate), and other benefits like health insurance and even free food. These additional components reflect Meta’s philosophy that employees should directly share in the success of the company.
You must consider each of these components when evaluating the compensation in your offer. For example, here is what the total compensation of a Meta Software Engineer Level 4 (Meta E4) may look like in their initial offer:
Meta Software Engineer Salary
Meta Base Salary
The first component in your Meta offer letter will be your base salary, which is the fixed guaranteed pay you receive in exchange for the work you do and is not tied to your performance. In the U.S., base salaries are typically paid out biweekly at Meta.
There will be a base pay range for each role type and level with a set minimum and maximum amount. For example, the Facebook software engineer salary for a Software Engineer at the Meta E4 salary level will have a different base salary than the same level Facebook data scientist salary or Facebook product manager salary. This holds true for all level roles, whether you’re looking at a Meta director salary or individual contributor position. Rarely will the offer come in at the top of the pay band, so your goal is to determine the pay range so you can negotiate up to the top-end of that pay band.
Meta Yearly Performance Bonus
All Meta offers typically include a yearly performance bonus. This target bonus is a percentage of your base salary, and it’s based on both personal and company performance. The target percentage ranges from 10% to 30% depending on your role level. It’s possible to exceed this target percentage if the company outperforms its goals and you achieve a strong performance rating, but it’s best to assume the average payout when evaluating this component as part of your total compensation.
This is a sizeable sum that makes a big difference in your total yearly compensation, but we have not found it to be negotiable, and there’s often a set target percentage for all employees depending on their role level. That said, this metric will increase your total compensation as you negotiate up your base salary since it’s a percentage of your base.
Meta Initial Equity Package
Along with other companies in the tech industry, equity is a key component of Meta's compensation philosophy. New employees will receive an initial equity grant in their job offers. Meta’s equity comes in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs) which represent actual ownership of stock (i.e., you will receive shares of Meta stock) that will be transferred to you when the stock vest per the Meta vesting schedule. The RSUs do not have a one-year cliff and will vest quarterly over a four-year Meta RSU vesting schedule.
The size of the grant is determined by the role type and level (i.e., is it for a Meta director salary or Meta VP salary), but just like the base salary, the equity component is negotiable.
Meta’s RSUs can be an extremely valuable form of compensation, but they will fluctuate based on the market value of the company. If Meta’s share value goes up, you share in that increase, but if they go down, you share in that loss. The greatest consequence is that you will forgo the equity if you leave Meta before it vests per the Meta RSU vesting schedule.
It's also critical to think about your long-term career goals when negotiating your salary at Meta. If you're looking to stay at the company for more than four years, you may be willing to push for more equity instead of a higher base salary. However, our recommendation is to negotiate both components to ensure you reach the top end of the total compensation pay band.
Meta Sign-on Bonus
Meta is known for being generous with Meta sign-on bonuses, which is a one-time bonus that new employees receive as an incentive to join Meta and cover any lost bonuses or unvested equity that you may give up at your current company. In our experience, we’ve found that Meta does not usually provide a Meta signing bonus in the initial offer, so you will need to negotiate to receive this component. We’ve helped every client receive a Meta signing bonus by negotiating.
It’s important to note that even if you don’t have a competing offer or you’re not walking away from money at your current company, you can still negotiate for a Meta hiring bonus. Meta’s sign-on bonus is paid out within the first 30 days in one lump sum payment, but there are payback conditions tied to it—meaning you’ll need to pay back the bonus if you depart Meta within the first year.
Meta Equity Refresher
Meta does offer an equity refresher (more stock) to most employees, but most recruiters usually withhold when this refresher will take place and the expected yearly amount. This is a question you should ask during the negotiation to see if the recruiter will share insight into this compensation perk and the Meta vesting schedule for these refreshers. We don’t include this compensation item in our total compensation calculation because recruiters typically shy away from the specific details, making it hard to compare across offers.
Benefits and Perks at Meta
Meta is known for being a leader in the benefits and perks they offer, including health insurance, a top-tier Meta 401k match plan, relocation assistance, and free food when working in the office. For employees relocating for a Meta career, the Meta relocation package is one of the best we’ve seen in the industry. We have not found their benefits and perks to be negotiable (i.e., they won’t adjust the Meta 401k match for one employee) unless it is an under-the-table agreement with your hiring manager (i.e., your manager will let you take more vacation).
Meta, unlike Microsoft, does not have a discounted stock purchase plan that you would receive in a job offer from other FAANG tech companies, such as Amazon, Apple, Google, and Netflix. This is the most notable missing benefit compared to its competitors and a good detail to mention during the negotiation.
Five Key Steps to Negotiate a Meta Job Offer
Before you begin negotiating your offer at Meta, it's important to understand how to navigate the process so you can increase your chances of success without jeopardizing the relationship.
Meta usually gives their initial offer verbally instead of in writing, and once a candidate accepts verbally, then they’ll send an offer letter in writing. That’s why it’s important to listen and take notes when you receive the verbal offer—and not give too much feedback on the compensation. State that you need to review the offer in detail, and you’ll revert back with any questions or concerns. Once you’ve done this, then you can start your review.
Based on our experience working with hundreds of clients to successfully negotiate job offers, we’ve identified five key steps that will help you navigate your Meta salary negotiation with confidence. While these are the key steps to a Meta salary negotiation, we strongly recommend you work with a Meta Salary Negotiation Coach to ensure success in your Facebook salary negotiation by getting all of our strategies.
1) Understand the components of your Meta job offer
This first step should be easy since we’ve already laid out the components of your Meta offer letter: base salary, performance bonus, initial equity grant, sign-on bonus, and any benefits and perks. Understanding your total compensation is the first step before attempting to negotiate a Meta job offer.
2) Complete due diligence on your Meta Salary by asking the right questions
This is your chance to do your due diligence on the offer and ensure you understand it before you start negotiating and ultimately accept. Asking good questions not only shows that you’re doing your due diligence, but it’s foundational for crafting an effective and successful Meta counter offer. These can include questions like: Why wasn’t a sign-on bonus included? What was the actual performance bonus achieved on this team in the last few years? Why does the company only offer a set amount of PTO days instead of an unlimited PTO policy?
Don’t skip this step. It allows you to pull additional data points from the Meta recruiter that will strengthen your justification for why this offer is not competitive with your current/other opportunities and why they should consider your ask. Even if you think you already know the answers here, it’s still a critical step for you to ask—you are already building your case to the recruiter for a more competitive Meta salary. You can pull from our suggested questions for this step or we will draft them after reviewing your Meta offer letter details.
While it’s normal to ask for more time to process your Facebook offer letter, note that timing is key in a salary negotiation with Meta, and actively working through this process will show the hiring team you’re interested in the role. We suggest starting this phase of the negotiation right after you receive the initial offer.
3) Research the compensation ranges to identify what your Facebook Salary should look like
Meta is a tech leader known for using data to make decisions. That’s why you must conduct compensation research to understand the role’s pay range, the strength of your offer, and how much you should ask for. Remember, all roles and levels have different pay (i.e., a Facebook director salary will differ from a Facebook staff software engineer salary or Meta engineering manager salary) so you will need to look at the specific role and where it’s located, whether that be in-person or remote.
There are many resources available to help you determine an appropriate salary, such as Payscale or Salary.com, but be sure to use multiple resources and don’t rely on just one as the authoritative resource for what the role should pay. Be aware that these pay ranges are publicly reported by current/past employees so the pay may differ from what they may offer new employees (i.e., the current employees’ total compensation is higher because the META stock price increased over the past few years and their equity is more valuable), and it might be inaccurate if the employee didn’t correctly upload all compensation components. You can download our Total Compensation Research Comparison Tool to help you with your Meta compensation research.
As a new hire, you’ll usually want to push for at least the mid- to top-end of the Facebook salary total compensation range—regardless of your experience or background.
4) Send a counter offer to the Meta recruiter.
This is where the negotiation officially kicks off—and the fun begins! Once you’ve completed prepping for the negotiation (the first three steps), you’re ready to send over a salary negotiation counter (like these counteroffer drafts).
In this step, you’ll present your ask to the Meta recruiter in a kind and confident manner by referencing your research on the pay range and how the benefits differ from other companies’ and/or your current role. This can be done over the phone, but we strongly recommend doing this via email. That way you can draft exactly what you want to say in a professional and friendly tone, you don’t risk going off-topic if the recruiter interrupts or throws you a curve ball, and you have everything in writing. It also provides the recruiter with something that they can forward on and use internally to support why you deserve a higher offer.
Just remember that you should always approach this step professionally and courteously, and you should treat the recruiter like a friend that is helping you transition seamlessly to Meta.
5) Handle any objections from the recruiter and accept the role knowing you achieved the best offer.
Sometimes it only takes one counter offer and the Meta recruiter will respond with an updated offer. Usually though, you’ll receive reasons from the recruiter for why the Meta hiring team cannot make any increases on the offer. If that happens, it’s best to see their “NO” as an objection that you need to overcome vs. an actual “NO” that you should just accept.
To handle an objection, respond calmly by stating you understand their constraints, but you do have concerns and would appreciate it if they can take your thoughts back to their team for one last look (even if they say that their team will just say no). Use this approach regardless of the recruiter’s reasoning. You may have to handle a few objections but once they agree to take it back to their team, they should come back with a better offer. Continue to remain respectful and professional as you navigate any objections, and take care not to be confrontational or demanding just like our objection scripts suggest.
Once you receive an updated offer that fits your personal needs and matches the pay bands you researched, you should be ready to accept. Congratulations on the successful salary negotiation with Meta!
Negotiation Mistakes to Avoid During your Meta Salary Negotiation
Meta has a huge recruiting division, and their recruiters are trained to get the best deal for Meta. They issue job offers every day and will have a few tricks to get you to accept without negotiating. We’ve seen job seekers hit a few snags during their negotiations, so we’ve listed the key mistakes to avoid when negotiating with Meta.
Avoid sharing salary expectations before you get a job offer at Meta.
In our experience, sharing your salary expectations can work against you in receiving a fair offer. Meta might tell you that if they know your salary expectations then they can try to find the best deal for both you and their team. But remember that they’re working for Meta, not you.
If you share a lower compensation than what they could offer, they are more likely to offer you that low compensation. If you throw out a number higher than what they could offer, there is a chance that they could become disinterested and decide to go with a different candidate. Further, it doesn’t make sense to discuss compensation before you learn more about the specific role, Meta’s benefits and compensation, and whether those aspects feel like a good fit for you. After all, you’re also interviewing them.
Don't be afraid to negotiate with Meta.
Many people are afraid to negotiate out of fear of offending the Meta recruiting team or losing the job offer. However, we’ve helped facilitate hundreds of successful salary negotiations, and we’ve never seen Meta pull a job offer because a candidate tried to negotiate.
Regardless of the role level—whether it’s a Meta product manager salary, Meta director salary, or an Meta engineering manager salary—you should negotiate an Meta job offer. We strongly believe everyone should negotiate before accepting a job offer at Meta—don’t let salary negotiation myths or hearsay talk you out of advocating for yourself.
Be realistic by doing your research.
Meta does pay very well but one needs to be realistic about what they will receive. Understand what is included in your total compensation and research what Meta pays for your specific position. This will help you to know what to expect and ensure you only push for compensation that the Meta team can realistically provide.
The Bottom Line
Everyone can—and should—negotiate their job offer with Meta to receive a competitive compensation package and increase their overall career earnings. Following our salary negotiation strategy will help you approach this negotiation with confidence, ease, and professionalism. At least that’s what our clients say!
If you want to guarantee success in your Meta salary negotiation, get Meta Salary Negotiation Coaching from us. Our experience helping clients successfully negotiate Meta offer letters will ensure you negotiate competitive compensation.
We also have a How to Negotiate Your Job Offer course and Salary Negotiation Templates for those who want to learn at their own pace and gain the confidence and tools to negotiate their compensation. With downloadable email templates and job offer negotiation resources you will be prepared for all aspects of the Facebook salary negotiation.