u/alina_kel

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/womenintech/s/g4M64jPBMh

TLDR on original post: Job offer 140k with no bonus, I want to counter with 180-190k total of base plus bonus, which is closer to industry standards for Senior SWE. Is that too high of a jump?

I ended up emailing her last night without any of the numbers added in, and jumped on a call with her today at 1 PM. I started the call super bubbly and excited and just reiterating how excited I was. I pivoted away from 180-190K ask as that was over a 30% jump and I didn't want to risk the offer falling through completely. Instead I asked for 160-170K total cash compensation. After some back and forth we settled on 155K base salary and a yearly 5K bonus since I insisted on the 160k floor (she originally offered 150k plus bonus). We agreed that a year from now I would get a performance review to be considered for both a promotion and a raise. Additionally, I told her once I am comfortable technically with the product, I'd love to spend 25% of my time learning the business side of things and contributing there to set myself up for a career trajectory and she agreed.

Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome and am happy that I advocated for myself and didn't let fear be the deciding factor for me. Of course, landing closer to 180 would have been great but I am willing to take a 20k bump in total comp, especially in this economy, as a win. I do not want to discredit the reality of those who have had their offers pulled for even attempting to negotiate, that is a very real risk but one that I was ultimately willing to make after weighing in my own personal circumstances. And I did adjust my ask from 180-190 to 160-170 as part of my own personal considerations, so I was not blindly gambling with the offer.

Thank you again to all the lovely ladies of tech for sharing your stories. Best of luck to all of those navigating the job market!

TLDR: Job offer 140k with no bonus, I want to counter with 180-190k total of base plus bonus, which is closer to industry standards for Senior SWE. Is that too high of a jump?

I was laid off in June and have finally gotten an offer for a Senior SWE position. Unfortunately, it’s only 140k and no bonus (but has equity, which is not a guarantee of anything for a startup at their stage). I have a lot of health tech specific knowledge like HL7/FHIR/HIPAA etc. other companies I’m interviewing with are in the 180-240k base and a lot have bonuses. I want to email this back, would love any insight if this is too aggressive of an ask and if I risk alienating her. I have sold myself short before and really regretted it and it caused a lot of issues of worth for me. I have a lot of poverty trauma so idk if I’m just doubting myself for no reason or if I’m genuinely playing with fire here.

My counter email to the 140k offer:

Thank you so much for sending this over. I really appreciate all the detail that you've provided. This role has felt like a great fit from our very first conversation, and meeting the team has only made me more excited about the possibility of joining COMPANY.

Before we move forward, I would like to discuss the base salary. I am currently in the advanced stages of interviewing for senior roles with a target base around $180k–$220k, so $140k is meaningfully below what I am seeing elsewhere in the market. My background also directly aligns with the job description's focus on HL7/FHIR, healthcare data experience, and shipping AI-powered features, which will allow me to hit the ground running and contribute quickly.

This role is definitely my top choice, and if we can get closer to $180k–$190k in total cash compensation, I would be thrilled to accept. I am very flexible on how that is structured - whether through a higher base, a bonus component, or a combination of both.

Is there flexibility on your side to help bridge that gap? I would be happy to hop on a call tomorrow to discuss this further. Please let me know what time works best for you.

Thank you again, and I'm looking forward to speaking with you tomorrow!

Thank you my fellow women of tech 🫶

MORE INFO: they asked me for my range and I said it was negotiable and asked for theirs. The interview was with a Staff SWE and he did not know what the range was. I didn’t ask because I figured it would come up naturally before an offer but it did not, which is on me.

UPDATE: https://www.reddit.com/r/womenintech/comments/1vstz2c/update_got_a_super_low_offer_ok_to_negotiate_up/

Hi all, I have a Scorpio moon conjunct Pluto aka the Hades moon. My whole life I’ve had to overcome struggles and trauma, and somehow came out on the other side as an adult. Dare I say I was even happy. Well that all came crashing down after the recent full moon in Capricorn and I need some insight from astrology friends on what to do and how to deal with this.

I struggled with infertility and became pregnant through IUI done on 6/4/26. I was over the moon happy; I was working towards a promotion at a stable job I’ve been at for 4 years, I found a therapist I liked and was working with, my husband and I were good and so happy and growing closer over our baby. Then after the Capricorn full moon where I decided to “let go of anything that doesn’t serve me” I was laid off from my stable job and lost all health insurance. Then yesterday I went in for a sonogram and it turns out the baby stopped growing a week around so around the time of the lay off. They tested my bloodwork and my pregnancy levels stopped doubling and my progesterone is dropping from 31 to 20, pointing to non viable pregnancy. I sobbed and sobbed for the loss of my sweet baby, and then for myself for experiencing this. I feel so beat down, and worry I may have caused all this by trying to let go of anything that doesn’t serve me. I didn’t mean the baby! I was ok with the job loss cuz the baby was giving me this rosy, hopeful outlook despite the situation, but now all I see is how bleak and extremely dark and unusually cruel this whole chapter is. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. I don’t know a ton about astrology but if anyone has any insight when this will let up, or how I can navigate this without falling into depression please let me know.

My chart is:

**•	Ascendant (Rising):** Gemini  
**•	Sun:** Aquarius — 10th house  
**•	Moon:** Scorpio — 1st house  
**•	Mercury:** Aquarius — 9th house  
**•	Venus:** Capricorn — 8th house  
**•	Mars:** Capricorn — 7th house  
**•	Jupiter:** Cancer — 1st house  
**•	Saturn:** Capricorn — 7th house  
**•	Uranus:** Capricorn — 7th house  
**•	Neptune:** Capricorn — 7th house  
**•	Pluto:** Scorpio — 6th house

Thanks for reading 🙏

I just found out today on a call with my manager where HR came and basically told me due to "restructuring" I was being laid off. I was offered 3 months severance. My insurance benefits end today and I get 3 months of COBRA. Here's the thing though I was the only female on my entire team, and I had been there for almost 4 years (09/2026 would have been 4 years) and I have never been put on any PIP or gotten anything back other than good reviews. In fact, I was discussing at my December 2025 call a promotion for December 2026.

I just found out early this month I'm pregnant. I never told them, but I had been going to a fertility clinic and became pregnant through IUI which I was using through company insurance. I don't know who else they fired, but last time there were lay offs there was a mass company email, this time it was just me and my manager and the HR lady came in to talk. I saw on my managers calendar he had no other 1:1 meetings scheduled today so I wonder if I'm the only one who was let go? I had not told them I was pregnant, but that doesn't mean they didn't know since I used a lot of their resources such as insurance, fertility coverage, and HealthJoy concierge for pregnancy related questions. Do I have any legal case here? Should I ask for more than the 12 weeks severance and ask for insurance coverage with premiums paid until EOY or Birth (Due date 2/25/27)? I'm trying to navigate this but am completely gutted and have been crying (thanks hormones!) all morning. Appreciate any insight, thank you!

ETA: Thank you everyone for the advice, I had read through all of it and it has given me a lot to think about. First, I’m sorry to everyone who is/was pregnant and went through this - I know firsthand how awful and scary it is. I hope we all find ourselves in a better place afterwards.

Second, I wanted to add a little more context: there were 8 people on my team, 4 of them (all men) were hired after me. 2 of them (men) had the same role and title as me (SWE2). I was the only one cut.

Even without the pregnancy, this might be discrimination because as a woman I am still a part of a protected class and I was clearly singled out. My manager and I signed my review in March which discussed promotion and what 2/5 metrics I need a little improvement in to get there. I had thankfully taken pictures of the review and sent it to AI so I have them despite being locked out. I’m going to talk to a lawyer today.