We've negotiated many Tinder offers in 2022. Don't leave $100K+ on the table.
Tinder is open to negotiating, especially if you are able to share cross-offer details. It's particularly important to negotiate your initial offer at Tinder as the company is known to be conservative with raises and additional equity grants. Compensation band ranges are in line with industry standards (e.g. smaller than Facebook and Amazon but larger than companies like Coinbase and Uber).
- Base Salary
- Tinder Equity Package (see Tinder vesting schedule below)
- Tinder Signing Bonus (not included in all Tinder offer packages)
- Performance Bonus (varies by level)
- Stock Refreshers
Since Tinder is part of Match Group, you will receives those shares from your RSU package.
Many Tinder recruiters will quote large stock refresher targets but those aren't written into the offer letter. From what we've seen the refresher numbers quoted by recruiters are slightly overstated vs average amounts received.
Tinder's annual bonus depends on the role, level, personal performance, and company performance. Some target numbers for software engineering positions are listed below.
- IC2 - 10%
- IC3 - 10%
- IC4 - 15%
Most people at Tinder receive their target performance bonus.
Tinder is certainly willing to offer remote positions across many teams. However, they do have steep pay discounts for remote offers. The biggest hit is on the equity component, but base salary and signing bonus will also decrease.
Tinder does not usually require you to move, so this often isn't relevant. If they do ask you to move for a specific position, you will likely need to negotiate a custom relocation package that should be in line with industry norms (certainly >$10K and increase with your seniority).
As is the case at many tech companies, the most negotiable component is equity. Tinder's sign on bonus is possible to negotiate, but you should expect mid-tier numbers (e.g. ~$50K for senior SWE instead of $100K+ for top paying companies). Base salary is usually quite difficult to negotiate at Tinder. Performance bonus and stock refreshers are not negotiable, but you should still evaluate them when comparing between two offers.
Tinder does not require written offers in most cases, but they will ask for other details like the level and location of the offer. In very unique cases (e.g. if you quote extraordinarily high numbers), they might ask to see a written offer, however this can be deflected if you prepare properly in advance.
Tinder recruiters have a hard time securing above band approval, even if you present them with a higher competing offer. However, that does not mean that they will not increase comp if you play your cards right. Negotiating your level is a possible back up plan for Tinder negotiations if you aren't making progress on an above band request.
Your hiring manager can play a role in your negotiation at Tinder. You should focus on building a strong relationship with them by discussing projects and the team - your goal is to have them be very excited for you to join. This will increase the odds that they support your recruiter in securing top of band or above band compensation.
The hiring process at Tinder typically has three stages: phone screen, virtual onsite, and offer stage.
- The phone screen is usually one technical question + previous experiences
- Virtual onsite is a mix of Leetcode, system design, and behavioural interviews depending on your level and the team you are joining
- Once you hear that they are extending an offer, the Tinder offer negotiation process begins!
Despite some negative sentiment online about pay, we've seen Tinder pull together some fairly competitive offers. Let’s consider a Tinder software engineer salary at IC4 which is equivalent to E5 at Facebook. Facebook is known to be one of the highest paying tech companies and for E5 top of band comp is just over $450k per year. At Tinder we've seen offers at $410K per year. The numbers are definitely lower than top of market, but still quite high for the level.
While negotiating at Tinder, the focus should always be on base pay, equity, and signing bonus. You can expect the standard tech benefits as part of your offer, but these aren't really negotiable. It also doesn't usually work to point to another company's benefits as justification for higher compensation - the more optimal strategy is comparing monetary components to monetary components.
IC1
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Equivalent Level at Google
L3
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Our Clients Love Rora
Coming from a non-FAANG background, I was shocked to find out how much I could be earning. Before I signed up with Rora, I made the mistake of telling Amazon my current compensation. Thankfully, Rora knew exactly how to fix it and ended up getting me an offer that was 2.3X what I previously made and more than $600K higher than Amazon’s initial offer!
Through several weeks of interviews, Ganesh was always available to make sure I knew what to say for each conversation. I interviewed with start ups, Google, Facebook and Amazon and was really impressed that Rora knew the comp ranges and were able to give me tailored advice for each – even the start ups.
There ended up being two particularly complex moments in my negotiation. One of the start-ups I had a personal relationship with and I wasn’t sure how it would affect the negotiation. I like that there was a focus on my individual circumstances and that they were leveraged to get me a higher offer. The other situation is that Amazon made a mistake on my written offer and initially wouldn’t rectify it. Ganesh was able to guide me through a challenging conversation to get it resolved.
Tinder
has a unique set of negotiation policies. If you don’t have experience negotiating with them, you risk losing out on large amounts of money because of very small mistakes.
There are many of these rules you need to know to get the highest
Tinder
offer possible