Oracle Software Engineer Salary

So now you've got the comp data, are you ready to negotiate? Not quite.

First off, comp data is constantly changing. Oracle’s numbers changed substantially from 2021 to 2022 (though we've seen some pullback with the recent market downturn), and it’s critical to know the full range for each component to optimize your negotiation.

However, counter to what many people think, having compensation data alone is not typically enough. You can go tell your Oracle recruiter that $X is top-of-band and that you want that number, but in 90% of cases that won’t work. So, what will?

Companies negotiate when they believe you won’t accept their offer. But, since you just finished a long and arduous interview process with them, they know you are likely to accept the job.

Often - leverage comes from having higher offers from other great companies - so you can tell your recruiter that you’re considering other options but would prefer Oracle if the compensation is comparable. This quickly becomes challenging if you don’t have other offers or if your other offers aren’t higher than the top-of-band comp numbers you are targeting.

Another option for creating leverage is through what we call “conducting research leverage” after you receive an offer – essentially, taking time to interview the company and the people you’ll be working with. Doing this helps you collect more information about how and where you can be impactful and can slow down the negotiation process – which gives you time to collect other offers, do more market research, and build the company’s interest in getting you to sign. 

Assuming you do have a higher competing offer (i.e. above your top-of-band target) from another good company, the negotiation can still be surprisingly difficult. Oracle will try to find any differences in the offers (location, level discrepancy, non-salary comp components) and use that to justify not matching the offer. Sometimes this is very illogical (e.g. not matching an offer from a lower cost of living area), so you have to be very careful how you share your information. Knowing exactly what to say and not say on a recruiter call is key to optimizing your Oracle negotiation.