A practice prompt we wrote. No company or candidate report names it, so it carries no company tag.
How to answer
Take “final” at face value and change the question. A grant’s headline number means little until you know what it is, when it vests and what surrounds it, and a recruiter can answer those without reopening an approval.
Thank them first. “Thanks for being clear, that helps.” The recruiter carries your asks into the room; don’t make them defend the number.
Then ask what the number is.
- The instrument. Stock units or options, and for options the strike price and the exercise window after you leave. One candidate with an Anthropic software engineering offer reported, on Blind in October 2025, being told they would get double-trigger RSUs after the first year, and that the recruiter said not to think of them as priced the same as the stock options they had received. Source 1Anthropic offer - advice + RSU info?PublisherBlindSource typecandidate report on BlindSource 2RSU Valuation for current Anthropic offers?PublisherBlindSource typecandidate report on BlindSource 3Anthropic options exercise windowPublisherBlindSource typecandidate report on Blind Double-trigger units meet their time condition on your schedule but settle only at a liquidity event the plan defines, such as an IPO or an acquisition, so you hold no shares until then. Ask which kind you have, and what counts as the second trigger.
- The price behind the count. Which valuation converts the dollar figure to units, and for a private company, whether employees have been able to sell.
- The schedule. The cliff, then even or front-loaded vesting. One candidate reported, on Blind in May 2026, a Google offer at L5 with RSUs vesting 38/32/20/10. Source 4Google (FDE) vs NVIDIA (AI Infra) – Offer comparisonPublisherBlind (teamblind.com)Source typecandidate report on Blind A front-loaded schedule means your later years depend on refreshers.
- Refreshers. Whether they exist, and what decides them.
Then ask what else can move. Level first, because if grants are set per level, level is the lever left: “What would the next level have needed from my loop?” Then a sign-on bonus to cover equity you would forfeit, and a start date after your current employer’s next vest, which costs them nothing.
Ask for the answers in writing, with your deadline to decide. Before the call, decide what would make you sign, because a recruiter who moves on sign-on or level may ask “if we do that, will you sign?” Say yes only if it is true; otherwise say what else you are weighing.
The trap is testing “final” with a bluff. You spend goodwill on the one lever they just closed, and learn nothing about the grant.
Follow-ups
What the interviewer may ask next, once your first answer is on the table.
- Why does the vesting schedule matter to you if the total is the same?
- We don’t share the company valuation. Is that a problem?
- Are you ready to sign if we move on the sign-on bonus?
Where answers go wrong
- Arguing the dollar value anyway, or citing a competing offer you don’t have, which spends the recruiter’s goodwill on the one lever they just said is fixed.
- Accepting the number without learning what it is, so you sign without knowing the instrument, the schedule, what happens to vested equity when you leave, or to unvested equity if the company is acquired.
Answer this in two minutes
Write the answer you would say out loud. The clock starts with your first word.
Illustrative answer about a fictional project
In this example, a private company has offered me a senior FDE role. On the offer call, the recruiter says the equity, $240,000 over four years, is final.