An offer decision comes at the end of the interviews, but the seeds for the offer are planted far earlier than we think. Sometimes even before interviews start, like when writing about TikTok boosted my Instagram negotiation.

At every step, in addition to evaluating your fit, they are asking:

Your job is to show excitement on #1, but not lowball yourself on #2.

Conventional advice: don’t share numbers before you get an offer.

This section is a pre-mortem — a look at all the ways negotiations are derailed before the offer so you can avoid these minefields.