Guide: Reversing a Downlevel Offer

Below, we'll show you how to reverse a downlevel offer in your engineering interviews.

Sound familiar? Welcome to the club.

If you've been downleveled or suspect it's about to happen, you can reverse it.

About downleveling

Getting downleveled is expensive.

Google pays staff engineers approximately $180,000 more per year than senior engineers.

Accepting an offer one level lower than your skills (L-1) can set you back years.

Downlevel offers are often “close calls."

Downlevel offers are not an objective measure of your skills.

Instead, they're based on the sum of subjective signals from recruiter screens, early interviews, and final-round interviews.

System design and behavioral interviews lead to lower offers.

Most downlevels aren’t about your performance in coding rounds.

What not to do

Don't treat downleveling like comp negotiation.

Negotiate your level. Then, negotiate your salary.

If you jump into discussing salary, start date, or other terms of employment, it signals that you've accepted the level.

Don't be passive.

Don't respond passively to a conversation about downleveling.

Start by saying, "This is not the level I'm targeting."

Don't bury your dissatisfaction or hide it in long-winded responses.

What to do

Follow this order of operations.

First, discuss your level.

Then, compensation → start date → paperwork.

Pay attention to your response.

What you say first matters most. Signal interest in the team, not the offer.

You can say: “I’m excited about the team, but I don’t believe L5 reflects the impact I’ve delivered. Can we revisit the level decision?”

Offer alternative solutions.

If you failed a round, ask to retake it.

Discuss the decision with the hiring manager or escalate it to a VP for further review and consideration.

Try to find another creative solution to give them an additional signal about your higher level.

Be persistent.

It's improbable your first phone call about downleveling will end with a resolution.

Your best-case scenario at the end of the first conversation is hearing them say, "Let me see what I can do."

Why do companies downlevel?

Tech companies downlevel candidates when they think they can get away with it.

They often do.

In today's job market, downleveling is rampant.

Meta downlevels most engineering offers. Not because you failed the coding rounds, but because you didn’t show enough impact in the rounds that determine the level.

Recruiters might say, “You’ll get promoted fast.” Often, that’s a lie.

Many engineers stay stuck and eventually leave without ever being promoted.

Levels aren’t standardized. “Staff” at Google does not equal “Staff” at a startup. That makes the game fuzzy and easy for manipulation.

When to agree to a downlevel

You should only agree to a lower level if:

• You're okay with trading off more compensation (and responsibility) in favor of getting a deal done sooner.
• The compensation offer, team, and role are above your expectations.
• You have no better competing offers.
• You’re desperate to leave a bad situation now.

How to respond if you're downleveled

The recruiter’s job is to close the deal. Your job is to slow it down.

Your goal is to clarify your value and shift the conversation from “sign the offer right now” to “let’s make sure this is the right fit.”

• Don’t discuss compensation, start dates, or paperwork until the level is clear.
• Don’t be vague. Say: “This isn’t the level I’m targeting. Let’s align on that first.”
• Offer solutions. Retake a round, speak to the hiring manager, etc.
• Don’t signal agreement unless you mean it. Even polite excitement can be read as acceptance.
• Be firm, but collaborative. Balance pushback with genuine interest in the team.

Final thoughts

If you’re trying to reverse a downlevel, don’t be too nice. You’re negotiating. Bring receipts, stay calm, and aim for clarity.

And remember: “Scared money don’t make no money.”