I'm at the point of my career where it's all about the manager, the hours, the comp, and the kind of work I'll be doing. I no longer care as much about the title or level. In fact if the level is lower, great -- I'll have an even easier time getting high perf scores.

These days, when I negotiate for a new job in Big Tech, I first and foremost maximize base pay. That's [1] immediate (no waiting for vest or anything), [2] durable (carries forward into future jobs), [3] non-variable (doesn't arbitrarily change much year to year while at the same company), and [4] the basis for bonus.

Then, I pay very close attention to who my manager will be. In fact I've once switched companies just to follow a great manager.

After that, I make sure I won't be carrying a pager that can ever "go off" in the middle of the night. That's a non-negotiable for me at this point in my career.

Then I negotiate up-front for a couple of pre-planned multi-week trips in my first two years to get around the bullsh*t of "you don't get real vacation time until you've earned it by staying at the company long enough."

Finally I look at the small print in the non-compete and the benefits. Oh wait, you mean my long-term disability coverage won't actually become effective until I've been with the company for 12 months? Nope; it's effective immediately. Oh, you want 18 months of non-compete? Nope, you're doing what every other company does. 12 months.

I'm finding that I'm in way too high demand among tech employers to put up with anything less. I am well aware that my demands are too much for places like Amazon, which is no skin off my back.