so i got an offer from LinkedIn last month. L3 SWE. sharing because most of what i found online was either old or felt inflated.
my actual offer: base: $165k (Bay Area) RSU: $100k over 4 years (25% cliff at 1 year, quarterly after) sign-on: $20k, 1yr bonus target: 10% of base year 1 TC (with sign-on): ~$210k all-in if bonus pays at 100%
they did not budge much on base when i tried to negotiate. i got $5k added to sign-on but base stayed flat. my recruiter was honest that L3 base bands are pretty tight.
i had offers from two other companies in the $185-195k TC range and LinkedIn came back and said they couldn't match but pointed out the equity vest start (the 1-year cliff is actually earlier than some places that do 2-year cliffs).
one thing i wish i'd known: LinkedIn's new grad process is more selective than i expected. i did 3 leetcode rounds (2 mediums, 1 medium-hard) and a behavioral round. the behavioral wasn't a soft screen, the interviewer was clearly evaluating with a rubric. i was not prepared for that and think i underperformed there.
if you're comparing new grad offers: LinkedIn is below Google/Meta new grad ($220-240k TC in 2026) and roughly on par with Amazon L4 or Stripe new grad. location matters too, they do adjust for Seattle/NYC though the adjustment isn't huge.
happy to answer questions if anyone has specifics.