Break Down a Total Compensation Package
When to use it
Explain an offer's real value without overstating the parts that aren't guaranteed.
The prompt
Explain this compensation package to a candidate in plain English. THE PACKAGE: {{base, bonus target and how it actually pays out, equity type and amount, vesting, refreshers, benefits, pension or 401k match, allowances}} EQUITY DETAIL: {{public or private; strike price, current valuation, last round, whether there's any liquidity path}} WHAT THEY EARN NOW: {{if known}} WHAT THEY KEEP ASKING ABOUT: {{the part they come back to}} Give me: 1. A year-one figure and a four-year view, marking clearly which parts are contractual and which are not. 2. The equity explained for someone who has never held any, including what it is worth if the company never exits. 3. Every assumption you had to make, listed separately so I can check each one before I quote it. 4. The three questions a sharp candidate will ask about this package, with honest answers. 5. Anything here I shouldn't present as compensation at all, because it's a perk rather than money. No inflated headline figure that adds unvested equity to cash as though they were the same thing.
Tip
Never quote a four-year equity figure as if it were salary. A candidate who later works out what it was really worth doesn't just distrust the number, they distrust you, and they tell people.
How to use it
Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or whichever assistant you use, then replace every {{bracketed}} part with your own detail. The more specific and messier your input, the better the output — a model given raw notes has more to work with than one given a tidy summary you wrote first.
More Compensation prompts
Open the full tool for all 87 prompts, the glossary, and the JD decoder.