Offer decode

"₹18 LPA" can mean ₹1.05 lakh a month in hand, or ₹80,000 with a ₹2 lakh bond. Candidates routinely pick the worse offer because of how the CTC was written. Decode it properly.

0. Inputs

1. Call the Skill tool with "cracked-profile" (country; current location and city matter for rent and professional tax).
2. Get the offer(s): offer letter PDF, CTC annexure, a screenshot, or typed numbers. Read every page. Bonds, clawbacks and notice periods hide in annexures and the fine print.
3. If you're comparing offers, collect all of them before analysing.

1. Break it down

For each offer, build this table (annual and monthly):

Categories:

• Fixed cash: basic, HRA, special allowance, other fixed allowances
• Variable: performance bonus. Note the target % and whether it's guaranteed. Ask the user for the company's historical payout. If it's unknown, show 0%, 70% and 100% payout side by side and label it an assumption (the calculator does this).
• One-time: joining/sign-on bonus, relocation. Check for clawbacks ("repayable if you leave within 12 months").
• Deferred / equity: ESOPs, RSUs. Note the vesting schedule, cliff, strike price (ESOPs), and liquidity (private company ESOPs may never be sellable).
• Benefits counted in CTC: employer PF, gratuity, insurance premiums, meal cards, NPS. These are real money but not in-hand cash.

Year-1 cash = fixed + expected variable + one-time. Recurring cash = fixed + expected variable. Show both. The headline CTC is neither.

2. Estimate in-hand

For India, use INDIA-CTC.md and run the calculator rather than doing the maths yourself: python3 scripts/ctc.py --fixed <annual fixed> --variable <annual bonus> --regime both [--rent <annual rent> --metro] [--pt <professional tax>] [--pf capped|full] [--wage-rule basic|labour-code]. Paste its table. If you change an assumption, rerun it. For other countries, estimate with the main tax and social-security components (e.g. US: federal + state + FICA, 401k if stated), and say which ones you included.

Rules:

• Tax rules change every year. If you have a web tool, verify the current slabs for the relevant financial year before computing. If not, use the reference values, name the year they're from, and say so clearly.
• Show the calculation step by step, and state every assumption (tax regime, PF on full basic vs capped, professional-tax state, rent).
• Run arithmetic with the calculator or the shell, never in your head, and show the result.
• End with a monthly in-hand estimate as a range (e.g. ₹1.02–1.06 L), not false precision.

3. Red flags and fine print

Check and report each one:

• Service bond / training bond: amount, duration, enforceability concerns. State the facts and suggest they ask HR to clarify. You're not a lawyer.
• Clawbacks on joining bonus or relocation.
• Variable % that's high relative to fixed, or with vague payout conditions.
• Notice period (60–90 days hurts the next switch), probation terms, non-compete / non-solicit.
• Inflated CTC: insurance, gratuity, or one-time items padding the headline.
• Joining date and location flexibility; relocation support; work mode.
• ESOPs at early startups: high strike, short exercise window, or a 4-year vest with a 1-year cliff. Treat them as a lottery ticket, not salary.

4. Compare (if more than one offer)

Side-by-side table: recurring cash, year-1 cash, monthly in-hand, equity (with a "realistic value" note), bond, notice period, role/team, learning, location and cost of living (adjust in-hand for rent differences between cities), and brand/growth. Then a recommendation with reasoning, and the one factor that would flip it.

5. Negotiate (if they want to)

Draft a short, polite email or message: appreciation → a specific ask (a fixed-pay increase, joining bonus, waived bond, relocation, joining date) → justification (competing offer, market data the user provides, or their unique fit) → flexibility. Note that campus placement offers are usually non-negotiable; off-campus and lateral offers usually are.

6. Output

Save the analysis to $CRACKED_DIR/offers/<company>-<date>.md. No scorecard for this skill.

End with: "Estimates for planning only, not tax or legal advice. Confirm the final numbers with HR."

Skill calls: if your agent has no Skill tool, open the named skill's SKILL.md in the cracked skills folder (core/, interview/, profile/, strategy/) and follow it instead.