Reading the training bond
A training bond, sometimes called a service agreement, is a clause saying that if you leave within a set period you repay an amount, usually framed as the cost of the training you received. Bonds are common in some countries' campus hiring and rare in others. If your first job offer has one, it is the first thing to read, because it changes the cost of every later decision.
Read the contract itself, not the offer email or what a recruiter said on a call. Then get answers to these, in writing if the document is unclear:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|
| What is the amount? | The headline cost of leaving early |
| How long is the period? | How long the option to leave is expensive |
| When does it start: joining, or end of training? | A six-month training period can quietly extend the bond |
| Does the amount reduce over time? | A pro-rated bond costs less the longer you stay |
| What triggers it? | Resigning, being let go, failing training, refusing a location |
| Does it ask you to hand over documents? | Original certificates held by an employer are a practical constraint, not only a financial one |
Whether a particular clause is enforceable where you live is a legal question this page does not answer. For the comparison, assume it means what it says. Read the contract and ask your questions before you sign, not after. How to answer when an interviewer asks whether you will sign one is covered in relocation, shifts and service agreements.
Pricing the bond as the cost of leaving early
The common mistake is treating the bond as either nothing or a dealbreaker. Treat it as a price instead. It costs you nothing if you stay the full period. It costs you the full amount if you leave in the first month.
Suppose, with illustrative figures in arbitrary units, the large employer pays 100 a year fixed and the bond is 60 over two years, reducing evenly. Leave after one year and you repay 30, which is about four months of fixed pay. That number is what it costs to change your mind. If you are confident you want this employer's training and will stay two years, the bond is close to irrelevant. If you suspect you will want to move once you have a year of experience, it is a real cost and belongs in the comparison.
Comparing the money properly
The startup's figure needs the same scrutiny. Ask how it splits between fixed salary, any variable or performance pay, and equity. Only the fixed part is certain. Equity in a private company is a claim on a possible future outcome, not cash, so do not add it at face value. The equity-heavy offer page covers how to discount it.
Continuing the example, suppose the startup's headline is 130, made of 115 fixed and 15 variable. If you count the variable at half, as a deliberately cautious assumption, the comparable figure is about 122. The gap over the large employer is closer to a fifth than to the three-tenths the headline suggested. That may still be decisive, and it is allowed to be. It should just be the real gap.
The general method for normalising two packages is in comparing two offers when one pays more. Comparing a first job offer differs mainly in the bond and in how much the learning matters.
What each first job offer teaches you
For a new graduate, the first two years shape the next five more than the first year's pay does. So ask what each job would teach.
A large employer's structured training can be valuable: a cohort, mentoring, a curriculum and time to learn without production pressure. Ask what happens after it. Who decides your project, technology and location, and can you influence it? How long do trainees typically wait before joining a project? Training followed by months without real work teaches less than it promised.
A startup can teach faster, but only if there are experienced engineers to learn from. Ask who you would report to, how many senior engineers are on the team, and what a new joiner shipped in their first three months. A team of three recent graduates with no senior engineer is a fast way to learn bad habits.
Stability and the risk on each side
Neither side is automatically safe. Startups can run short of funding, and a smaller company has less room to absorb a bad quarter. Ask, politely, how long the company's current funding lasts and whether it has hired graduates before. Large employers can delay joining dates or change project allocation, and a bond does not guarantee you a role you want.
Also check the rules of your university placement office, if either offer came through one. Some have rules about accepting, declining or holding more than one offer. Read them before you accept anything.
If the employer asks you about the other offer
HR may ask why you are considering the startup, or whether you will honour the bond. Be honest and brief, and do not criticise either company.
"I have an offer from a startup that pays more. I am leaning towards your programme because of the training and the range of projects, and I want to be sure I understand the service agreement before I sign. Could you confirm when the period starts and whether the amount reduces over time?"
That answer shows you take the commitment seriously, which is what the bond exists to protect.
Turn the bond into a number and the startup's salary into its fixed part. Then the real question is what you want to learn, and for how long.
© 2026 Preptima. Originally published at preptima.com (opens in a new tab).