The notice-period question, and why 90 days isn't a dealbreaker

They aren't really asking whether 90 days is acceptable. They usually know your employer's standard notice better than you do. What they are actually asking is two things: when can you realistically join, and will you be straight with them about it.

Say "30 days" hoping to sort it out later, then ask for an extension three weeks after the offer, and you've done far more damage to the relationship than the candidate who said 90 up front.

"Ninety days" sounds like a wall. A date sounds like a plan, and it carries exactly the same information.

"My notice is 90 days. If I resign in the first week of August, my last working day is the first week of November, and I can start immediately after. My employer has allowed buyouts of up to 30 days in my team, so early October is realistic if that matters for this role."

That gives them something they can put straight into a hiring plan.

Notice buyout means paying your employer for the days you don't serve, usually your gross salary for those days. People get two things wrong about it.

First, it's at your employer's discretion, not your right. Policy documents often permit it; managers often refuse it for people on billable projects. Don't promise a buyout you haven't actually confirmed.

Second, some employers reimburse it and plenty don't, and it's far easier to ask before you accept than after. Raise it at the offer conversation, plainly: "I can shorten my notice by 30 days through a buyout, which is about X. Is that something you cover?"

Roles with a hard start date: a project kickoff, a replacement for someone already leaving, a campus-cycle intake. If the role has one of those, no framing helps, and you're better off finding out early rather than late.

Everything else is negotiable, and in our experience, most companies hiring experienced people in India have already priced 90-day notices into their hiring timelines. Don't rule yourself out of a role over it before anyone's asked.

Don't resign before you have a signed offer letter, however confident the verbal conversation sounded, however much shorter it would make your notice. Offers get withdrawn. A resignation is much harder to walk back.