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Wages generally stagnate in bad economies as a result of what you've said. Even when I haven't been on the market, I've been paid the best when multiple firms

Wages generally stagnate in bad economies as a result of what you've said. Even when I haven't been on the market, I've been paid the best when multiple firms are potentially competing for my services. When I'm in the market, having 2 offers in hand increases the value of both.

shostack 11y ago
And wages don't exactly catch up enough to make up the gap in good economies. I wish there were better wage information out there for people. Glassdoor is just a start, but there's such an advantage to be had by companies maintaining the information asymmetry that I doubt it will change anytime soon.
- mathattack 11y ago
  Indeed. I was listening to a podcast this morning [0] on the topic. They highlight that salaries should be public, with clear paths to more money. I'm not sure if that would work, but your point is valid. Glassdoor is ok, but not great because it generally only contains base salaries, and doesn't have enough data on smaller companies. I know that investment banking and consulting salaries are dramatically under-represented on it. H1-B filing databases are another data point, but suffer the same limitations. The only sure thing is to test the market. If you get multiple offers, eventually they will close in on your true worth. It's a very delicate game to play, because you have to make sure people know you are interested without appearing disingenuous. [0] https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/03/your-coworkers-should-know-your-salary https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/03/your-coworkers-should-know-...
  - shostack 11y ago
    Weird--HN didn't give me the option to reply directly to this before so I assumed it was the thread limit. In any event, here's what I wrote a level up: ------- I found it ironic that you cited the investment banking and legal industries not being well represented on Glassdoor. I'm actually not sure where they get the data from, but my brother is an ibanker, and I have several friends and family members that are lawyers. Salaries across banks and firms seem to be VERY well known across the industry at all levels, even for entry-level roles, and seem to be openly discussed. I wonder what sort of unique dynamics led to that vs. other industries and how we can capture some of it to level the playing field. It definitely leads to a more level playing field for employees since they know they are either signing up for better pay or something else, and it forces companies to compete on pay and/or some other aspect, and then make that publicly known.
    - brianwawok 11y ago
      I know when my lawyer friend goes to get a new lawyer job he has to submit transcripts and pay proof from at least his last two jobs. Then they offer current job pay + x. As a dev I have never had to submit past wages. Never felt the need to lie about past wages, but I know of people who have. Little bit different for sure.
- shostack 11y ago
  Unfortunately due to HN's thread reply limit I can't respond directly to mathattack, but I wanted to note that I found it ironic that you cited the investment banking and legal industries not being well represented on Glassdoor. I'm actually not sure where they get the data from, but my brother is an ibanker, and I have several friends and family members that are lawyers. Salaries across big banks and firms seem to be VERY well known across the industry at all levels. I wonder what sort of unique dynamics led to that vs. other industries and how we can capture some of it.

shostack 11y ago

And wages don't exactly catch up enough to make up the gap in good economies. I wish there were better wage information out there for people. Glassdoor is just a start, but there's such an advantage to be had by companies maintaining the information asymmetry that I doubt it will change anytime soon.

mathattack 11y ago
Indeed. I was listening to a podcast this morning [0] on the topic. They highlight that salaries should be public, with clear paths to more money. I'm not sure if that would work, but your point is valid. Glassdoor is ok, but not great because it generally only contains base salaries, and doesn't have enough data on smaller companies. I know that investment banking and consulting salaries are dramatically under-represented on it. H1-B filing databases are another data point, but suffer the same limitations. The only sure thing is to test the market. If you get multiple offers, eventually they will close in on your true worth. It's a very delicate game to play, because you have to make sure people know you are interested without appearing disingenuous. [0] https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/03/your-coworkers-should-know-your-salary https://hbr.org/ideacast/2016/03/your-coworkers-should-know-...
- shostack 11y ago
  Weird--HN didn't give me the option to reply directly to this before so I assumed it was the thread limit. In any event, here's what I wrote a level up: ------- I found it ironic that you cited the investment banking and legal industries not being well represented on Glassdoor. I'm actually not sure where they get the data from, but my brother is an ibanker, and I have several friends and family members that are lawyers. Salaries across banks and firms seem to be VERY well known across the industry at all levels, even for entry-level roles, and seem to be openly discussed. I wonder what sort of unique dynamics led to that vs. other industries and how we can capture some of it to level the playing field. It definitely leads to a more level playing field for employees since they know they are either signing up for better pay or something else, and it forces companies to compete on pay and/or some other aspect, and then make that publicly known.
  - brianwawok 11y ago
    I know when my lawyer friend goes to get a new lawyer job he has to submit transcripts and pay proof from at least his last two jobs. Then they offer current job pay + x. As a dev I have never had to submit past wages. Never felt the need to lie about past wages, but I know of people who have. Little bit different for sure.
shostack 11y ago
Unfortunately due to HN's thread reply limit I can't respond directly to mathattack, but I wanted to note that I found it ironic that you cited the investment banking and legal industries not being well represented on Glassdoor. I'm actually not sure where they get the data from, but my brother is an ibanker, and I have several friends and family members that are lawyers. Salaries across big banks and firms seem to be VERY well known across the industry at all levels. I wonder what sort of unique dynamics led to that vs. other industries and how we can capture some of it.