7 ms·

Honestly I don't see how anyone can answer this without knowing what you are already making and what your local market is offering (assuming you also want to st

Honestly I don't see how anyone can answer this without knowing what you are already making and what your local market is offering (assuming you also want to stay in the same place with the same title). If you're underpaid (e.g. making $65k in the Bay) you could more than double your salary quite easily. However if you're already making $200k as a senior engineer in say Seattle or Austin, well I would expect anywhere from 0 to a decrease, with a very rare possibility of an increase at all.

mrks_ 9y ago
That's fair. I expanded on the details further in another comment, which I'll copy below. > My question stems from the fact that I make about median market rate for my experience and location. I'm having trouble making a plan for how my salary should increase as my experience and career evolve. If I'm currently making median market rate, I'm unsure if it's reasonable to expect a jump into the 75th percentile for my next position during the negotiation process. Median market rate in my location (Pittsburgh) for my skills is around $75k. The 90th percentile for someone of equal skill is about $100k. To clarify my question, using the details from your comment, what can I reasonably expect for the growth rate between jobs as I approach the 90th percentile of pay?
- acconrad 9y ago
  Thank you, given what you've just added I'd defer to other's comments about relying on negotiation skills. I wouldn't accept anything less than a 10% increase (mixed between equity and cash) unless the title bump was meaningful and could actually have an impact on your career growth (i.e. not being VP of Engineering for a 1-person engineering team). If you're right in the middle, it shouldn't be hard to find salaries for 10% more.
  - mrks_ 9y ago
    Thanks for the advice! I was initially concerned that negotiating for a 20-25% increase would make me unreasonable for my currently median-level skills. It seems that if 10% is a fair, but low-end, increase, then I can continue to target ~ 20%, so long as I practice negotiating.
    - le-mark 9y ago
      It depends on the employer as well. For example we have local companies here with horrible reputations that sometimes pay well above market rate for developers. Makes negotiating much easier, also more risk in working there, as another comment says.

mrks_ 9y ago

That's fair. I expanded on the details further in another comment, which I'll copy below. > My question stems from the fact that I make about median market rate for my experience and location. I'm having trouble making a plan for how my salary should increase as my experience and career evolve. If I'm currently making median market rate, I'm unsure if it's reasonable to expect a jump into the 75th percentile for my next position during the negotiation process. Median market rate in my location (Pittsburgh) for my skills is around $75k. The 90th percentile for someone of equal skill is about $100k. To clarify my question, using the details from your comment, what can I reasonably expect for the growth rate between jobs as I approach the 90th percentile of pay?

acconrad 9y ago
Thank you, given what you've just added I'd defer to other's comments about relying on negotiation skills. I wouldn't accept anything less than a 10% increase (mixed between equity and cash) unless the title bump was meaningful and could actually have an impact on your career growth (i.e. not being VP of Engineering for a 1-person engineering team). If you're right in the middle, it shouldn't be hard to find salaries for 10% more.
- mrks_ 9y ago
  Thanks for the advice! I was initially concerned that negotiating for a 20-25% increase would make me unreasonable for my currently median-level skills. It seems that if 10% is a fair, but low-end, increase, then I can continue to target ~ 20%, so long as I practice negotiating.
  - le-mark 9y ago
    It depends on the employer as well. For example we have local companies here with horrible reputations that sometimes pay well above market rate for developers. Makes negotiating much easier, also more risk in working there, as another comment says.