3 ms·

I still find it a little hard to believe... When I was a new grad, I got offers from several of the companies you listed, and the comp didn't come close to OP's

I still find it a little hard to believe... When I was a new grad, I got offers from several of the companies you listed, and the comp didn't come close to OP's post. I can't imagine 2 years of experience and some negotiating changes the compensation that drastically. Google, for example, offered a base salary just over 100k. Is the difference between level 3 and 4 (what I assume 2 years of experience gets you) really ~60%? The annual RSU difference is also drastic, as OPs offer was 100k in stock annually. Note: I'm calculating the 60% by looking at annual salary + stock + target bonus each year.

joshuamorton 9y ago
Google base is 110K for a new grad L3. This isn't a 70% difference, its a ~30% difference. Total comp for a new-grad Googler who doesn't negotiate at all will be 110K base +18K bonus + 25K stock annually = ~153. That's without negotiating at all. Negotiation can push that across 200K annually in extreme cases. From that perspective, its not as gargantuan a leap. And similarly, I expect that this person was able to negotiate their google offer, so it would be higher than the "default" for an L4.
- FlyingLawnmower 9y ago
  Right, I was calculating the difference across total comp. OPs total comp is ~261k per year (140 + 21 + 100), so compared against the number you listed, it's almost exactly +70% (261 / 153 = ~1.71). I edited it to 60% to account for negotiations (assumed +10-15k annually), but I didn't think there was that much room at the new grad level. I remember Google being very inflexible on base, and didn't think you could get 200k annually with just negotiating (which would involve tripling the initial stock grant you listed, assuming that base is inflexible). Even still, are the bands truly that wide across L3 and L4? I suppose I'm most astonished that the median L3 and top of L4 are that wide apart. Thank you for all the information.
  - joshuamorton 9y ago
    Indeed, Google is inflexible on base, but they're well known (or at least I have it on fairly good authority) that they will match total comp of new grad offers from various finance firms, which have first year comp at ~200K. And as to your second question: a rule of thumb that I think exists is that total comp approximately doubles every 2 levels, so you get a ~40% increase per level on the median. Keep in mind that a new grad offer is not the median of L3, but the bottom.

joshuamorton 9y ago

Google base is 110K for a new grad L3. This isn't a 70% difference, its a ~30% difference. Total comp for a new-grad Googler who doesn't negotiate at all will be 110K base +18K bonus + 25K stock annually = ~153. That's without negotiating at all. Negotiation can push that across 200K annually in extreme cases. From that perspective, its not as gargantuan a leap. And similarly, I expect that this person was able to negotiate their google offer, so it would be higher than the "default" for an L4.

FlyingLawnmower 9y ago
Right, I was calculating the difference across total comp. OPs total comp is ~261k per year (140 + 21 + 100), so compared against the number you listed, it's almost exactly +70% (261 / 153 = ~1.71). I edited it to 60% to account for negotiations (assumed +10-15k annually), but I didn't think there was that much room at the new grad level. I remember Google being very inflexible on base, and didn't think you could get 200k annually with just negotiating (which would involve tripling the initial stock grant you listed, assuming that base is inflexible). Even still, are the bands truly that wide across L3 and L4? I suppose I'm most astonished that the median L3 and top of L4 are that wide apart. Thank you for all the information.
- joshuamorton 9y ago
  Indeed, Google is inflexible on base, but they're well known (or at least I have it on fairly good authority) that they will match total comp of new grad offers from various finance firms, which have first year comp at ~200K. And as to your second question: a rule of thumb that I think exists is that total comp approximately doubles every 2 levels, so you get a ~40% increase per level on the median. Keep in mind that a new grad offer is not the median of L3, but the bottom.