4 ms·

> In NYC, Boston, Chicago, SF, and possibly Seattle Unrelated to your bigger point, but I'd put Seattle in second place after SF for the high offers. And for t

by sidr 8y ago

> In NYC, Boston, Chicago, SF, and possibly Seattle Unrelated to your bigger point, but I'd put Seattle in second place after SF for the high offers. And for tech jobs, Chicago wouldn't feature on my list at all. I think you're focusing too much on base salary. Past a certain point, companies flatten out their base and only start upping the equity. Amazon actually has strict rules about it - they cap out their max base salary at 170 and there on it's all equity + sign-on bonus. People should look at the total comp - RSUs are reported on the W-2 anyway. And they can be sold immediately upon vesting (usually the vesting periods overlap with trading windows), so it's really no different than a salary.

cableshaft 8y ago
Yeah, I live in Chicago. I don't see anywhere near those offers anywhere, in job postings or what recruiters offer when they try to contact me. Most I usually see is $120k base + 5% annual bonus, zero equity or stock options, no sign-on bonus. I think I saw a 130k once. For senior developers or team leads, not just 3 years of experience.
- mlthoughts2018 8y ago
  Job postings, and especially recruiters, are about the worst way to get information about salary. Recruiters in particular are not at all incentivized to help you get a competitive offer and sometimes are paid a higher commission if they get you to accept a salary under a certain threshold. If working with a recruiter, you have to take a really hard line with them, and tell them you absolutely will not reveal salary specifics until after you’ve had a few interviews with a company where it might work out, and repeatedly remind them that you are looking for top-end market compensation, so they understand you’re cognizant of what you are worth and care about being paid well. In Chicago specifically, GrubHub, Teza, Google, Salesforce, DRW, IMC Trading, Akuna Capital, and Citadel are companies I’ve directly spoken with about Chicago-based position salary over the years, and all of them have positions for people around ~3-5 years of experience but above average expertise with base salaries in the range of $180k-$210k. If you naively go into negotiations at these places and openly state low six figure salary numbers or just take a recruiters word for it, then yes, of course they will try to pitch you everything in the $120k-$140k range. You have to do well in interviews and then tell them, no, that kind of below-market nonsense isn’t going to work, and really walk away if they won’t pay more competitively.
  - cableshaft 8y ago
    Good to know. I haven't really been in a position to walk away for most of my career, so I've accepted a few too many lowball offers. This might be the first time where I can afford to walk away.

by sidr 8y ago

cableshaft 8y ago

Yeah, I live in Chicago. I don't see anywhere near those offers anywhere, in job postings or what recruiters offer when they try to contact me. Most I usually see is $120k base + 5% annual bonus, zero equity or stock options, no sign-on bonus. I think I saw a 130k once. For senior developers or team leads, not just 3 years of experience.

mlthoughts2018 8y ago
Job postings, and especially recruiters, are about the worst way to get information about salary. Recruiters in particular are not at all incentivized to help you get a competitive offer and sometimes are paid a higher commission if they get you to accept a salary under a certain threshold. If working with a recruiter, you have to take a really hard line with them, and tell them you absolutely will not reveal salary specifics until after you’ve had a few interviews with a company where it might work out, and repeatedly remind them that you are looking for top-end market compensation, so they understand you’re cognizant of what you are worth and care about being paid well. In Chicago specifically, GrubHub, Teza, Google, Salesforce, DRW, IMC Trading, Akuna Capital, and Citadel are companies I’ve directly spoken with about Chicago-based position salary over the years, and all of them have positions for people around ~3-5 years of experience but above average expertise with base salaries in the range of $180k-$210k. If you naively go into negotiations at these places and openly state low six figure salary numbers or just take a recruiters word for it, then yes, of course they will try to pitch you everything in the $120k-$140k range. You have to do well in interviews and then tell them, no, that kind of below-market nonsense isn’t going to work, and really walk away if they won’t pay more competitively.
- cableshaft 8y ago
  Good to know. I haven't really been in a position to walk away for most of my career, so I've accepted a few too many lowball offers. This might be the first time where I can afford to walk away.