TL;DR -- A company's compensation strategy is often not optimized for retaining the best employees. As I understand it, in any organization with formalized job

TL;DR -- A company's compensation strategy is often not optimized for retaining the best employees. As I understand it, in any organization with formalized job classifications, each job classification has a compensation range attached to it. To keep things simple, let's say that each position has a fixed salary attached to it, and that salary is automatically adjusted upwards to match increases in the cost of living. So if you're a Software Engineer 1 (SE-1), and you want to get a raise, you need to become a Software Engineer 2 or higher (SE-2+). So how do you go from an SE-1 to SE-2+? Figure that out, and you'll have figured out a path to predictably negotiating a higher salary. If you find yourself in a position where the company will is actively help you advance your career, consider yourself fortunate :) . It's not uncommon to work for an employer who doesn't help much with career advancement, and it's often easier to get a pay bump by moving to another company.