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Me too. I’m working at a FAANG company and apparently I could make 100k more. I was relocating for this job and I wasn’t really prepared for the negotiation, to

by nagyf 7y ago

Me too. I’m working at a FAANG company and apparently I could make 100k more. I was relocating for this job and I wasn’t really prepared for the negotiation, totally screwed it up, and I think they gave me the minimum they could. Oh the bright side, it’s still a good salary for me and I earn enough for two person to live comfortably.

md_ 7y ago
I’m a little surprised at that. FAANGs tend to have fairly prescribed comp systems. There’s flexibility around equity and signing bonuses, but if you told me that you were making (base+bonus) say $250k and someone at your level was making $350k, I’d be pretty surprised. This reveals one of the challenges in these comparisons, by the way: total comp can vary dramatically due not only to initial signing bonuses (which can result in a total comp “cliff”) but also due to time-at-level: e.g. if you were just promoted to level n and your peer was at n for four years, your peer’s net cash flow includes four previous n-sized RSU grants, whereas yours is 3x of n-1 grants. Of course transparency is still good, but it’s easy to misunderstand what causes a comp difference; in the case of the fast-promoted engineer they may appear to earn less per year despite having a steeper career trajectory than a slower peer.
- deanCommie 7y ago
  You shouldn't be surprised at all. The higher up you go the wider the range is. The range for a senior SDE at my company in my city is 250-400 (according to blind). So you absolutely can have some people making $250k and others $350k for the same position at the same company. Having said that.......by and large.....it's deserved. It is INTENDED to be merit-based. But how fair is that merit-based system? Are people being shafted? Absolutely. International transfers. Those that don't negotiate well, or don't know their worth.
  - md_ 7y ago
    Well, again, if that’s total annual comp, sure, for the reason I gave (vesting of previous grants biasing toward longer tenure at level, signing cliffs). But as a one-time manager at a FAANG, in my experience, the ranges for comp in terms of base+bonus are rarely that wide. Anyway, I’m sure there are counter examples, but my point was that if you are at a FAANG making $250k and you find out someone at the same level is making $350k, it’s unlikely to be merely that you didn’t negotiate well enough.

by nagyf 7y ago

md_ 7y ago

I’m a little surprised at that. FAANGs tend to have fairly prescribed comp systems. There’s flexibility around equity and signing bonuses, but if you told me that you were making (base+bonus) say $250k and someone at your level was making $350k, I’d be pretty surprised. This reveals one of the challenges in these comparisons, by the way: total comp can vary dramatically due not only to initial signing bonuses (which can result in a total comp “cliff”) but also due to time-at-level: e.g. if you were just promoted to level n and your peer was at n for four years, your peer’s net cash flow includes four previous n-sized RSU grants, whereas yours is 3x of n-1 grants. Of course transparency is still good, but it’s easy to misunderstand what causes a comp difference; in the case of the fast-promoted engineer they may appear to earn less per year despite having a steeper career trajectory than a slower peer.

deanCommie 7y ago
You shouldn't be surprised at all. The higher up you go the wider the range is. The range for a senior SDE at my company in my city is 250-400 (according to blind). So you absolutely can have some people making $250k and others $350k for the same position at the same company. Having said that.......by and large.....it's deserved. It is INTENDED to be merit-based. But how fair is that merit-based system? Are people being shafted? Absolutely. International transfers. Those that don't negotiate well, or don't know their worth.
- md_ 7y ago
  Well, again, if that’s total annual comp, sure, for the reason I gave (vesting of previous grants biasing toward longer tenure at level, signing cliffs). But as a one-time manager at a FAANG, in my experience, the ranges for comp in terms of base+bonus are rarely that wide. Anyway, I’m sure there are counter examples, but my point was that if you are at a FAANG making $250k and you find out someone at the same level is making $350k, it’s unlikely to be merely that you didn’t negotiate well enough.