3 ms·

I'm curious: have you compared your comp to that of levels.fyi?

aluminum96 5y ago
Yeah. It comes in around the 20th percentile, both on levels.fyi and compared to informal internal data. Edit: I think the reason for this is that I went over a “four-year vesting cliff,” and you really need at least 2 promos to surmount the cliff. Perhaps I’m being sent an implicit message, up or out.
- solarmist 5y ago
  Yup. This.
- ZephyrBlu 5y ago
  What level are you? SWE I/L3/E3, SWE II/L4/E4, SWE III/L5/E5, etc?
  - aluminum96 5y ago
    SWEII/L4
- keehun 5y ago
  What do you mean by this?
  - milesskorpen 5y ago
    When you join a company you typically get a larger than normal RSU grant that vests over 4 years. Every year you get new, typically smaller, grants. The compound effect is that your compensation will decrease in year 5, when your initial grant expires. For example, using my company with relative numbers: Initial grant: $200 Refresher grants: $100 Y1 = $50 = $50 total RSU compensation Y2 = $50 + $25 = $75 Y3 = $50 + $25 + $25 = $100 Y4 = $50 + $25 + $25 + $25 = $125 Y5 = $00 + $25 + $25 + $25 + $25 = $100 < DECREASE This can be compounded if your company's valuation has increased substantially in this period. The difference between initial and refresher can also be significantly larger than 2x To stick at the $125/year and not see a drop in compensation, you'd want to be getting larger refresher grants which typically require promotions.
    - keehun 5y ago
      Makes sense!
  - rr808 5y ago
    Its common in all firms (not just IT) that companies expect you to either get promoted or move on to another job. If you're doing the same thing after 5 years you're probably not a star employee and some firms will actively try to get rid of you. I honestly like working 5+ years on one project so kinda resent being told I'm not great, but that's what it is. https://thedailywtf.com/articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis https://thedailywtf.com/articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Tu...

Yeah. It comes in around the 20th percentile, both on levels.fyi and compared to informal internal data. Edit: I think the reason for this is that I went over a “four-year vesting cliff,” and you really need at least 2 promos to surmount the cliff. Perhaps I’m being sent an implicit message, up or out.

solarmist 5y ago
Yup. This.
ZephyrBlu 5y ago
What level are you? SWE I/L3/E3, SWE II/L4/E4, SWE III/L5/E5, etc?
- aluminum96 5y ago
  SWEII/L4
keehun 5y ago
What do you mean by this?
- milesskorpen 5y ago
  When you join a company you typically get a larger than normal RSU grant that vests over 4 years. Every year you get new, typically smaller, grants. The compound effect is that your compensation will decrease in year 5, when your initial grant expires. For example, using my company with relative numbers: Initial grant: $200 Refresher grants: $100 Y1 = $50 = $50 total RSU compensation Y2 = $50 + $25 = $75 Y3 = $50 + $25 + $25 = $100 Y4 = $50 + $25 + $25 + $25 = $125 Y5 = $00 + $25 + $25 + $25 + $25 = $100 < DECREASE This can be compounded if your company's valuation has increased substantially in this period. The difference between initial and refresher can also be significantly larger than 2x To stick at the $125/year and not see a drop in compensation, you'd want to be getting larger refresher grants which typically require promotions.
  - keehun 5y ago
    Makes sense!
- rr808 5y ago
  Its common in all firms (not just IT) that companies expect you to either get promoted or move on to another job. If you're doing the same thing after 5 years you're probably not a star employee and some firms will actively try to get rid of you. I honestly like working 5+ years on one project so kinda resent being told I'm not great, but that's what it is. https://thedailywtf.com/articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis https://thedailywtf.com/articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Tu...