(For anyone interested, here's a rehash of a comment I made a while back http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1097801 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1097801

(For anyone interested, here's a rehash of a comment I made a while back http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1097801 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1097801 which suggests you be flexible on salary to gain a larger total compensation. If you haven't worked out these numbers in advance, this is how I think you should spend the extra time the OP's tip will give you) Keep firmly in mind that your salary is only one term in the overall equation adding up your total compensation. Total compensation = sum(salary, daycare, commute costs, conferences, professional development, 401k matching, ...) Consider, for example, lunch. Here in NYC, a company that buys you a $10 sandwich for lunch every day is giving you $3,330+ salary equivalent (Assuming you're in the 25% tax bracket) [1] Take the time to sit down and do something along the following lines: - list out benefits a company might offer - group them into things you care about and things you don't (don't have kids -> don't need daycare) - for the things you care about, think about how much each one would cost you to pay for yourself - think about what minimum level of that benefit you would accept, happy, and ecstatic. (eg. Minimum: company pays for one local conference/year. Happy: one conference anywhere in US/yr. ecstatic: more than one conference anywhere in the world) - for the ones you DON'T care about, think about how much it costs the company to pay for each When it comes time to negotiate your compensation, always think in sets. Think (and talk) in terms of how moving any one piece requires movement on a different piece. Give up the things in the "don't care" set to gain at least as much value in the "want" set. Eg. They want to give you less money, you can agree to that, if they give you X more vacation days. Eg. They offer free daycare, you say that you appreciate that, but since you don't have kids you would rather have "work at home Fridays" and a slightly larger 401k match. By considering the total you are much more likely to get a better overall package [1] (salary equivalent) = (daily cost * 5 days/wk * 50 wks/yr) ------------------------------------ ( 1 - tax rate ) 25% tax bracket $ 5 lunch = (5 * 5 * 50)/(75%) = $1,667 salary $10 lunch = $3,333 So every $1 the company saves you (by buying your lunch or your monthly parking or whatever) is worth $333 in salary in the 25% tax bracket. (Assuming you don't change to a different tax bracket by the change to your cash salary)