5 ms·

I have asked some HR people this question about ranges, and most of them tell me they expect to pay the midpoint of the range. That is, if you meet the qualific

I have asked some HR people this question about ranges, and most of them tell me they expect to pay the midpoint of the range. That is, if you meet the qualifications, they’ll offer you the midpoint. However if you blow them away or got some competing offers, they will offer you the high end. And if you got very little experience, the low end. That’s the rule of thumb. It doesn’t matter if the range is as wide as 80k-400k, just assume the midpoint is the starting offer I’ve also done some research where I took offers people disclosed in TeamBlind and compared them to the job posting, and in most cases the offer was very close to the midpoint https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SfaV1p_jbgoTOyCsD5wdU93ncZ8FIumrrFG5L5bUuqo/edit https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SfaV1p_jbgoTOyCsD5wd...

artursapek 3y ago
Yep, the range is also used for internal promotions. Someone who gets a title bump might end up in the lower end of the range for their new level (which should usually be higher than the high end of their previous range)
carlob 3y ago
If the range spans an order of magnitude, should I consider the logarithmic or linear midpoint? That is geometric or arithmetic mean between the ends?
- altdataseller 3y ago
  The latter
- Spooky23 3y ago
  They’re HR people - a log is a thing that used to be a tree.
  - verelo 3y ago
    No hate for HR but i have to share a funny line my previous business partner used to quote: "These people are often neither humane nor are they resourceful"
    - cutemonster 3y ago
      At least they provide resourceful humans :-)
  - carlob 3y ago
    Is the midpoint between 20k and 80k 40k or 60k? Is the midpoint between 10k and 1M 100k or 505k? I think intuitively when the span is large we easily reason in logarithms even with little math training.
    - pxx 3y ago
      But the (geometric) midpoint between 100k and 1MM is $316,227 which might be surprising to some.
- mrits 3y ago
  Either works but using the logarithmic could be a lot harder finding the correct base
  - cutemonster 3y ago
    And you'll make less money Or ask HR: What's the logarithmic mean base for your salary range?
bandrami 3y ago
If a range spans that many digits I think you haven't really done the work to figure out how much the labor is actually worth.
dr-detroit 3y ago
[dead]
prepend 3y ago
> just assume the midpoint is the starting offer This is reasonable and is what I thought as well. But I worked for a firm where senior manager band was $120-350k. Most senior managers came in at $120-150 and would climb through years with the firm. If a new hire at the senior manager rate asked for $225-250 as a midpoint it would kill their negotiation and likely cost them their offer.
- desert_rue 3y ago
  The band should be what the company is willing to pay the new hire, not what everyone with that title is making.
tnel77 3y ago
I worked for a mega-corp (not FAANG) and my manager told me that the company did “extensive research” to determine market value for each position’s salary, and that their goal was to then be at 95% of that market value. So annoying that you, allegedly, know what the market value is and then purposely try to undercut it to save a little money. I get that it’s a business and it’s nothing personal, but this company had insane profits and mad growth so they could afford to pay people a bit better.

artursapek 3y ago

Yep, the range is also used for internal promotions. Someone who gets a title bump might end up in the lower end of the range for their new level (which should usually be higher than the high end of their previous range)

carlob 3y ago

If the range spans an order of magnitude, should I consider the logarithmic or linear midpoint? That is geometric or arithmetic mean between the ends?

altdataseller 3y ago
The latter
Spooky23 3y ago
They’re HR people - a log is a thing that used to be a tree.
- verelo 3y ago
  No hate for HR but i have to share a funny line my previous business partner used to quote: "These people are often neither humane nor are they resourceful"
  - cutemonster 3y ago
    At least they provide resourceful humans :-)
- carlob 3y ago
  Is the midpoint between 20k and 80k 40k or 60k? Is the midpoint between 10k and 1M 100k or 505k? I think intuitively when the span is large we easily reason in logarithms even with little math training.
  - pxx 3y ago
    But the (geometric) midpoint between 100k and 1MM is $316,227 which might be surprising to some.
mrits 3y ago
Either works but using the logarithmic could be a lot harder finding the correct base
- cutemonster 3y ago
  And you'll make less money Or ask HR: What's the logarithmic mean base for your salary range?

bandrami 3y ago

If a range spans that many digits I think you haven't really done the work to figure out how much the labor is actually worth.

dr-detroit 3y ago

[dead]

prepend 3y ago

> just assume the midpoint is the starting offer This is reasonable and is what I thought as well. But I worked for a firm where senior manager band was $120-350k. Most senior managers came in at $120-150 and would climb through years with the firm. If a new hire at the senior manager rate asked for $225-250 as a midpoint it would kill their negotiation and likely cost them their offer.

desert_rue 3y ago
The band should be what the company is willing to pay the new hire, not what everyone with that title is making.

tnel77 3y ago

I worked for a mega-corp (not FAANG) and my manager told me that the company did “extensive research” to determine market value for each position’s salary, and that their goal was to then be at 95% of that market value. So annoying that you, allegedly, know what the market value is and then purposely try to undercut it to save a little money. I get that it’s a business and it’s nothing personal, but this company had insane profits and mad growth so they could afford to pay people a bit better.