Using old data is fine from a macro point of view. Contrary to SV spin, there hasn't been an "explosion" in salary levels (and in the few areas where salaries

Using old data is fine from a macro point of view. Contrary to SV spin, there hasn't been an "explosion" in salary levels (and in the few areas where salaries are high, they've been that high for a few years now). >When negotiating salary with HR (or as HR) for a software engineering position, what sources do you usually rely on for numbers about market salary and total compensation? As far as this goes, it is more an art and less a technical exercise. If you're proverbially a "sweet talker", you should be able to negotiate up to the companies maximum cap for that position. Finding out what that cap is? Well that is the art. As per your original question, try to get cozy with the hiring departments at universities and the HR that visits those universities to get some data on their salaries. I think most people these days rely on glassdoor and/or payscale because they seem to provide (mostly) accurate data.