Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#1

Post by sexy_panda » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 12:54 PM UTC

Hi HN,

I'm looking for advice on calculating my market value.

I live in central Europe and work as a Cloud Architect, that also does DevOps and pretty much everything required project-wise.

I make 32k per year and it seems hard getting an average market pay. I have no university degree, but 6 years experience in IT, 3 years experience in CI/CD and 2 years experience with AWS and IaC.

How can I figure out my market worth?

Edit: I have little experience with negotiations and the job market, that's why I ask.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#2

Post by pc86 » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:17 PM UTC

First and foremost there is no magic formula. Your market value is whatever someone is willing to pay you, and there's no rule that this will increase linearly (or at all) over any arbitrary period of time.

You say you want "average market pay." What do you think "average market pay" is for a DevOps engineer with your experience and educational level? Why do you think that? Where are the employers hiring folks at those wages? I'm focusing on more thought-based questions since you asked about calculating your value as it is today, not necessarily just "how do I make more money" which has different answers.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#3

Post by fileeditview » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:17 PM UTC

Where in Europe? 32k seems very low for your role.. I am not sure how people without university degree are paid but I still think it should be a lot higher if you have all the required skills. Also maybe clarify what cloud architect means exactly.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#4

Post by jstx1 » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

Your market value = the best offer you can get. There's no point in looking for a formula (there isn't one). Look for better paying positions and interview for them.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#5

Post by mfrommil » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:21 PM UTC

1. Talk with others in your industry, at your company, or in similar roles to you. You'll at least get an idea of your potential range.

2. Interview and get offers. Your market rate is what the highest bidder is willing to pay.

3. Someone on HN shared this years ago and it helped me tremendously, it's better than any other blog post or book I've ever read about negotiating a job offer. Highly suggest reading it:

https://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/salary-negotiation/

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#6

Post by throwawaynay » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:26 PM UTC

1 * how_much_you_can_convince_someone_to_pay_you

if 32k is normal for your country look elsewhere maybe

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#7

Post by 3pt14159 » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:32 PM UTC

Your market value isn't a single number. I've more than doubled my total compensation before merely by happening to get into the right crowd. If you're hitting a compensation ceiling but you're sure your tech chops are up to snuff, consider networking (including online / over OSS) or reaching out to a recruiter that does international placement. Once you work with some expat or remote Americans you'll soon see a 5x to 10x in pay.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#8

Post by dewey » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:33 PM UTC

Depending on what your current "level" is you might be interested in what https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com is saying (It's mostly aimed at Senior and above). He focuses on Europa in comparison to the usual US centric advice you'll find everywhere.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#9

Post by tomp » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:33 PM UTC

Move to Switzerland, or maybe London / Berlin.

Re: Ask HN: How can I calculate my market value?

#10

Post by erwincoumans » Mon, Feb 07, 2022, 1:38 PM UTC

There is levels.fyi and teamblind.com and glassdoor.com, although more US oriented. Europe IT/software developer salaries seem to very slowly catch up with US, but are still much lower (even when taking cost of living and social security taxes / health insurances into account)

So try to talk to others around you, if above websites don't cover your country. Or try to move.