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Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

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Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#592
If you're a new grad a good place to look at is your school's salary survey.

For both MIT and CMU with just a BS the median starting salary is 105k (you have to be bottom half of the class to make less than that!)

https://gecd.mit.edu/sites/default/files/documents/2015-gss-...

Min: $70,000 Max: $185,000 Mean: $106,407

https://www.cmu.edu/career/salaries-and-destinations/2015-su...

Min: $30,000 Max: $150,000 Mean: $103,608

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#593

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, contrary to popular belief the party that makes the first offer could have the upper hand. This advantage is due to what psychologists call "the anchoring principle" [1], which is one of many cognitive biases. [1] Thinking, Fast and Slow - by Daniel Kahneman [2] http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-negotiate-make-first-o...

I really agree with this. As a business owner, I definitely find if I'm talking to someone good and they confidently state a number that's above my intended range (but not completely nuts) I'll start thinking along the lines of how I could make that work, or at least make an offer that wouldn't be completely out of their expected range. It only works if you're someone they really want to hire though, and if you know…

Yes, "don't say a number" is more applicable to those who are under-compensated. Since this is the case with most people, it is generally good advice. I'm not the best negotiator, but I have put myself into a position of making a pretty good salary and this is what I would suggest for someone that is trying to get a big bump higher: give them a range where the bottom number is the minimum you will accept. For example, say you're 2 years out of school, making 80k and you hear on hn and elsewhere that you should have a 100k base. When numbers come up, don't be afraid to say one first, but say "I'm looking for a base in the range of 100 - 120k.". Say that even if they just asked "what is your current comp?". If they press forward with needing to know you're current comp, eventually you will have to say it, but reiterate your required range immediately after telling then your current/history.

The most important part here is that this will end the conversion with many recruiters. This helps you to know that those recruiters were not trying to help you. Just repeat with more recruiters.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#594

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to an engineer at a startup in SF making $150,000/year and paying over $3,000/mo [1] for a one bedroom apartment + California income/gains taxes, you're not doing too poorly at all. Your quality of life is also likely better and you're less exposed to crime. [1] https://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-san-francisco-ren...

"Quality of life" But Reno though!!

Haha, better than stepping over homeless people/human feces!

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#595
post #490

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm all for solid negotiating tactics, but if you consider telling an untruth, you are not welcome on my team. You may still find other teams in the world that you can dupe, but in the end, I expect lies to hurt your overall prospects (in life as well as work.)

The whole point is that its impossible to verify....

Unverifiable makes it hard to believe as well (unless the numbers were reasonable to start with).

But there's an easy check, should they care to do it: call their current manager.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#597
These discussions feel good, but are ultimately useless. This is just going to be a collection of anecdotes from people who self-select to report because they feel good about where they're at, or because they feel righteously justified in complaining about their situation. And, as they say, the multitude of anecdote does not data make.

Unfortunately, salary "surveys," like the recently-reported Stack Overflow one, or the classic Computerworld one, are much the same. Self-selection ruins the data. The responses have to be random to be useful. And the silly thing is that most people who are involved in this business know this.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#598

Salaries for Germany anyone?

It would be awesome to see such a thread for not only Germany but Europe. There is no way you can compare the salaries from the US with the salaries here. I can speak for SIEMENS where they publish the pay for open positions internally. However it is very hard to get into SIEMENS currently, given their savings plan.. I heard that the salaries for the open positions are fixed. I have no idea if this is true. I will re…

> - Level: Entry level Software Developer, Bachelor or Master - Location: Germany, Nuremberg - Salary: EG9 ~49000€

Do they not differentiate between entry level + bachelor degree vs. entry level + master degree?

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been asked for proof of current salary (paycheck stubs, etc.) to be included with all my onboarding and HR forms when the current salary formed a basis for my new salary, FYI.

That is none of their business and you should not feel bad about saying no.

I agree in theory. In practice it came after I had an offer, an impending start date, and had put in notice to my current job. It was an onboarding day where I was filling out tax and HR forms. Hard to suddenly say no out of principle knowing it might make them revoke the offer. I was truthful about current salary so there wasn't anything to hide.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon

#600
Germany, Lead Engineer at a company with a couple of hundred employees, my role involves architecture, full-stack coding, cloud stuff: ~$81k (some part of that variable bonuses, depending on companies targets).

While the job market seems to be in favor of job seekers these days (it seems to be practically impossible to recruit developers for small/medium shops, you get pinged by recruiters all the time) the salary does not really reflect this. it's rising but pretty moderately. you get offered $100k jobs once a while, mostly in finance.

Also the air gets pretty thin in germany when you actually want to do technically interesting and challenging things. Most jobs on the market are quite dull and involve enterprisey and/or legacy things. Most developers I worked with, however, do not seem to mind the backwardsness, are happily married to their languages and tools, and tend not to be overly passionate about their work (which might just be the right attitude).

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