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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

#381

Post by twright0 »

dguaraglia wrote: post #156

On a related note, someone at Google started a spreadsheet about a year ago where people could post (anonymously or not) their salary and a few more interesting datapoints (gender, age, location, etc.) I'm not sure whether the spreadsheet did anything to highlight gender/ethnicity/visa-status disparities (the biggest disparities I remember seeing were based on location, but that's understandable) but it was a great t…

> I have to praise Google for the way the situation was handled

The original creator of the spreadsheet claimed that she was retaliated against in the form of her manager rejecting peer bonuses sent to her.

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

#382

Post by tamana »

TenOhms wrote: post #364
meric wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second his anecdote. Have received large raises twice, but had to negotiate hard for it, with offers from outside in hand.

Pretty much my experience too. My dad worked at one job for nearly 25 years of his life and I learned a couple years ago that I already make over twice what he did by the time he retired. My dad was a little like Al Bundy though, he never really sought to improve himself like I do constantly and I'm sure almost everyone here does too. I think the industry still has a lot of managers who think in terms of running a sh…

Al Bundy invented a shoe with a built-in sock.

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

#383

Post by timechanic »

incepted wrote: post #204
lexhaynes wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you respond when they ask you for your salary information? Would it be perceuved as rude to say "I decline to state"?

State the one you want, not the one you're currently making. They won't (and legally should't be able to) check. And if they do and somehow, your previous employer disclosed this to them (a big no no), you can always say "I was underpaid then and what I was making there is not relevant to the position I'm applying to with your right now. I also think I've learned a lot in my past position, which justifies this jump i…

I've only ever done this (caveat: in the US, where they can't legally check by calling the company directly). Increase your previous salary by 20-30%, even more if it's the norm. I've even countered with "my current co just countered to keep me..." Gotta have some chutzpah.

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

#384

Post by YouPlayGames »

wheaties wrote: post #342
stale2002 wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There IS another solution to this. When someone asks how much you are currently making, you should flat out lie. They won't check. I've job hopped a bunch, and usually I just take whatever I was currently making, and add 15%, and say that that was my base. If employers are going to play negotiation games, you shouldn't feel bad about playing them too.

You do this and they catch you, you will be fired. I am a manager who believes in pay people more. Pay them what they want, not what they were making. That said, if you lie to me, I don't take it well.

HR and management have the upper hand in the hiring process. If you play these kinds of games when negotiating salary, you deserve to be lied to - whether or not you take it well doesn't matter.

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

#385

Post by spinlock »

buserror wrote: post #218
p4wnc6 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the handful of cases where the company was OK with my non-answer about salary, and I went on to get all the way to a job offer, the salary ended up being entirely miscalibrated to a candidate of my skill and experience, and the overall interview process (which usually included some technical screens, programming tests, take-home tests, and long on-site technical interviews) was a massive waste of my time, not to m…

My reply to the 'our company is doing so well, you will ALSO do very well once you bed in' is to remind them that most notable pay rises you ever get during your career is when you switch job. So negotiate your pay NOW because for all you know, you'll be stuck to that sort of level for X years to come if you are unlucky. As for 'shares' I flatly refuse to even consider that as part of a package. if they want to /add/…

How do you get business. Im thinking of consulting but I don't know where to start in selling myself.

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

#386

Post by tamana »

dsr_ wrote: post #200
tptacek wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. It's nowhere nearly that simple; you can say exactly the same thing about firing someone because they're black, or because they complained about sexual harassment. From experience (as a bystander), what really happens in a case like this is: * Employee is terminated * Employee believes they were terminated for a reason forbidden by state or federal law * Employee retains an employment lawyer, who drafts a letter…

There is another reason for a PIP: the employer thinks the employee has been doing their job badly but could do acceptably well. The PIP is the last available tool to get them back up to speed.

Once the PIP appears, improvement has already failed. If your peers and manager can't fix your performance problem, his could some arbitrary HR paperwork process?

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

#387

Post by peteretep »

philovivero wrote: post #217
maxaf wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This simply isn't true. I received a >$30,000 raise at one of my previous employers after they realized that I was being grossly underpaid for the work I was doing. Granted, I had to bring my managers' attention to this, but they were understanding & did right by me.

Your anecdote is the exception to the rule. I've been in the industry for 20 years and can affirm the rule: you don't get raises from your current employer. You get raises by changing employers.

I have overseen 25-30% increases for developers as part of a normal salary review process as recognition that their experience at the current company had grown them in to more senior developers.

No negotiation, no threats to leave, they weren't aware until we gave them the cash.

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

#388

Post by copperx »

b34r wrote: post #315
jmathes wrote: post #165

The most important thing you can do for your career is: * Accept a job somewhere * Get promoted (doesn't matter how) * let yourself get hired away from your current company Getting hired away from your current company is the only way to get a fair raise based on increased experience. Companies never give substantial raises to current employees.

100% agree with you. I've been able to get 30-40% raises YoY by job hopping roughly every 1.5 years. It's enough time to get experience somewhere, but not enough to become complacent. YMMV

Do you move every 1.5 years? that must be fun ...

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

#389

Post by zaroth »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #123
snake_plissken wrote: post #94

Ieee FML this has been a depressing read. Is anyone else realizing they are severely underpaid? Passes the virtual whiskey

Question is, do you work in the same geographic area? Pay ranges are extremely regionally-based, because cost of living varies wildly.

I'd say it's not so-much the cost of living which really drives the pay ranges, it's more the level of local competition for talent. The actual cost of living difference between, e.g. metro-west Boston and Bay Area probably can explain less than half of the salary difference.

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

#390

Post by mdip »

tamana wrote: post #376
mdip wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's certainly true, and for most of us in the US, it's also true that as an at-will employee at a company, you're only protected by what the law covers . The list of things it doesn't cover is long enough that it's not terribly difficult to find a reason that is legal to cover-up the real reason. There's the bigger problem with sharing your salary openly: raises. My dad told me when I started working "Don't talk a…

Right. If you are underpaid, make noise. If you are overpaid, you deserve a target on your back for profiting off your coworkers.

Ha. I don't know if I'd go quite that far, and I believe it has a bit more innocence behind it.

Interpersonal, HR related issues are usually very low on the list of things your manager enjoys. Assuming you're well known for publicly discussing salary, giving you an average raise and keeping you at the same salary might make you a little upset when you feel you deserve more (to which you might get a "my hands are tied" or "there wasn't room in the budget, this time"), but giving you a salary that eclipses your colleagues will make the rest of the team angry -- and probably a lot more angry than you'll get by just receiving the average. Unfortunately, the math ends up being not to your benefit.

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