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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

#461

Post by incepted »

timechanic wrote: post #383
incepted wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's an awesome retort, never thought of that!

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

#462

Post by asdfologist »

hudibras wrote: post #370
asdfologist wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you have any confidence that any of their numbers are real? Unlike this thread or even Glassdoor, there's a clear incentive to submit fake data to Comparably because they require you to submit a salary before you can see any of their data (and encourage you to sign in with your LinkedIn account).

Yikes. Anybody who gives both their salary and LinkedIn information to any company is either insane or stupid.

Right, so the salaries are probably biased towards the low end.

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

#463

Post by a3n »

brashrat wrote: post #261
python_cto wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But not for divulging confidential information to the world, which is what the OP has done.

are you suggesting that companies can get around labor regulations by declaring your compensation to be confidential? I'd check with a lawyer if I were you, that's some pretty thin ice you are skating on.

Tangential - I asked my manager where I am on the stack rank once. He said it's confidential information.

I have access to VCS, bugbases, all the documents. We're a very metrics-oriented organization. And the one thing that defines where I stand with the company, I can't be trusted with.

I think if I didn't get a check every two weeks with the number on it, they wouldn't tell me how much I'm paid.

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

#464

Post by ghayes »

pyre wrote: post #425
HR0000000 wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Just as you can quit, walk out, and be done. For no reason. But they can't fire you for health reasons, personal reasons, etc.

> Yes. Just as you can quit, walk out, and be done. What is the flip-side to at-will employment though? Without at-will employment, do employees become slaves that cannot quit their job? Or are there only a small list of "legal" reasons for you to quit your job. I always see "well the employee can always leave at any time too," but is that really something that disappears in places without at-will employment?

On the employee side, I think the alternative is Two week's notice. Not exactly "slaves," but with some structure for how to resign.

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

#465

Post by diskcat »

jondubois wrote: post #405
JoshDoody wrote: post #14

I'm not an Amazonian, but I wanted to chime in here to say I think this thread is a great idea and I would love to see more like it. I write about salary negotiation and coach people through it, and I think sharing salaries publicly will encourage more people to negotiate and get paid what they're worth. I recently coached a new Amazon employee, and he got a very good offer, which he increased by about 15% using VERY…

I think you should share your salary with as many people as possible. This "don't share" policy is just a trick used by companies to keep labor costs down. If employees know each other's pay, they will start demanding raises - Then you get in a situation like in the finance sector where companies will be forced to pay big bonuses to hold on to important employees. Companies don't want that - They want their engineers…

The problem is that when you share your salary people who make less than you start despising you and people who make more than you start looking down on you.

It's less of a corporate conspiracy but more "this is why you can't have nice things". People just can not handle it in a mature and responsible way, which is why the 'don't talk about money' "common sense" developed.

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

#466

Post by a3n »

tptacek wrote: post #334
meric wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the off-chance they're doing that because your performance is abysmal and you haven't improved enough from their informal intervention, if in PIP you managed to finally recover your performance, maybe they will let you stay a bit longer.

Sure. It's not a guarantee. But personally, I think if you get a PIP, your best next move is to start applying for other jobs.

Exactly. "Thank you for letting me know well in advance that you intend to let me go."

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

#467

Post by enraged_camel »

JoshDoody wrote: post #439
enraged_camel wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I interview techies, and I always make a point to ask them to give me their expected salary range. The purpose behind this isn't to one-up them and pay them as little as possible. It's just in both parties' best interest to avoid wasting time if the expected pay is too high. Neither we nor the candidate want to go through several rounds of interviews for something that ultimately won't work out. And at the opposite e…

This response makes me wonder why you don't just tell the candidate the range you're willing to pay and let them tell you if that works for them. I definitely understand the need to be efficient with everyone's time, but "have the candidate share their desired salary" is only one way to do that. I have heard this reasoning from recruiters many times, but haven't heard a good explanation as to why they don't just tell…

We do that too. We don't have a preference either way, because for us it only serves one purpose, which is to determine if we should continue the interview process.

Surprisingly, very few candidates ask us upfront what the position pays. In fact, we've only had one candidate who tried to play the "salary game" (if you will) and turned the question back on us when we asked what their salary range was. Like I said though, we just reveal it. To us, it's not a game, but rather two parties exchanging information in a fair and transparent manner.

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

#468

Post by amzn_irl_taway »

iolothebard wrote: post #44
amzn_irl_taway wrote: post #22

Ex amazonian here, but in Ireland, I left (thankfully) at the end of 2015. I was a systems engineer in Dublin and the only significant payraise I got was after I left the company for 4 months to then rejoin, my salary was bumped up 12k euros, for a total of 62k/yr, with 150 shares over 4 years (sorry I do not remember the vesting scheme). The HR department in AMZN has the tendency to screw internal employees upon pro…

Seems dickish toward the company you work at for 4 months though. Were your offices by that famous Gaol? I thought it was interesting seeing a mix of the old and new so close together.

I was speaking with another company, but unforeseen family matters took precedence and I ended up not taking the job there. Another ex amazonian did accept an offer from the same company I was speaking with and in hindsight it was for the best, it did not work out exactly smoothly form him so...

And yes, the office was exacly in front of the Kilmainham Gaol, unfortunately the office was quite depressing, so much so that it was an inside joke that the Amazon office was 21st century Gaol.

Luckily they moved in a much better place now.

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

#469

Post by hluska »

pyre wrote: post #425
HR0000000 wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Just as you can quit, walk out, and be done. For no reason. But they can't fire you for health reasons, personal reasons, etc.

> Yes. Just as you can quit, walk out, and be done. What is the flip-side to at-will employment though? Without at-will employment, do employees become slaves that cannot quit their job? Or are there only a small list of "legal" reasons for you to quit your job. I always see "well the employee can always leave at any time too," but is that really something that disappears in places without at-will employment?

Consider contract employment. You agree to work for me for x months. In exchange, I agree to pay you $y. The contract outlines reasons that I can fire you and reasons that you can quit. And, if either party violates the terms of the agreement, we can go to court.

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

#470

Post by albinofrenchy »

JoshDoody wrote: post #439
enraged_camel wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I interview techies, and I always make a point to ask them to give me their expected salary range. The purpose behind this isn't to one-up them and pay them as little as possible. It's just in both parties' best interest to avoid wasting time if the expected pay is too high. Neither we nor the candidate want to go through several rounds of interviews for something that ultimately won't work out. And at the opposite e…

This response makes me wonder why you don't just tell the candidate the range you're willing to pay and let them tell you if that works for them. I definitely understand the need to be efficient with everyone's time, but "have the candidate share their desired salary" is only one way to do that. I have heard this reasoning from recruiters many times, but haven't heard a good explanation as to why they don't just tell…

The reason is because the first person to say a number is at a slight disadvantage, and recruiters and managers don't want it to be them.

It is true that making sure you are on the same page salary-wise is a good idea, but it doesn't always have to be the interviewee to establish that.

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