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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

#601

Post by base698 »

darksim905 wrote: post #526
knite wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've wanted to share my thoughts and experiences regarding the "never be the first to quote a number" strategy for some time, but I usually see these threads when they're too stale to comment on. My background: I'm a senior-level engineer in my early 30s, in SF. After a consulting stint, I interviewed heavily in 2013, and again in the second half of 2015, and currently speak with 1-2 recruiter cold calls per week to…

I don't want to be rude, but at that salary is it easy to survive, or hard? Do you rent, or own a home? That salary can buy you a castle out in Texas, Florida, or anywhere else. Looking for anything beyond that (IT Director in Santa Monica makes $180k, maybe more depending on where it is) -- at that amount of pay, not only are you close to being a dreaded top 1% person, you're getting paid out the butt for what every…

I know a few directors making $250k base with big bonuses on top. Most of the senior devs I know make around $180k.

$180k a year can not buy you a home in Santa Monica. Mortgage would be > half your take home even in a condo and the alternative is to commute an hour each way.

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

#602

Post by Johnnybe »

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.

I have had a company request a previous paystub. I guess you could Photoshop that.

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

#603

Post by netman21 »

p4wnc6 wrote: post #96
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'm interested in what your negotiation principles are. I've always heard that a candidate should never share salary information and require the company to provide the first concrete number in the form of their initial offer. However, I've repeatedly used all of the "business-professional" and "HR approved" sorts of conversational techniques to enact this advice, and the only result that has ever occurred is either (…

I have had many jobs. Here is how I start a salary negotiation: I name the package that will get me to drop everything and start tomorrow. Salary, bonus, benefits, options. Anything less and we can talk, but I will still be negotiating with other companies, and one of those may snap me up, or I will continue doing what I am doing today. That puts them in the position of convincing me that the intangibles (career growth, challenge, great team, mission) justify taking less. At the end of the day, you are happy with what you get, regardless of what someone else gets.

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

#604

Post by hn_user23 »

t3nary wrote: post #598
hn_user23 wrote: post #540

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

They don't differentiate in the position descriptions. They just want a degree.. but it is hard to match most of the requirements with just a bachelor. I talked to some colleagues about the hiring process and if that salary is fixed, regardless if you have a master or bachelor. They said yes, there is not much you can do. Furthermore is it difficult to talk about the salary with others because they think it is a taboo.

I checked glassdoor but there is not enough comparable data for entry positions. However, compared to other companies the salary at SIEMENS is good.

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

#605

Post by pyre »

hodgesrm wrote: post #492
st3v3r wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See, that's why at-will is a terrible end run around worker's rights.

How so? At-will cuts both ways. In countries like Finland as well as France it can be quite time-consuming to switch jobs due to the fact you have to give three months or more notice. That's leaving aside entirely the issue of how at will employment gives companies confidence to hire since they know they can shed employees if things go south. If you are looking for an end run try binding arbitration, which allows emp…

> That's leaving aside entirely the issue of how at will employment gives companies confidence to hire since they know they can shed employees if things go south.

Maybe for unskilled jobs, but the idea that an employer will hire/fire employees at the whims of the market, and there is zero cost to this process does not apply everywhere. There can be significant cost to on-boarding people depending on the industry / position.

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

#606

Post by pyre »

lsc wrote: post #505
knite wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've wanted to share my thoughts and experiences regarding the "never be the first to quote a number" strategy for some time, but I usually see these threads when they're too stale to comment on. My background: I'm a senior-level engineer in my early 30s, in SF. After a consulting stint, I interviewed heavily in 2013, and again in the second half of 2015, and currently speak with 1-2 recruiter cold calls per week to…

Most everyone I know who is primarily technical who's total compensation, ah, starts with a two has a base that isn't out of your range and the rest is bonus/stock. So yeah, on a good year? (like last year) a quarter million is completely reasonable, but that's not gonna hold if the company has a bad year. also, everyone I know in that income tax bracket works for those big companies. Startups just don't pay that kin…

> why don't you want to work at google, facebook, uber, apple, etc...? (amazon, btw, is on that list, too.)

I've never come across an ex-Amazon employee with good things to say about the company (though this is admittedly a small sample-size).

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

#607

Post by yomly »

guy_c wrote: post #589
nevir wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 140 RSU (granted at signing, almost none vested) Is it still the ridiculous 5-10% year 1, 5-10% year 2, and then the rest spread out over years 3-4?

Why is it so ridiculous? Isn't it trying to serve as a retention incentive? Obviously it can back-fire on the company. If the share price drops a lot then people that were planning on staying till the 6 monthly vesting may quit.

From what I heard from people who worked at Amazon during the especially rocky years, their share compensation is tied to a monetary value - if the share value tanks significantly, they'll issue shares to compensate. If you're into gambling, this can be a -very- good thing considering Amazon has gone on to double in value over very short time periods historically. Otherwise, its a fair concession on Amazon's part

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

#608

Post by chucksmash »

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…

What do you mean that this is a big no-no? Can you provide a source for that? I was under the opposite impression and I'd be interested to learn more.

The reason I ask is I've certainly worked at companies that shared salary info if asked about your tenure there. In fact, it was one of the very few things they would share (in addition to start date and end date). Maybe it varies by state?

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

#609

Post by [deleted] »

brokebook wrote: post #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 do…

[deleted]

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

#610

Post by Diederich »

ryanbrunner wrote: post #571
mixmastamyk wrote: post #537

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it necessary to state your current info?

Personally, I think it's worthwhile to include, as social proof. If another company was paying $X and was perfectly happy with the employee, $X plus a modest / reasonable $Y doesn't seem so crazy. It shows that you're not just pulling an unrealistic salary out of thin air.

Right, though I would put "scare quotes" around "proof", since from their perspective I could be making it up. (:

When things get more serious, I sometimes go over my history of compensation with them.

To me, it comes down to the question: does company X need me more than I need company X? For the right people with the right skills and the right experience, the "power" is with the potential employee.

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