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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

#651

Post by amzn »

new2amzn123 wrote: post #415

* Area: Seattle, WA * Position: SysDE II * Base Pay: $120k * Signing Bonus: $75k over 2 years * Relocation: Fully paid + $2.5k * Stock Units: $115k [200 RSUs] (5% at 1yr mark, 15% at 2yr mark, then 20% every 6 months from then on) * Gender: M * Native English Speaker: Yes I have ~2 years of experience.

This seems ridiculously good for a SysDE with that much experience. I had two years at a smaller company previously and was hired as a SysEng I for way less. Not in Seattle but still felt as though I got a raw deal underestimating myself.

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

#652

Post by spinlock »

mryan wrote: post #564
spinlock wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never "decline". I say I consider the entire compensation package because I realize they are a startup and need to sweeten their offer with stock because they don't have the revenue to pay a market rate. It's important to neg them a little when you guess what they will offer. Male them self consious about lowballing you without insulting them. I actually am beginning to think that its weak to ask them to throw out a…

> Why not state a deal that's 10% better than what you want? Are you really going to be heartbroken if you get more than you want? Because you might be leaving money on the table. What if the company was prepared to offer you 20% above your desired rate? Once you tell them +10% is your floor, they have no reason to offer above that.

That's why I think its weak. It's driven by fomo rather than going for what you want. Throwing out the first number let's you anchor the negotiation. It puts you in control.

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

#653

Post by learc83 »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #531
learc83 wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the OP means they can't legally access this information other than by getting you or your previous employer to disclose it. Most large companies won't give out your past salary information, so if they don't force you to provide proof, it's not very likely they will be able to verify it. >via background checks Background checks are normally done via a 3rd party background check company, and they don't have acc…

>Background checks are normally done via a 3rd party background check company, and they don't have access to this kind of data. Yes they do. There's a company owned by Equifax called The Work Number that collects such information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Work_Number

The only way The Work Number has access to your salary information is if your employer has given it to them. If your employer is willing to give that out then yes a hiring company can verify your salary.

We are back to my original point that the only way a hiring company can verify salary data is by asking your employer (or having 3rd party ask for them) or forcing you to verify it.

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

#654

Post by learc83 »

cmdrfred wrote: post #429
tamana wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Public companies publish quarter results..

According to Forbes: "less than 1 percent of the 27 million businesses in the U.S. are publicly traded on the major exchanges." [1] [1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/sageworks/2013/05/26/4-things-yo...

That's true but far more than 1% of employees are employed by publicly traded companies. Most of the 27 million businesses have no employees at all--there are only around 5 million businesses with employees.

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

#655

Post by learc83 »

Panoramix wrote: post #595
stale2002 wrote: post #536

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If I'm doing the hiring, I wouldn't expect a candidate to let me talk to their current manager--that's just insane.

If I thought the employee was worth the extra money they were asking for, I'd give it to them. If not, I'd let them walk. Whether their current job is considering matching their offer doesn't really matter to me.

If a candidate asks for a specific salary, I don't care why they want it. I only care whether I think they are worth it, and whether I can afford it.

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

#656

Post by anonsalarylol »

This is a web application for anonymously sharing salary information among a pool of participants. Each pool is identified by a UUID. A user cannot view the results of the pool unless they first share their information; the pool must also meet a minimum number of contributors set at pool creation time.

https://gist.github.com/anonymous/894b151cc981f783e3af

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

#657

Post by tdicola »

vonmoltke wrote: post #626
hibikir wrote: post #499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

70k salary is junior money in St.Louis. Absolutely average senior devs make 100-120. Good ones do long term consulting, and get closer to the 200k range. The best I have seen for a local company is about 250k a year, for truly shiny people.

Then I'm doing something seriously wrong, because I have been an engineer in Dallas for fourteen years (eight writing software full-time) and I have never made over $93k. Never had stock or a meaningful bonus, either.

Start interviewing and don't be afraid to push for double your current salary, or more. Maybe time to think about moving to a coast too.

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

#659

Post by timv »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #362
owenconti wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true at all. You just need to find a company that values you and your work. Our company intentionally hires juniors so that we can groom them as they grow. I was one of those juniors 100%.

You can't just dismiss their experience based on your experience. I, for one, have also found it to be very true, and I think most people would agree (insofar as it seems to be a bit of a meme).

The OP said Getting hired away from your current company is the _only_ way to get a fair raise (emphasis mine)

A single counter example is sufficient evidence to disprove such a universal claim.

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

#660

Post by timv »

bboreham wrote: post #563
p4wnc6 wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of recruiters say that it's not about ensuring the candidate gets the lower end of their expected range, but that's just what they say. I actually have a friend who worked at one of the aggressive boutique recruiting firms who mostly focus on the New York investment banking jobs. He told me that almost always, their client companies would tell them that if they were able to get a candidate to come in with a sal…

I hired developers into investment banking for 18 years. If we gave somebody a low number, the next bank would poach them in 1-2 years, wasting all the time we spent training them. After I learned this the hard way, I always went as high as I felt able to on the initial salary, because raises were much harder later on.

That was my experience as well. If you want to pay your team well, the best option is to bring people in at the highest number you can justify.

Raises were always harder to arrange, but it was a lot easier when we had evidence that new hires were costing us 20% more than our existing high performers were paid

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