Ask HN: How much do you make at Amazon? Here is how much I make at Amazon • Hacker News Board

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

#681

Post by pmoriarty » Sun, Mar 20, 2016, 4:21 PM UTC

anonymoose234 wrote: post #551

kelukelugames wrote: post #546

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a link for you. Recruiter in the story works at a different company. https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/comments/2bu1id/m... Also if it's an electronic form then I put 1 dollar. It's fun.

Frustrating read. It wasn't in the form, she asked me over the phone after I passed the final interviewing step and they were going to extend an official offer. Good tip though, I've done that before and it's worked well. I was at a disadvantage in that a) I didn't have any other job offers for a comparable company and wasn't likely to get them anytime soon (see: state university degree, just 1 year experience) and b…

Think about this. You've just gone through a lengthy and highly selective interviewing process. You've succeeded where many others have failed. The company has invested a lot of its employees' valuable time in interviewing you. They've decided you are a good fit and are skilled enough for the role. There are no red flags (like a criminal history, ineligability to work in the country, etc) that would prevent them from hiring you. Then they ask how much you made at your previous company and you refuse to tell them.

Do you really think that after all that time and effort, after sifting through a mountain of undequalified candiates, they would now turn around and let a qualified, well-fitting candidate slip through their fingers over a bit of irrelevant trivia? Not on your life.

Demanding you tell them your previous salary or they'd cancel your application was a bluff, pure and simple. Same with them pretending that you were in no position to negotiate once they'd chosen you and make you an offer. Companies always start low and expect to be negotiated up, at least a little. And once they choose you and made you an offer, the power is in your hands. "Take it or leave it" is a bluff.

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

#682

Post by dublidu » Sun, Mar 20, 2016, 4:35 PM UTC

amazoniananon wrote: post #219

olympus wrote: post #5

While this doesn't have as much information as you listed, Glass Door ( https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm ) has information on job title/salaries at many companies. It's a "share your info and we'll let you see ours" set of rules, so be prepared to make a profile.

What I don't like about that is most of the entries will be old. I'd love if it had a way to show me only information from the past year.

Given that compensation in the Valley can go up 10% a year, and a significant portion can come from stock and bonus, I find data on GlassDoor to be fairly useless. The h1b database is a good source on base pay, but doesn't show stock and bonus.

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

#683

Post by jacalata » Sun, Mar 20, 2016, 7:00 PM UTC

boren_ave11 wrote: post #543

jacalata wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a clarification: I'm pretty sure that is held to cover employees discussing salaries amongst themselves, and that it has been found not to cover employees sharing salary data with others outside the company.

Do you have a cite for that?

I had a look and I actually can't find any cases that address an employee sharing their salary with third parties, so I might be wrong (or just bad at looking for relevant legal cases). However I can find numerous cites where people mention off-hand that 'of course this doesn't mean employees can share salaries outside the company' and similar - http://www.velaw.com/uploadedFiles/VEsite/Resources/Employer...

I would suggest anyone attempting to claim NLRA protection actually read the document, particularly clauses like the exclusion of protection for supervisors discussing salaries.

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

#684

Post by b34r » Sun, Mar 20, 2016, 7:34 PM UTC

SunShiranui wrote: post #570

b34r wrote: post #459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I've moved every year for the last 9 years. Definitely can get tiring. The last 2 were cross-country!

Didn't that hurt your social relationships somewhat?

As normal, the true friends stay and the situational ones fall away.

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

#685

Post by YetAnotherMSEng » Sun, Mar 20, 2016, 8:04 PM UTC

maybeunderpaid wrote: post #669

YetAnotherMSEng wrote: post #662

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An internal "High Potential" program in which candidates get faster promo tracks, bigger promos, face to face access to higher level execs, and other perks. They are not supposed to talk about this program, as well, and it is invite only.

I had never heard of that. I'm fairly sure my team has two people in the "club". Both are quite young and are already principals.

It's really a shame how things like that that are handled, from where I stand. Turns it into the closest parallel to the cool kids table that used to exist in highschool that I've seen in the decades since then.

Also, if you're a 2 and only at a slightly higher base than I am, you're "somewhat on track" from the conversations I've had, as far as pay per level for us normals :) That being said, I really botched my negotiation when coming in and didn't push my position, which left me coming in at a 59 from an industry position with greater responsibility, and role seems almost harder to change than pay from what I've seen.

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

#686

Post by amzthrow23424 » Sun, Mar 20, 2016, 9:23 PM UTC

bezoslave wrote: post #220

justinlardinois wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Admittedly I'm American and I've never worked for Amazon, so my situation might be different than yours. But what? Returning to the employer you quit from seems like a terrible idea. If it was years later, maybe you could explain it away with interview BS like "changing direction" or "finding your place." But months later makes you not much better than the guy who shows his boss an offer from another company to negot…

People leaving and rejoining Amazon is supercommon. That includes Principals. It feels like most people who have been at the company for 8+ years have been out of the company for some of the period. And you can even get the colored badge for tenure from non-consecutive employment.

Maybe in the past, but not in the future. People are much more aware of Amazon's "peculiar ways" thanks to the media. People in Seattle have far, far more options these days.

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

#687

Post by ebrenes » Sun, Mar 20, 2016, 10:50 PM UTC

notalaser wrote: post #584

pyre wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

> 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. The following is true for a sizable part of Europe. The flip side(s!) are: * I can't just walk out on a job, I have to give a 4-week notice (for any reason, though. It can be anything, from "I feel like I ne…

In Costa Rica, which follows a similar system, you can also buyout your notice period, which I think is fair for all sides.

Basically, if your notice period is 1 month, you can opt to pay the company 1 month's salary instead of having to work that time. If a company wants you gone, they pay you the equivalent wages for the notice period you were required to provide.

I think it's fair because both sides have agreed that $X amount is a fair exchange for the employees services. If those services cannot be replaced with $X then that's really the company's problem for taking advantage of the worker.

This buyout is in addition to any other severance package the worker might be receiving.

Anyways, I think it's pretty nifty as it allows the flexibility of leaving immediately, but also puts in some structure into the situation.

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

#688

Post by darbybung » Mon, Mar 21, 2016, 1:35 AM UTC

This is yet another millennial trying to skirt earning their keep.

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

#689

Post by knite » Mon, Mar 21, 2016, 2:21 AM UTC

JoshDoody wrote: post #445

p4wnc6 wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually an excellent point, and I can't believe I didn't think of this. If I am the first one to bring up salary, and I request a range because I want to make sure that nobody is wasting their time, then they clearly get the message that I am expensive to hire, and they can efficiently reject me if needed. If they give a number and it's too low, then I can politely tell them it's best for everyone to discont…

That all sounds very good to me :)

A, but there's a catch! I've asked for a company's range many times, and they have yet another non-answer answer: "we don't have a firm range in mind, we're confident compensation won't be an issue for a top candidate".

It's a game of chicken. The best counter I have is "what is the top of your range if we have a perfect fit?", but even that doesn't always work.

At this point, I'm sick of games. If a company refuses to disclose a salary range and/or insists on getting me to quote a number, I lead with $2X0 and see what happens. 80+% of companies aren't willing to hit that high, and the other 20% have been more interesting roles at higher quality companies.

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

#690

Post by iggiggigg » Mon, Mar 21, 2016, 3:25 AM UTC

eugene_ducker wrote: post #447

I created a throwaway just to pretend my salary isn't public record. Location : Eugene, OR. Position: Assistant Professor of Mathematics Tenure: 3 years Base pay (9 month) $72,000 in 2013, increased to about $75,000 in 2016. (minus union dues). Will increase to $82,000 when I make tenure. Signing bonus: $0 Stock: $0 Pension : keeping my fingers crossed. Experience when hire. Ph.D plus 5 years post-doc (at Princeton.)…

This is exactly the reason I decided not to stay in academia after I got my Ph.D. I could not rationalize working 10 to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, trying to teach, conduct research, scramble for funding, participate in department politics just to attain tenured position at an R1 school while making barely 75K starting.

I now work in a development position at a large tech company for which I'm overqualified. I work about 7 hours a day plus a couple of meetings. I never work weekends, have plenty of free time to conduct research on the side and make well into 6 figures.