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Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

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Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#181

Post by mfoy_ »

aerovistae wrote: post #88
evtothedev wrote: post #17

Does anyone know why engineering salaries are so low in Chicago? Especially with regards to city size / cost of living / amount of tech? It baffled me when I lived there, and it still baffles me when I don't.

Easier to hire here, supposedly. Fewer tech firms by comparison to SF/NY -> less competition for applicants. I'm in Chicago making ~95k and these threads the last couple days have been ever so mildly depressing, with people graduating same year as me and making $323k.

I mean, for what it's worth they say quality of life barely changes once you're past a threshold.[1] So I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[1]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/money-improves-qual...

Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#182

Post by LandoCalrissian »

jotux wrote: post #104

It's strange to me that these salary discussions are so narrowly focused on just pay/bonus and don't seem to care about benefits and work/life balance. Here's stuff I track in my own career spreadsheet and compare new jobs against these metrics when considering a new one: * Vacation, sick, and holiday time off * Distance to work and traffic considerations * Relative cost of living * Health insurance cost and coverage…

This is why I have stayed at my current company so long. They give us unlimited PTO, free public transit, good 401k matching, good healthcare and the relative cost of living is great. Hours are reasonable and maintaining work life balance is encouraged at all times.

I could leave and probably make quite a bit more, but I don't think all the benefits would come along with it. Also the relative cost of living almost guarantees that even if I did leave, what I pocketed after all expenses would almost certainly be less.

Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#183

Post by jdmichal »

fasteddie wrote: post #138
avar wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's trivial to game geolocation, e.g.: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lexa.fakeg...

Sure, but 1. even a small amount of friction will cut off the vast majority from doing it, especially when 2. there's no payoff to lying about your location in a salary transparency app

If there's no payoff, then why gate via location in the first place?

Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#184

Post by cookiecaper »

run4yourlives2 wrote: post #149

Just to let you know, most HR circles usually completely disregard self reported salary info because it has a tendency, (even when anonymously reported) to inflate the actual amounts.

I guess it depends on how much inflation is typical. What alternative do we have? It's not like companies are going to release this information to the public, and if they do, there's nothing to show that they're not going to be doing a little bit of inflation on their own. Personally, I think something like this is reasonably reliable. No one should expect to get an exact match, as salary comes down to a lot of variable factors, including individual negotiation skills, but most companies do try to keep things within a reasonable ballpark.

And fwiw, I put in a salary about 5k below what I actually make.

Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#186

Post by mpdehaan2 »

jotux wrote: post #104

It's strange to me that these salary discussions are so narrowly focused on just pay/bonus and don't seem to care about benefits and work/life balance. Here's stuff I track in my own career spreadsheet and compare new jobs against these metrics when considering a new one: * Vacation, sick, and holiday time off * Distance to work and traffic considerations * Relative cost of living * Health insurance cost and coverage…

Seriously this. Salary is NOT everything, and a job that is kicking your butt all day and especially eating into weekends is not worth the tradeoffs. At least, it will catch up with you.

Salary is useful for buying things, up until a point, and at a certain point (assuming you aren't too materialistic) whether you are enjoying the job and other things gets to be way more important, and monetary compensation really doesn't make you that much happier.

Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#187

Post by logicallee »

yitchelle wrote: post #158
logicallee wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

for sure! It's not like if our example gets an email saying someone would like to hire them for $180K, then they'll drive over for an interview and hand in their notice the same day. But do you think this is information that (as I think) should be asked here? I'm thinking it can only help workers.

If you can get that type of information, why not. It could only help for a more accurate comparison.

all right (just to be clear I have nothing to do with the spreadsheet.)

I was actually thinking that this could be a sort-of 'standing offer' from people as well. I mean hiring would certainly be a lot easier if everyone on linkedin had their price that you could probably immediately get them for!

This is just particularly true in the tech industry, which is prone to delirious investor-fueled bubbles on the one hand, but in which, on the other hand, employees really can generate a few million dollars worth of value over a weekend. (For example, by refining a checkout recommendation for related items, that one refinement could objectively result in an extra $million in sales through that exact mechanism.)

So I think the ability to actually reach workers at their jump-ship price (as opposed to just anonymously asking them for it, without any possibility for follow-up) could be a net benefit to employees. Good tech workers are extremely scarce.

Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#188

Post by josh_carterPDX »

It's intriguing to see such a wide variety when it comes to salary, bonus, stock, etc. I think there are a lot of mitigating circumstances when it comes to how employers think about salaries and it's not a "one size fits all" model. Seeing this makes it easy for someone on the surface to think they're getting a raw deal if they see their job title along with a higher salary than they're getting paid. Hopefully more information will be transparent and people will get numbers like these in better context. It's not to justify the level of salary, but to provide more background since everyone's background is different.

Re: Why not just a simple spreadsheet of salaries?

#189

Post by throwaway_7531 »

I'd put my salary on there, but it's a specific number in the $400k-$800k range (yes, base), which is basically identifiable. I may be the only person at my company on this specific number. (And I'm nervous about tightening that range up any more!) How many other highly paid professionals have the same hesitation? The really high salaries may never be part of an anonymous survey like this, where you are required to be that specific.
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