121–130 of 596 posts
Even if you think you’re well paid, now is the time to look around. I’ve had a lot of friends, mentees, and coworkers get huge bumps on total compensation even as relatively senior engineers and managers. Pay is jumping and companies aren’t doing a great job keeping that up for their people who have been around for a few years. As an employer, that should be the top worry, keep comp up, don’t lose your people because…
Got some RSU vesting November. Should I wait?
We started hiring in 2015 and have always been 100% remote. We have a team of 38 now with around 25 full time US based employees. Hiring has always been a breeze for us because we've always been 100% remote. Until Covid hit and the word 'remote' started being used by basically everyone, even companies that are hybrid or are going to go back to in-office at some point.
There's another factor, and that is growth in the tech sector. There is just a shortage of great engineers right now and very high demand.
In response, we raised the salaries of our developers that are already part of the team significantly. Then we raised the advertised pay range for our PHP devs to $120K to 150K, we added a $20K signing bonus to all developer roles, and we started using recruiters for the first time. These changes have made a huge improvement to the candidates we're seeing. Keep in mind that these are 100% remote roles and always will be, with candidates based anywhere in the world - not confined to large tech hubs. Our benefits are incredible and we have 21 days PTO - just for additional context.
I think the only viable solution for employers is to respond to changes in market conditions, and do what we've done. Pay your people more, increase your hiring salary range, consider a signing bonus that isn't bullshit, but actually is a huge additional tangible benefit for talented engineers joining your company.
I don't think the kind of pressure tactics described in the article, like "exploding job offers" are the answer. You're just playing silly games and wasting a candidate's time and your own, plus potentially trashing your company's brand in the hiring market.
I've have worked as an ops engineer and dev for a long time before building a successful tech business, and I've lived through a hot hiring market several times, as a talented engineer working to maximize my earnings potential. I'd strongly encourage you to look around and get a sense of what the market can offer you. Have conversations with a few recruiters. Don't let your company use meaningless enticements to make you stay. And don't get enticed by pressure tactics or things that don't actually help you earn more and have a better quality of life. Focus on the fundamentals when evaluating options - base salary, actual starting days of PTO, medical, 401K if you're USA based. And take action now, because this probably won't last.
It's a great time to be a talented engineer, pretty much globally.
Even if you think you’re well paid, now is the time to look around. I’ve had a lot of friends, mentees, and coworkers get huge bumps on total compensation even as relatively senior engineers and managers. Pay is jumping and companies aren’t doing a great job keeping that up for their people who have been around for a few years. As an employer, that should be the top worry, keep comp up, don’t lose your people because…
I see a ton of jobs posted for seniors right now but almost none for juniors. Are companies being shy about talent risks right now?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Amazon is absolutely a red flag on the resume. Many hiring managers (like myself) do not want to import the toxic, backstabbing, PIP culture from Amazon into our org. Also I’ve noticed the quality of Amazon engineers is lower, on average, compared to Google, ByteDance, FB, Stripe, etc. My advice is to work somewhere not-Amazon for a year or two. Then you’ll get more bites.
> the toxic, backstabbing, PIP culture from Amazon into our org I don't think it's fair to blame this culture on individual line engineers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If someone’s going to hire you remote shouldn’t you demonstrate your ability to communicate well in text and elaborate on what makes you a good choice in a well written, directed cover letter?
In my entire decade+ career in bigtech, I've never used or looked at a single cover letter. Cover letters are a waste, and rightfully ignored.
I hate that the market is so great right now because I really can’t take advantage of it. I would love to start the process, to try and get a salary increase anywhere from 30%-100% but unfortunately I’ve stagnated sharply skills wise. Don’t qualify for the jobs I see I think I’d enjoy, and don’t even qualify for the jobs that meet my salary preferences that I’d otherwise dislike. I also would have to be looking at im…
I felt the same way over the past few years and decided to switch to a Technical Product Owner role at the beginning of this year. I used to be your typical HN user who was extremely passionate about programming, learning new frameworks, functional programming, etc, but at some point over my 10 year career I kinda stopped caring about tech entirely. Switching to a product owner role was great for me. I still get to leverage my technical knowledge without having to worry about the actual implementation too much. I also get to develop my soft skills like planning, communication, and conflict resolution, which is frankly a lot more interesting and satisfying than programming ever was.
Is this situation specific to the US? Has anyone experiences in other countries?
Even if you think you’re well paid, now is the time to look around. I’ve had a lot of friends, mentees, and coworkers get huge bumps on total compensation even as relatively senior engineers and managers. Pay is jumping and companies aren’t doing a great job keeping that up for their people who have been around for a few years. As an employer, that should be the top worry, keep comp up, don’t lose your people because…
On the flip side - I tell recruiters immediately they have to AT LEAST match my current comp. Every single one of them so far has said they can't even get close. If you work at FAANG - your RSUs (most likely) have doubled in about a year. You could easily already be getting paid more than the max offer for the level above where you're currently at.
I like my boss and team, but if someone offers me enough money and a fully remote job, well, it's going to be hard to say no.
Even if you think you’re well paid, now is the time to look around. I’ve had a lot of friends, mentees, and coworkers get huge bumps on total compensation even as relatively senior engineers and managers. Pay is jumping and companies aren’t doing a great job keeping that up for their people who have been around for a few years. As an employer, that should be the top worry, keep comp up, don’t lose your people because…
Got some RSU vesting November. Should I wait?