Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#21

Post by onion2k » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 4:55 PM UTC

People should negotiate. I'm not particularly impressed by the underhand tactics; obviously it'd have been better if you'd countered with "I think I'm worth $260k" and been contracted on that rather than lying about it, and obviously you've given your new employer a free pass to fire you if anyone ever finds out. But the result is definitely a win.

One caveat to that win though - your employer's expectations of the value you'll bring also went up from $170k to $260k. You've gone from 'very good developer' to 'in-demand amazing developer'. You get all the stress that comes with that.

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#22

Post by fakeusername » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 4:56 PM UTC

chrisan wrote: post #20

Is there a good site to see how much one "should" be making?

www.glassdoor.com may help.

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#23

Post by jamespitts » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 4:59 PM UTC

I am going to go out on a limb and say that fake anything is a bullshit way of doing business. In a small way, you probably have made our corner of the world a worse place to be in.

Why not just ask for 260K? To lie in order to get it may seem like the only way to guarantee a realization of what you are worth, but this fosters a business climate that you ultimately may not want to live in. Companies may feel the need to be more defensive at the negotiating table, put the squeeze on developers in terms of hours or reduced open source contributions, or even to illegally collude in order to force people to stay at their... oh wait that one already happened.

A business climate in which parties are faking information can be a dangerous place. It is in our collective best interest to be honest and to foster an environment in which honesty is expected. Think on that the next time you buy a food product.

Another example that is more general: company leadership feels the need to produce a certain kind of quarterly financial result in order to appear favorable to investors or customers. The company that has the most accolades fakes it the most, leading to a lot of pressure on everyone else to do the same. Someone has to pay for this though, often it is paid in increased risk.

EDIT: removed irrelevant examples.

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#24

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 5:00 PM UTC

joezydeco wrote: post #8

ForHackernews wrote: post #7

I have a question: How do people even have real counteroffers? Do you apply for multiple jobs and two or more happen to make you an offer? How do you manage to get the times to line up so perfectly?

One way is to go back to your original company and say you're leaving. You then either sit back and see if they offer you more money to stay, or you explicitly tell them "NewCo is offering $X" and see if they match or beat that. This move, while very gutsy and sometimes very effective, only really works in an industry where you're in high demand and/or you're essential to the operation of your current employer. But,…

[deleted]

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#25

Post by iterationx » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 5:16 PM UTC

You lied for money. EOF

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#26

Post by mrbonner » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 5:28 PM UTC

Seattle? Man, I feel underpaid right NOW.

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#27

Post by seanflyon » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 5:56 PM UTC

artie_effim wrote: post #2

UNITS!!????!!!!

Dollars per year.

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#28

Post by Someone1234 » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 6:15 PM UTC

EGreg wrote: post #14

Just out of curiosity, what is the industry your company is in, and what kind of position were you hired for? This is not at all to find out who you are, but I haven'f seen such salaries as the norm for most developers so I am always curious to know more as to what field and position attracts this kind of compensation out of the gate.

Yeah that's an insanely high pay packet even for a developer. Even sensor developers aren't seeing more than 120K around here.

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#29

Post by erickj » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 6:17 PM UTC

jamespitts wrote: post #23

I am going to go out on a limb and say that fake anything is a bullshit way of doing business. In a small way, you probably have made our corner of the world a worse place to be in. Why not just ask for 260K? To lie in order to get it may seem like the only way to guarantee a realization of what you are worth, but this fosters a business climate that you ultimately may not want to live in. Companies may feel the need…

Get off your high horse. Either congratulate or ignore, but in the end just move on.

Re: Tell: Got 50% bump for faking a counter offer

#30

Post by jamespitts » Thu, Oct 30, 2014, 6:26 PM UTC

erickj wrote: post #29

jamespitts wrote: post #23

I am going to go out on a limb and say that fake anything is a bullshit way of doing business. In a small way, you probably have made our corner of the world a worse place to be in. Why not just ask for 260K? To lie in order to get it may seem like the only way to guarantee a realization of what you are worth, but this fosters a business climate that you ultimately may not want to live in. Companies may feel the need…

Get off your high horse. Either congratulate or ignore, but in the end just move on.

I am not commenting here to feel good about myself or to spread my moral views. I am attempting to appeal to his personal and our collective self-interest.