The 2011 IT Salary Guide • Hacker News Board

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#21

Post by babul » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:01 PM UTC

generalk wrote: post #10

sethg wrote: post #5

When comparing offers or negotiating a raise, how do people translate between a salary and a salary-plus-bonus? When my company got acquired, my base salary didn’t go up, but now I get a performance-based bonus; both my individual performance and the company’s overall hitting-its-numbers are used to compute the bonus figure. If my “normal” bonus (i.e., when everyone hits but does not exceed performance targets) is 10…

Personally I don't count bonuses as compensation. They're nice pot-sweeteners but salary is constant whereas bonuses can fluctuate.

But in many fields e.g. finance/banking/consulting, its all about the bonus, which can be several times your salary.

(and yes, this in many ways is the root cause of the current world financial problem, but just saying)

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#22

Post by robin_reala » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:06 PM UTC

This is US-only data; bit of a shame when the domain is earthweb.com.

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#23

Post by ohyes » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:15 PM UTC

sangaya wrote: post #11

brown9-2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think it only really makes sense to compare total compensation (salary + bonus + benefits) when comparing jobs.

I recently left a job that paid lower salaries and tried to focus on total compensation through bonus + benefits. The thing is, salary is steady and something I can budget my family off of. We can make decisions such as mortgage's, car payments, savings goals, investment goals, etc off of a salary. I can't do the same with a bonus. In fact, 08/09 made a lot of employees realize that the bonus can't be relied on in an…

This is the same for benefits. Benefits programs can have their terms modified from year to year.

A company with a great benefits program (ex. paying full tuition on a degree) can drop it from one year to the next.

So if you have a budget that includes that degree being paid for, you might find yourself suddenly strapped for cash when you are footing the bill for the degree yourself.

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#24

Post by joshwa » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:15 PM UTC

The actual source for this article is a document by Robert Half Technology (a staffing firm):

http://www.roberthalftechnology.com/FreeResources?rfmCandida...

Registration required. Would post to scribd, but the PDF is password protected. Reg-free download here:

http://drop.io/2011salaryguide/asset/rht-sg-2011-pdf

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#25

Post by swombat » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:17 PM UTC

mcknz wrote: post #13

cagenut wrote: post #3

• New York, NY: 41% higher • San Francisco: 35% higher as skype/telecommuting evolve there's an incredible arbitrage opportunity here without even going offshore.

On the other side, NYC companies will look for remote workers in the midwest to save money. Consulting companies can charge NYC rates with an Indiana overhead. Midwest is the new offshore.

"On the other side"? Seems you're making the exact same point he is...

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#26

Post by ohyes » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:18 PM UTC

f1gm3nt wrote: post #15

This just reminds me of how underpaid I am and that the closest city pays an average of 10% higher the average. I'm thinking it's time to move ;p

Remember that cities are more expensive to live in than suburbs. That extra 10% might just be cost of living adjustment. You have to figure out what your expenses are currently, as well as what your estimated expenses will be in the new location, before you really know that you will be getting an extra 10% salary or whatever.

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#27

Post by brown9-2 » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:19 PM UTC

sangaya wrote: post #11

brown9-2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think it only really makes sense to compare total compensation (salary + bonus + benefits) when comparing jobs.

I recently left a job that paid lower salaries and tried to focus on total compensation through bonus + benefits. The thing is, salary is steady and something I can budget my family off of. We can make decisions such as mortgage's, car payments, savings goals, investment goals, etc off of a salary. I can't do the same with a bonus. In fact, 08/09 made a lot of employees realize that the bonus can't be relied on in an…

This is very true. The variability of a benefit should certainly be taken into account. My point was just that salary alone is not your complete compensation so it shouldn't be the only number looked at.

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#28

Post by generalk » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:21 PM UTC

babul wrote: post #21

generalk wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I don't count bonuses as compensation. They're nice pot-sweeteners but salary is constant whereas bonuses can fluctuate.

But in many fields e.g. finance/banking/consulting, its all about the bonus, which can be several times your salary. (and yes, this in many ways is the root cause of the current world financial problem, but just saying)

Of course it depends on the field, and for top C-level executives the bonus is pretty much the biggest chunk of compensation. My particular bonus rests on my performance, and is based on profit besides, which is the most common form of bonus I've seen in the trenches of software development.

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#29

Post by bbarthel » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:22 PM UTC

frobozz wrote: post #8

brown9-2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would think it only really makes sense to compare total compensation (salary + bonus + benefits) when comparing jobs.

Yes, but how do you value a bonus, if you don't know how much it is, or whether you'll get it? A salary of 50K is a salary of 50K, you get 50K over a year. How does that compare to a salary of 45K + bonus? Is it more, less, or the same?

My basic formula runs like this - when I'm negotiating, I cite my previous salary as everything I earned - salary + all bonuses plus any other perks I can cite.

When I'm comparing, I use only money I'm guaranteed: salary plus any guaranteed or performance bonuses I am confident I can hit (with targets in writing as part of my job agreement). Bonuses that are based on nomination or any other "approval" type process are really just too risky for me to consider as part of my overall compensation package. They will only factor if all else is basically equal.

Re: The 2011 IT Salary Guide

#30

Post by generalk » Wed, Oct 27, 2010, 4:26 PM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #7

sethg wrote: post #5

When comparing offers or negotiating a raise, how do people translate between a salary and a salary-plus-bonus? When my company got acquired, my base salary didn’t go up, but now I get a performance-based bonus; both my individual performance and the company’s overall hitting-its-numbers are used to compute the bonus figure. If my “normal” bonus (i.e., when everyone hits but does not exceed performance targets) is 10…

I would think it only really makes sense to compare total compensation (salary + bonus + benefits) when comparing jobs.

That certainly makes sense, but weigh salary and benefits higher than bonuses.

Anecdote: The company I work for had a particularly rough quarter years ago and couldn't make bonuses. Those that had planned on their bonuses being there were suddenly left with a deficit. Even though the company increased bonuses next quarter to make up, that didn't help those guys then.