Career Advice and Salary Negotiations: Move Early and Move Often | Hacker News Reader

Career Advice and Salary Negotiations: Move Early and Move Often

thehftguy.com

52 pointsProZsolt16 comments

This is nonsense

I was a manager. I cared a lot about keeping my people. I'd have fought for them if they told me they were leaving. I also wouldn't interview anyone who's average stay was around a year - that advice is awfully dangerous and can get you in a "don't bother screening" resume pile.

> I'd have fought for them if they told me they were leaving.

Thus you are confirming that they have (to threaten) to leave to get anything. ;)

No, what they have to say is "I enjoy the job, but I feel that I can get paid more elsewhere; have you considered re-leveling my comp so it reflects the value I add to the company?"

Don't need a competing offer. Don't need to threaten to leave. Just a "hey, re-level me please", and then a decent manager will either say "you're at the right level, if you can make more elsewhere go for it" or "you're right, you're under market comp, let's fix that."

I find the tone of the article a bit confronting, but I agree with the points.

Most of the time, raises in your company do not outpace the market pay. Also moving early and often keeps you sharp, learning new skills and focus on delivering value.

The only thing I'd add is "don't be rude" and "don't be an ahole".

Leave a company as if you're a senior member...with class, grace and minimal interruption to the team. Leave a trail of good will, not burned bridges.

This seems really extreme. Talking to another company about interviewing on the first day of a new job? There's got to be some kind of limit past which that will catch up to you.

Not really. It's just business.

You sell your services. You physically can only be at one place at once. When you get 2 offers, someone will not have you, it's that simple, no surprise.

I don't necessarily agree that you should move early and often, but you should absolutely be checking the market at least annually. If you care and you find that you're underpaid then you should find a new job immediately.

It's astounding how many people believe silly things about market rate compensation.

Fairly sure that changing every year would be considered often.

I'm pretty sure a large portion of every tech company's intrinsic value is the amount they are paying their employees less than market rate.

There's something about a lot of engineers' personalities that allow companies to run roughshod over them.

I have watched incompetent pricks do a little bit of this and jump ahead of me everytime. Unfortunately, I am a pussy. Anyone got some advice on how to harden the fuck up? I am serious.

Edit: Harden up without being a prick. I am not incompetent.

A lot of these types of articles are over-the-top in terms of "fuck you" sentiment. I have some experience moving around/negotiating higher salaries, and I think it's completely possible to do so without being an asshole. The key is to remember that it's just a business transaction -- you're providing a service, and the company is paying you for it. If you are polite and firm with your salary request, the company will take it if they think your service is worth it. If not, find another company that values your service more. Keep that in the back of your mind at all times, and don't let anyone obfuscate the situation, and you'll be fine.

Light weights to build self esteem.

Do it once. Only once, go through the exercise while reminding yourself that you're doing it just as an exercise.

The second time (and beyond) will be orders of magnitude easier to do.

For whatever reason, it just was always just easier to go to new company that valued me more rather than try to negotiate a raise.

Awesome article. It helps if you imagine the voice of Ryan Gosling reading it.

Did this guy not spellcheck anything? The post is riddled with spelling errors.

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