Hacker News Reader

Comment by baseethrowaway | Hacker News Reader

Why not share the numbers?

Apologies, I will be very transparent: Offer was about $100-110k in the Bay Area + other perks (bonus/stock). I have 4-7 years of experience. This offer was before negotiation (which I didn't end up doing as I thought it was a fruitless endeavor). If I did negotiate, I always negotiate the base salary - that is a guaranteed pay. Bonus/Stock could be slashed, altered and neutered in future.

The funny thing is that I currently make more than that outside of California (I wish to not disclose my location if that's ok). I am hearing from others that Bay area housing is approximately $2k / bedroom and that's not super nice. This leaves a bad taste for working in the Bay area where competition is insane, cost of living is through the roof, and compensation isn't adequate.

Others are pointing out the thrill of working for Tesla/SpaceX has some value - that is, to work for the next gen American manufacturing. I am a bit more objective and less emotional I guess.

I do have a question: Is expecting $130-140k too much for a Mechanical Engineer running one of the most critical areas in their manufacturing line?

Edit - removed personally identifiable information.

In the Bay Area I'd expect a role like that to be in the neighborhood of at least $175k + RSUs/options/bonus.

I think I could have negotiated up to $120 if I was lucky.

I’m sick of the corporate grind. If people are interested in contacting me for a robotics startup, I could be reached at the email address on my profile.

We're hiring. We're a chip company, not exactly robotics, but your role would be embedded systems on a board. I couldn't find your email, so if this sounds interesting, email me.

There’s no email in your profile, just FYI

Based on what, exactly? That seems high, especially for mechanical engineers (who don't make as much as software engineers).

The general rule of thumb I've seen is as you become more experienced, stock becomes at least half of your compensation, so you're expecting $350k for a moderately experienced engineer? Obviously some people are paid this much in the Bay Area, but I'd hardly consider it normal.

At my company "senior" engineers can expect to start at around $160k/yr plus RSUs (worth about 10%-20% of base per year at current market rates) and an 8%-12% bonus target. Leads start at around $190k/yr.

I'd argue that for Tesla, at least right now, ME's are what software engineers are to other companies.

Software engineers are paid well because they produce work that can make a big difference and are in demand.

If Tesla is limited by it's manufacturing line... (insert obvious conclusion)

No way man, if you would have taken that low offer for that job you would have been scammed.

Wow $105k and forced to relocate to the Bay is insultingly low. I’d expect at least a lateral by COLA to my current como if I relocated, regardless of where but especially to a high cost area like the Bay.

How much stock were they offering? That can often be a big portion of compensation at a publicly-traded tech company.

No, it was not too much and you were right to say no.

> I do have a question: Is expecting $130-140k too much for a Mechanical Engineer running one of the most critical areas in their manufacturing line?

If you don't have a degree, you're not formally a mechanical engineer. That's probably why they thought they could lowball you.

It sounds like BS but software engineering is pretty much the only field in the US where people get to call themselves engineers without passing a PE exam, which means getting a degree. (There's a PE exam in most states for software engineering but it's still a bit of a joke.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com