Sr. UX Designer - Fair Compensation?
Am a senior designer with almost 4 years of experience in designing for healthcare devices . Work for a major corporation in the NYC - NJ area. Have consistently delivered above expectations in yearly reviews. Dont feel comfortable in tooting my own horn but i've done a decent job in almost all aspects of the design process - research to execution and can code. Making 97k a year. Is this fair? What reasons would justify this pay?
You’ve got to job hop to get that money. Get comfortable interviewing and negotiating. I’m surprised you have the Senior title at 4 years too. Your comp makes sense but the title does not.
4 years I'd say is mid-level. Comp I'd expect somewhere around 140-155k base salary.
I was making less than 60k a year for a few years after Ph.D. Fairness is kind of relative. Be grateful for what you have and work harder to get what you want.
For sure grateful, it's why I'm still around. Just trying to be realistic about the future and get a sense of what possibilities it holds.
Being grateful is great but don't let it become a trap. Know your worth and ask for what you want/deserve. Consider how much money you must've made the company.
Lots of bigger pay opportunities in tech. After 4 YoE, I was a L2 designer making 135k Base.
It’s completely within reason to advocate for yourself and ensure you’re valued fairly according to the market. If you have reason to believe your compensation is not commensurate of your contributions, then have that discussion with your leadership team. The market for design roles and the job market in general is very job seeker friendly. Reasons? There are surveys conducted annually by AIGA and perhaps others every year on pay. Sites like LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Paysa and here can help. Otherwise, get an offer. Just be prepared to make a decision one way or another.
Senior UX designer at Microsoft would make ~155- 175k base. But generally more experience then 4 yrs. more like 10 yrs in most cases.