Getting a raise without changing companies

Tanium / Eng
sANx51

Go to company page Tanium Eng

PRE
Amazon
sANx51
Nov 26, 2019 13 Comments

Hi all!

I am aware the best way to increase TC is by finding a new job. I am not looking to jump for a number of reasons: I WFH and it would take more money than anyone would ever give me go back to the office; culture is amazing; I really enjoy the work; I doubt I can find a place willing to pay more.

To elaborate In the last point, I earn near the top of the L5 band at Google/FB, and it is highly unlikely I’ll get an L6 role with less than a decade of experience. Frankly, don’t think it would be worth anyway as I love my current gig.

Given this, what is the best way to approach a raise? My company is not big enough to have a formal annual review, and we have only one engineer level (like netflix).

I’m actually quite pleased with my current pay, but if I don’t get a raise eventually, I’ll technically Nd earning less due to inflation. I’m also not certain engineering will pay like this forever, so I am doing my best to strikes while the iron is hot.

All that being said, I realize I don’t have much leverage, and I’ve never negotiated without it.

edit: Almost forgot the rule!

TC: 390k

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TOP 13 Comments
  • Google
    AxTB4j

    Go to company page Google

    AxTB4j
    I don’t normally say this, but given your great situation you might screw things up pressing too hard for more money.

    A competitive offer from a company that can offer the same accommodations might be the only way.

    Alternatively, you could play the perf review game and get your annual incremental raises.
    Nov 26, 2019 1
    • Tanium / Eng
      sANx51

      Go to company page Tanium Eng

      PRE
      Amazon
      sANx51
      OP
      Yep agreed totally! I’m usually far more aggressive about this sort of thing, but I recognize how great my situation is, and don’t want to poison the well.

      I highly doubt I can find a competitive offer with same accommodations. The only companies I know they pay better are Google, FB, and a few other unicorns. The only other highly paying remote gigs I know are Postmates and maybe Github?

      There was a wall of text in my post, but one of the nuances if were done have performance reviews, so there is no game to play there.

      My company aggressively avoids politics - and actually succeeds at doing so. Times like this are one of the few downsides 😅.
      Nov 26, 2019
  • PayPal
    NcLm65

    Go to company page PayPal

    NcLm65
    Why not just be direct and ask your manager that you are expecting a raise and what are the chances and how to get there... no politics here?
    Nov 27, 2019 0
  • Snapchat
    🐨 koala

    Go to company page Snapchat

    🐨 koala
    390k is not near top of L5 at G/FB. Also since you WFH, how did you conclude culture is amazing?
    Nov 26, 2019 5
  • Amazon
    Vfrq15

    Go to company page Amazon

    Vfrq15
    Do you want a raise to simply keep up with inflation? If that's the case you can just bring it up with your manager as that is only fair to ask. If you want more money then you will need a competing offer, preferably from a FAANG. That offer only needs to be slightly more than what you already make though because working at a FAANG looks better on your resume + other benefits.

    Unrelated to your question but how did you land your gig and how is the engineering culture there? I used to wfh and would love to do that again in the future.
    Nov 27, 2019 1
    • Tanium / Eng
      sANx51

      Go to company page Tanium Eng

      PRE
      Amazon
      sANx51
      OP
      Mostly just keeping up with inflation. I don’t want you make less over time.

      We are actively hiring! They just happened to reach out to me, and I’m glad they did. I used to work at FAANG and this is so much better. Best engineering culture I’ve experienced. I can make any reasonable change to our codebase, and the code quality is quite good.

      DM me if you want to chat further
      Nov 29, 2019
  • New
    EWCK54

    New

    EWCK54
    YoE and location?
    Nov 26, 2019 1
    • Tanium / Eng
      sANx51

      Go to company page Tanium Eng

      PRE
      Amazon
      sANx51
      OP
      My company is too small to give my exact location. I’m in a major tech hub though. Plenty of well paying local work with FAANG companies and start ups.

      8ish
      Nov 26, 2019