How flexible is the salary range in a start up (~150 people)? Based on following information, should I bring up the salary conversation myself early on, or as the traditional wisdom used to be: wait till the onsite and let the employer bring that up once convinced? Pro The role is more aligned with my future career goal A much warm sunnier place, albeit very expensive (~50% as per nerd wallet) Might offer equity, although I’m not counting on that Cons I’ve not worked in such a small startup, and I know it means a lot of long hours of unstructured work Leaving my stable job in the middle of cold/nowhere with a very good compensation It’s Not a SWE role, and received intel that another person with a similar YOE was hired with 30% less than my calculated desired compensation = current + 50% COL + 15% increment. TC: ~180K YOE: PhD + 6 yr
With your YOE you're being underpaid anyway...LC and shoot for faang
Not necessarily if they live in a LCOL place, which they seem to be implying that they do.
Th whole point of joining startup is equity. If you believe in it, ask for more equity vs salary, if you don't believe in it don't join
If the “warmer, sunnier” place is California, it’s state law that they have to provide the pay range for the role when asked. No need to negotiate right away, but if it won’t work for you you can bail before doing the onsite.
Thanks! However, do you think a convincing onsite should help me negotiate better? As I described in the bottom part of my post, my expectation is likely going to exceede that range.
Is the company profitable? If not they are more likely to be stingy on base salary.
Probably profitable, and future looks good too. Do you suggest holding on the salary conversation until they bring up?
I would. Unless you know what your absolute floor is and wouldn’t want to waste time with a company that can’t meet your expectations.