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How I got a job with a salary of 300,000 dollars in Silicon Valley

At the end of January, we published a translation on the theme “How I successfully completed six interviews in Silicon Valley” . The time has come to share a sequel, where it will be a question of a more burning topic - about money and how to get more.

“During the week I was offered the post of software engineer at Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, LinkedIn and Yelp. This is how I interviewed them.


What if I tell you ... that interviews are not as bad as they seem?

So, you are almost done with a long preparation for the interview. You are almost free from the stress associated with interviewing large IT companies. You have almost submitted how you send them the final “I agree.”

However, you are still not quite at the goal.

There is one last obstacle that needs to be overcome: the interview itself.

You have already proved that you can have interviews, but how successful and profitable is it for yourself?

At the end of last year, I was interviewed at 6 leading Silicon Valley companies for 6 days and received 6 job offers. As a last task, I had to make sure that my work was not in vain. Here are the principles that guided me, the rules I followed, and what I did to get a job with a salary of $ 100,000 a year more than I had planned.

Introduction


First, agree on the initial assumptions:


Before Interview


Congratulations! You have several invitations for an interview. I am sure that you are nervous. I am sure that you tell yourself that you do not deserve this, and that you are just lucky. You think you fail miserably. The last thing on your mind is the question of exactly how to talk to a recruiter.

Take it easy. We all go through this!

This can be understood. But you do not want to do a disservice to yourself in the future. In any case, you need to remember only a few things.

My first important tip: don't make this process adversary .

I read many authors who look at it very cynically.

This is our confrontation with them.

Candidate against recruiter.

That is, you are trying to extract the maximum benefit from the company while it is trying to cheat you to the fullest. Is that how you see it?


I think you did not know that during the fight Google recruiters are wearing cloaks of superheroes?

Wrong . Sometimes it may be so, but I think that such a setting is far from a healthy atmosphere of negotiations. I had a very good relationship with my recruiters, and in the end it paid off. Perhaps it would be better if I were more aggressive or resorting to lies. I will never know how events would develop under this alternative scenario. But I know that I do not regret it. I’m sure I can easily contact any of these recruiters again to resume the process. Recruiters are people too. Be friendly!

As a next step, throughout the process, try to show that you have other suggestions. It is important to make sure that they can provide similar conditions. Once I had a chance to deal with a really great offer. I was forced to refuse, because their company refused to move the deadline. It deprived me of some advantages. But if I did not let everyone know about their situation, I would have lost even more.

It is up to you to tell you where else you are interviewing. I would share it if you think it is “impressive.” Keep in mind that in any case you have a reason to be proud of yourself, no matter where you consider your candidacy. However, you will have more benefits if you have an offer from Google. My recruiters showed great respect in this matter. The companies understand that it is your personal matter with whom you are negotiating, so they will have the right to know about it only if you consider it appropriate. With this in mind, the threat that you will receive (and accept) an offer elsewhere is a powerful advantage in everything from negotiating conditions to getting you a job.

First sentences


Well, the moment of truth has arrived. Now you will hear how much you are appreciated.
All my recruiters preferred to send this news over the phone. Almost all calls went according to the same scheme:
Do you have new offers from other companies? Is there a specific range that you expect from us? How about about [...] dollars? What do you think of it?
Almost all the authors you usually read write that it is wrong to designate a range. On the whole, I agree with this, but sometimes it makes sense to designate something. To do this properly, it requires some experience and knowledge of the usual proposed working conditions. I marked the starting point for only one or two companies, and only because I knew about them enough to assume that they would offer me about 50 thousand dollars a year less than other companies, from which I had offers.

I would never designate a range for a company that usually offers large amounts. Given all this, I would not waste time with a recruiter, if I know that they are not going to surpass the existing offer from another company . Recruiters themselves do not want to go in a circle and all the time return to the same issue, offering you new conditions. If they are far from what you need, let recruiters know where the range begins . Spending time on an uncompetitive offer is not profitable for anyone.

In this case, if you are dealing with a company whose budget is infinite, use this wisely. Levels.fyi is the best resource I've ever seen (much better than Glassdoor) when it comes to learning what is usually offered. Strike as high as possible and never, never think that you cannot get an offer with even more favorable terms. Watch the situation and be ready to adapt to it. As a result, I received much, much more than I ever expected from any company, and I owe a lot to this that I never mentally limited myself to the “top bar”.


Believe my experience, recruiters will do their best to offer you less. Do not help them!

Never show that your head is spinning . Keep yourself in hand, even if you are sure that you will accept the offer. This is largely true of telephone conversations, especially if the conditions offered to you exceed everything that you have ever expected, and you probably are not able to think sensibly. Always consider any proposal for some time.

Make it clear that you will not accept the offer until you have completed negotiations with everyone . In my experience, recruiters treated this with understanding. I made them understand that I would like to first have an interview in all the companies from which I received offers. I definitely had a dream company throughout the whole process, but in reality it was not someone’s business, but my own.

I will not advise what needs to be said in such situations. I will give here only my impressions. This should help those who do not know where to start. Please do not take this as a ready-made scenario (it would be strange and unnatural). However, this is what I would say in order to maintain an atmosphere of mutual respect and remain open during the negotiations. Let's assume that you have been offered conditions to which you could agree (that is, they suit you):
Recruiter: So, what do you think about this?

You: This is an interesting offer. I think it almost suits me, but I cannot agree to it right now. First, I need to find out what conditions offer other companies with whom I negotiate.
In the above, you tell the recruiter that he "has a chance", but this is not enough to fight you. You show respect and firmness at the same time. This is the main strategy of how to behave during negotiations.

Do not give out more information than you need, do not be aggressive and do not indicate the exact amount, if it is inappropriate. In addition, all of the above allows you to remain honest, so you don’t need to worry about being caught in a lie. In fact, you simply try to maintain your status in the eyes of recruiters and avoid the hassle until you have all the offers for comparison. That's when the fun begins!

Counter offers


So, you have learned the proposed amounts from everyone you are considering. Now you can make counter offers based on the information you have. When I did this, I never called the exact amount - I denoted ranges . I don’t like the idea of ​​the exact amount until it comes to the very end.

There are several reasons for this:


Some may object to what I have stated above, because recruiters can be more flexible. You can always name the exact amount, make them agree to it, and then ask for an increase. I do not deny this. However, during the interviews I set a goal to maintain good relations with recruiters, and in the end it paid off in full.


I looked just as cool during the negotiations.

My first counter-proposals sounded like this (I came up with these amounts to give them as an example):
Bar, Inc .: We offer you a base salary of about $ 120,000 with a 4-year share of the company in the amount of $ 150,000 and a one-time initial bonus of $ 10,000. What do you think of it?

Me: How flexible can your company offer for stocks? I would really stay and grow as a professional. In this regard, the share capital is exactly what interests me in any company. A basic salary of about $ 120,000 fits me, but I would like to receive a proposal for a larger stake.

FooCorp: We offer you a base salary of about $ 100,000 with a company stock for 4 years at $ 150,000 and a one-time initial bonus of $ 10,000. What do you think of it?

I: I think that the base salary is slightly lower than I would like, especially if you consider the offer from Bar, Inc. $ 120,000, and the fact that base salary is very important to me. As for the block of shares, I expected about 200,000 dollars. Primary bonus as a whole meets my expectations.
The above provides a lot of useful information for a recruiter, without specifying any exact amount on your part. FooCorp understands that you need to increase the amount to $ 120,000 to encourage you to refuse another offer that you have been made. Bar understands that equity is important to you, and stocks are something that companies provide much more willingly. Now you have two companies competing to make you a better deal, and they don’t contact each other. And this is a much desired turn of events for you.

As soon as one of the companies increases the amount, it makes sense to change the designated range. Here's how this conversation went in my case:
Me: Good afternoon! I finally received a response from Bar. Their offer turned out to be much better than I expected. They offered a base salary of $ 150,000, $ 200,000 in shares and $ 40,000 as a primary bonus. However, it seems to me that working at FooCorp is more closely related to my interests, so I would really like you to be able to work together. In this regard, I would like to find out whether it is possible to improve your conditions to the same indicators?

FooCorp: Oh, they have a really good offer. Keep in mind that FooCorp {makes the world better / has amazing potential / prospects for your career}, and I hope that you will not make a decision based solely on remuneration. I don’t know yet whether we can offer the same conditions, but I’ll see what we can do.
Many times I participated in the conversations according to the above schemes, and they all went about the same.

The impression was created that they always had great doubt about the possibility of changing their amounts. They always said that this is more than they usually can give way.
They always explained that the mission and atmosphere of their company compensated for the difference in remuneration.

But almost always they increased the amount.

One of them will meet you. Someone - no. Some of them will come so close to your expectations that you can make a final decision in order not to miss such an exciting opportunity. But you definitely should try.

My suggestions




I add the following because many have asked me about it. I don’t know how useful it will be, but I’ll post it here anyway. I will give here all the tips that I can give.

I was able to find out the approximate amounts from each company before identifying any for my part. All amounts here are listed under fictional brands and in random order. Format: base salary + bonus / block of shares for 4 years / primary bonus.
Alpha: 180 thousand / 150 thousand / 0 thousand (218 thousand / year)
Bravo: 180 thousand / 200 thousand / 30 thousand (238 thousand / year)
Charlie: 140 thousand / 180 thousand / 30 thousand (193 thousand / year)
Delta: 160 thousand / 220 thousand / 50 thousand (228 thousand / year)
Echo: 160 thousand / 200 thousand / 30 thousand (218 thousand / year
Foxtrot: 165 thousand / 210 thousand / 30 thousand (225 thousand / year)
It is curious that the amounts for the most part almost coincided, despite the fact that the companies did not have the opportunity to see each other’s initial proposals. It must be now the standard rate ... or something like that. In any case, after receiving all the offers, the time for constant interaction has come for me. I contacted the company that made the least favorable offer, and, telling them about the conditions of the most favorable offer, asked them to reduce the difference as much as possible. As soon as the amounts have changed, I talked with other companies. Every day, or every other day, recruiters contacted me, and the calls were similar to this:
Bravo: Are there any changes on your part?

Me: Yes, I was informed of preliminary amounts from Foxtrot. They offer 225 thousand dollars or so, but Delta says they can offer more. The offer from Foxtrot did not impress me, and, given Delta’s position on it, this is probably the last of the proposals, which I will end up signing.

Bravo: Great, thanks so much for sharing. I'll talk to the team and see what I can do. We would be happy to work with you!
Alpha refused to negotiate and move the deadline, so they quickly dropped out of participation.



After each of the companies changed their initial amounts, the picture changed:
Bravo: 180 thousand / 220 thousand / 75 thousand (254 thousand / year; +16 thousand)
Charlie: 140 thousand / 200 thousand / 30 thousand (198 thousand / year; +5 thousand)
Delta: 160 thousand / 220 thousand / 50 thousand (228 thousand / year; no change)
Echo: 160 thousand / 250 thousand / 30 thousand (230 thousand / year; +12 thousand)
Foxtrot: 180 thousand / 240 thousand / 30 thousand (248 thousand / year; +18 thousand)
And again, everything is new. I set a goal to weed out some of the proposals, as soon as the situation began to change in the direction I needed. The real strategic nightmare is to follow 6 competing companies. It also became clear that there is a difference that some companies are not able to overcome.

In addition, I had much more time to consider the features related to corporate culture, benefits and other benefits, and in this aspect there are differences between companies.

Formally, I did not reject any of the proposals until I officially accepted the most suitable and did not sign the relevant agreement, but mentally struck out a few companies and stopped negotiations with them. I just asked them for a few more days to make a decision.

Recruiters constantly told me that they could not offer better conditions, but nevertheless they always did . I’m sure that there is a “ceiling”, and I’m sure that it’s quite rare to agree on a sum that exceeds a certain limit, but it was very similar to a lie when I constantly heard that they could not offer more (“you have no experience "), And then watched as they increased the supply by 10%. I guess this is part of the business.

After the next stage of negotiations (and a few more days), the number of companies was reduced to three:
Bravo: 180 thousand / 250 thousand / 75 thousand (261 thousand / year +23 thousand / year from the original)
Delta: 170 thousand / 250 thousand / 50 thousand (245 thousand / year; +17 thousand / year from the original)
Foxtrot: 180 thousand / 250 thousand / 50 thousand (248 thousand / year; +18 thousand / year from the original)
By this time, about one and a half weeks of negotiations had passed, and that was after months of interviews / preparation. I was already quite ready to finish. Comparing the features associated with products, corporate culture, payment, benefits, other advantages and reputation of companies, I chose between Bravo and Delta.
Delta wanted me to decide on the final amount and stick to it. They strongly insisted that I mark it to them.

I asked them to give me a few hours and called my Bravo recruiter.
I explained that Bravo has something for which I value them more than Delta, but that in Delta they wanted me to clearly state the amount in order to move on.

I was going to work in Bravo or Delta. They offered similar conditions, but I did not know how much more I could get from Delta. I was very uncomfortable to play such a game.


Smash in case of emergency.

Everyone should make their last request sometime . The moment has come when you must take the plunge, so use this wisely.

For me, it was just that moment. It's time.

I asked Bravo to improve the conditions by increasing the stake to a modest $ 5,000 a year (a very modest request, as it now seems ...), in this respect companies usually show more flexibility. I said that if they can do this, I will agree and I will be sure that I will not lose anything. He said that he would contact me and that we would definitely find a solution.

The last sentence


Bravo recruiter responded by email and wrote that he had developed new conditions for me and would like to discuss them with me on the phone. Then I have already decided that if this meets my request (180 thousand / 270 thousand / 70 thousand, a total of 265 thousand), I will immediately agree to this offer. I thought about this last move for a long time.
Bravo: I received a response and approval for a new proposal for you, and I would like to know what you think about it. We would like to offer you a {salary + annual bonus} of $ 180,000. In addition, we would like to offer $ 400,000 in promotions that will be granted to you for 4 years. In addition, I also managed to get approval for giving you $ 90,000 {primary premium + reimbursement for relocation}. Under these conditions, in 4 years you will receive about 1,210,000 dollars, that is, about 300,000 dollars annually . What do you think of it?

Wow! What I think? What do you think I think?
I: Yes, I agree.

Bravo: Really? Fine!
And indeed it is. I do not exaggerate at all. My last request was 265 thousand dollars a year, and I was offered about 300 thousand dollars a year. I don’t know if this happened because of the good relationship I had with the recruiter, or if they were just concerned that I could refuse. Anyway, I have nothing against it. :)

Main conclusions


I am going to summarize all of the above:


Tip-bonus : never say or hint to potential employers that they are not interesting to you. I saw how people “agreed”, insisting on larger amounts and arguing that they were less interested in this company. It looks like a recipe for disaster preparation - why tell the company that you don’t want to work there? Find a different approach.

All of the above worked. The terms of the proposal to which I eventually agreed was approximately $ 300,000 per year (for 4 years, including varying annual premium and initial premium / refund for the move). I agreed on this, starting at about 225,000 * dollars, which means an increase of 33%.

Summarizing


After my previous post, I often see 3 questions:


I answered here two of them. Perhaps you can logically set the rest. I would prefer my advice to be useful, not to advertise my employer. I do not want all the attention here to be focused on the decision I made in my life. I rather want to help everyone else make the same decision.
There are also much deeper, more detailed sources that I would recommend. This is a terrific article by Patrick McKenzie and another by Hasiba Qureshi. Above, you have read only my personal reflections (and at the same time the answer to all the questions I received regarding the amounts).

Please subscribe to my page (and chat!) With me on Twitter if you want to leave a review or have any questions. I would like to know if there are other topics that interest you. I received a ton of personal messages on Twitter and Discord, and I tried to answer them where it was possible. I prefer to answer mostly on Twitter, so if you want to chat, try there first.

Successful negotiations.

* the original offer did not include reimbursement for the move; I probably would have received it anyway, so in fact the initial starting point of the total was probably higher. ”

PS While surfing the App Store, our developers stumbled upon the My Dream Salary application, which is interesting for the Russian market. We liked the idea to evaluate in a few steps, “what are you standing for” and “what to pull up”, although the project itself is still quite raw. We could not find an analogue on Google Play.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/440440/

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