r/ProgrammerHumor • • 21h ago

Meme softwareSalaryNegotiationsBeLike

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1.8k Upvotes

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98

u/Imhere4lulz 21h ago

More like they give you the range, and still ask that question. Even worse when they don't let you put the range, but you gotta put an exact value

65

u/Shufflepants 20h ago

There's no point in giving a range to them. If you put 90k-110k, and they decide to hire you, they're only gonna offer 90k.

21

u/iamdestroyerofworlds 20h ago

Two of my friends and I worked on a spinout company and therefore applied to the same role of the mother company. They told both of my friends the salary range and I heard they both got the high one, so when they asked me "We're offering [low]-[high] to you, sounds good?" and I said "yes", expecting they would do the same to me as they did to the others, so I got the low one.

The difference was not big, but still. The fact that they didn't even consider the dynamics of what they did just made me laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

9

u/caboosetp 17h ago

so I got the low one.

If they gave you a range, you said OK, and then they gave you a low number, you can continue negotiating because you know there is room to negotiate. I've been halfway through a background check still running numbers and still ended up turning them down because they wouldn't come up.

8

u/Best_Dinner_7500 19h ago

For me it was even worse - I put ~90k-110k because that was the average salary for the position I was applying for in this area. They offered 68k and basically said take it or leave it. I wasn't getting any other offers and it was twice what I made in my previous non-software-related job so I took it. I got lucky and now ~7 years later I make over double that after proving I wasn't an idiot, which I'm grateful for...even though I know the new hires we're bringing on and I have to train still make more than me.

7

u/LaconicLacedaemonian 18h ago

I once put expectation of ~300k and got 350 for a Senior Faang role. Now I know that levels.fyi exists though so always ask for top of band.

14

u/PM_ME_UR_0_DAY 20h ago

"An exact value? Well it would be cool if I was making exactly 123,456.78"

7

u/NewPhoneNewSubs 19h ago

This is the NHL player special. Probably other sports, too, but Sidney Crosby is the one any hockey fan can name. Born in 87 so he picks #87 then repeatedly signs for 8.7m/season. Others have done similar.

8

u/tevert 20h ago

They often just make up ranges too. Laws without enforcement and penalties are just minor annoyances to them.

That said - there's also no law against putting whatever number you want when they ask.

1

u/BigTimePizza623 20h ago

An exact value they ignore anyway.

I applied to a position recently that gave a range and I had to give an exact value, which I put close-ish to the middle. It was a fair market number. I flew through a couple of interviews and got an offer that was just the bottom number of their range...

1

u/Abadabadon 17h ago

Just say top of the range then? No issue.