Sorry to hijack the thread, I am wondering for those of you FAANG/Unicorn engineers. What is next to you after this?
Context, I am also a FAANG engineer earning FAANG salary but still faced with the reality that in order to increase salary (more so due to inflation) I just have to Leetcode and re-interview every year to renegotiate.
Until what point do you stop Leetcoding/re-interview every year? I think at some point I will hit a salary plateau, what to do after this? For an average (majority) of FAANG engineers, what are their salary plateaus? I probably need to just aim for that and then stop Leetcoding/re-interviewing after that.
Do you mean you re-interview and then stay in your current role, getting a raise from the competing offers? Or do you mean switching employers?
In any case, most FAANG have fairly fixed salary ranges for each level. Now's a time of big salary increases, as you note, so there's more flexibility, but you should expect this strategy to fairly rapidly hit the maximum for your level unless you get promoted.
So, if it's all about money, two strategies:
1. Switch employers, get a big initial stock grant + bonus. There tends to be more flexibility on the initial grant than on salary itself.
Yeah I am thinking of re-interview and getting a raise from competing offers. Do you think this is a bad idea or will leave a bad taste from my manager or HR?
So you are saying at some point there will be a time where this strategy doesn't work as well anymore? I am a bit relieved lol, I thought I am gonna Leetcode until I retire.
Yes, there will be a time when this strategy does not work as well. Typically, big companies have salary bands per level which are set by HR (based on market analysis). While managers have some discretion on top (and may have more when it comes to RSUs), that discretion is somewhat limited--especially for those just starting out in their careers. Hence my comment that eventually it's just better to get promoted.
Does it leave a bad taste in your manager's mouth? I don't know. That depends on your manager. ;)
On the one hand, there's absolutely nothing wrong with demanding a fair price for your labor. You only have one life, and you're choosing to give a big chunk of it to your employer! And if you're underpaid, competing offers are great evidence to rectify that!
On the other hand, don't make a threat you can't back up. If you told me your plan was to get competing offers that you actually find attractive and then take them if your present employer can't match them, I'd say that's a great plan.
If you like your job and your team and don't want to switch, however, then I think presenting competing offers on a yearly frequency presents two potential challenges:
1. Your manager at some point may say, "Can't help you." They're not gonna fire you, but they may realize you're bluffing, so you won't be able to use this tactic in the future!
2. It way detract from talking about other, ultimately more important facets of workplace satisfaction, like working on projects you like, working with teams you like, etc.
Nothing stops you from going to your manager (or, during your probably-annual comp discussion) and saying, "Based on {a conversation with my coworker, Levels.fyi, a competing offer}, I believe I'm being underpaid."
Obviously this discussion has varying credibility depending on how serious you are about switching jobs, so a competing offer helps--but it also helps to know your manager's range of options.
My general advice is to try to understand the range of options first. For example, you can ask your manager, "Can you tell me where I stand in the comp range for my level?" That will let you know how much base salary growth you can likely expect or negotiate for without a promo. Similarly, "If I have a competing offer, do you have leeway to make a retention RSU grant?" would be good to know.
The key point is a) this isn't your manager's money, so they shouldn't be too personally invested in it, but b) they also don't have a huge amount of discretion and there's a lot of formula behind it, so understanding how the formula relates to you is a good start.
Context, I am also a FAANG engineer earning FAANG salary but still faced with the reality that in order to increase salary (more so due to inflation) I just have to Leetcode and re-interview every year to renegotiate.
Until what point do you stop Leetcoding/re-interview every year? I think at some point I will hit a salary plateau, what to do after this? For an average (majority) of FAANG engineers, what are their salary plateaus? I probably need to just aim for that and then stop Leetcoding/re-interviewing after that.