Comment by ksec
5 years ago
>This is relevant because $120k + bonus/benefits is basically a FAANG new grad. Fairly normal for SV tech companies.
There were a few post on HN recently about fresh grad asking for / being paid $200K and anything lower they felt they were feeling lowballed.
For those of us outside US we could never quite grasp whether something is true or not. Salary across the pond is just incomprehensible.
$200k for salary for a new grad strikes me as being on the (unrealistically?) high side. You'd need to be quite talented and have negotiating leverage for this. FAANG generally won't offer this out the gate. That kind of salary would buy senior devs no problem, even in big tech cities.
$200k total comp, absolutely. A standard new grad offer with no negotiation might be something like $120k salary, $25k cash, $120k options vesting over 4 years with 6 month periods. So in the first year, no negotiation, you're taking home $177k pre-tax. I know people who have gotten up to $60k cash bonuses (split over two years) out of college, simply by having another offer.
I think they are being serious. If you're in silicon valley, I could see $200k being a new grad salary. I wouldn't move there for less than that. The cost of living is extremely high in that area. The vast majority of areas would have much lower salaries. My starting salary was less than $60k. After 9 years and a masters it's still under $100k in a medium-high cost of living area. Median salary for a developer is about $110k in the US.
Meant to reply to you but replied to parent by accident. $200k total comp seems plausible. $200k salary seems like a bit of a stretch to me. Companies would much rather give you a fat cash bonus or stock than raise the salary so high.