Share your experience of pay raise

Question

I'm quite new to software engineering career and very bad at negotiating salary/pay raise. There is an annual pay raise and I don't know which amount is good or bad.Of course, it depends on my skill and value but there seem to be a huge gap between my actual skill and what my company thinks of my skill level. I have to sign the papers today and frankly need your help.

decafninja · Accepted Answer

I'm wondering if pay raises are also bifurcated?
Spent most of my career in big crufty non-tech companies where the majority of SWEs probably work. Mainly in the finance sector - investment banks, insurance companies, and non-elite hedge funds. The raises were trivial that I didn't even look forward to them or account for them in any major personal finance planning.
Recently switched to a FAANGMULA type company. Haven't even been there a full year yet, but my year end raise was astronomical. In fact, the raise I got for this year from this company is probably bigger than all of the raises I've gotten in 10+ years working for non-tech companies combined.
My friend who also jumped ship from an investment bank to a similar top tech company reported the same.
Is this normal?

muzani · Answer

I personally don't really bother. If I'm getting paid way below market rate, I look for another job - there's just no point staying at a company that doesn't naturally try to share their wealth with you. When market rate is far below present value, I freelance.I've had only a few pay raises within 10 years, most of which were offered only when I quit. Usually you don't even need a competing offer, it's fine if you're quitting to freelance.

melissalobos · Answer

Typically in your first year of employment, you move from being entirely clueless to a useful working professional. Think about how much more value you are bringing your employer. Always bargain with your worth in mind. Not the worth you assign yourself, but the worth you would assign your work. If the raise doesn't feel like it matches your growth, jump ship. Employers who don't value you today won't value you tomorrow.

shime · Answer

If it's less than 10% a year, I start looking for a new client. My highest pay raises have always come from switching to a new client.

enigmatic02 · Answer

Do you have benchmarks of what people like you are getting paid?
https://www.levels.fyi/ is useful for big tech, https://topstartups.io/startup-salary-equity-database/ is useful for startups
Also helps to give examples of how your work grew the business (specific #s ideal) - sometimes the PM will remember the numbers that you can borrow :)