My Salary Progression in Tech

There was a recent tweet that asked people to share their salary as a means of helping others, so I’ll do that. I don’t think it’s enough, however. It will give you power in your own negotiations, but it’s not enough. To help you more, I highly recommend Patrick McKenzie’s ( @patio11 ) article on Salary Negotiation . In my case I used some of his techniques; but as this was 2010, his article wasn’t written yet. It’s one of the best articles I’ve seen on salary negotiation. Seriously, go read it .

My salary increases over the years have been due to a few things:

1. Knowing what I brought to the table and selling that.

2. Showing that I bring more value than I’m asking for.

3. Not being emotionally invested in the outcome. (Which is somewhat ironic as being emotionally invested is what ends up getting me in trouble later on).

I have never threatened to leave a job if I wasn’t given a raise; as I feel like that leads to a “Gosh, what will happen with George if we give it to him? Will he stick around? He’s already mentioned leaving!” mentality. I also don’t ask twice. If I don’t get it, then I step back, learn what’s valuable to the other party, and do more of that, visibly. Anywhere you see a bump for the same employer is where I’ve asked for a raise (discounting the cost of living raises; as I did not ask for those).

In instances where I’ve changed jobs, which I’ve done quite a few times throughout my career; it was generally done for more money or an intangible benefit (for instance, I loved working at Higher Logic, but left tojoin Jewelbots because I really believed in Sara Chipps ‘ mission). I left Silkroad technology (even though I loved the team) because I had moved to Northern Virginia and couldn’t make it in NoVA on North Carolina wages (the cost of living jumped by 35%). Similarly, Ileft The Motley Fool to join Higher Logic because there was an opportunity for a bit of a pay increase; and as a new father I couldn’t turn that down (though, the Fool is pretty awesome to work for).

A final note, this is just salary. I’m not including 401K employer contributions, bonuses, or anything of that nature (it clouds the base-pay issue; and if you’re living month to month (like we were), base-pay is all that really matters. I will say that base-pay isn’t the full story. Jewelbots couldn’t offer health insurance but they fully covered my COBRA. Since Higher Logic had an amazing healthcare plan; it was a really good place to be in.

So here it is, my salary progression in tech (Note, as I just opened my business; there is no revenue to report).

Year Company Position Salary Time Location Lang. 2004 US Army HR Admin $26,460 (E-5) 2 years Ft. Bragg, NC VBA 2007 Mainheim
Statesville IT Admin $42,000 1+ year Statesville,
NC Perl, C# 2008 Silkroad
technology Junior
Programmer $48,000 1+ year Winston-
Salem
NC C#,
ASP.NET 2009 CACI Inc. Developer $85,000 1+year Chantilly, VA C#,
Winforms 2010 CACI Inc. Team Lead $120,000* 2011 The Motley
Fool Developer $87,000 3+ yrs Alexandria,
VA C#,
ASP.NET
MVC 2012 The Motley
Fool Developer $91,000 C#
ASP.NET
MVC 2013 The Motley
Fool Developer $94,000 Python,
Angular 2014 The Motley
Fool Developer $97,000 Angular,
C# 2014 Higher
Logic Senior
Developer
/ DBA $120,000* 1+ year Rosslyn, VA C#,
ASP.NET
& MVC 2015 Jewelbots VP,
Software $115,000 1+year Remote
(NYC) Ionic,
Angular,
C
(firmware) 2016 VAE Inc Solutions
Architect $170,000* 2+
Years Reston, VA C#,
Perl,
JS 2017 VAE Inc Solutions
Architect $185,000* Reston, VA 2018 VAE Inc Solutions
Architect $187,000 Springfield,
VA 2019 VAE Inc Solutions
Architect $189,000 Springfield,
VA 2019 Hollow Wall
Technology
Services Owner $0 Current Springfield,
VA

* : The Asterisk (*) indicates when I’ve asked for raises or otherwise negotiated for that salary.

Advertisements