> But for many fields, $150k is not competitive with what the top end employers pay for a base salary
> If you also have [...] a PhD or something, you should be well over $200k on base salary alone, in major US cities.
I have a PhD + 1 year exp. and recently accepted a data scientist offer at a F/N/G company for around $200k total. If these companies are really top of market, then I either did poorly at the interview (in which case why would they make an offer at all?) or I just suck at negotiating.
If this was in SF, NYC, Chicago, Boston or Seattle, then yes, they probably got you very cheaply because you did not know the range to negotiate. If you got an offer, you surely did well in the interview. Chalk it up to negotiatiom experience, and next time you’ll know. I’d generally expect the total comp to be closer to $300k for your profile, but it obviously depends. Also, in some companies, like Google, they really will give you substantial increases in equity each year if you’re doing well. So be sure to bring up your desire to earn more in the annual review.
Yeah, I’m in the Bay Area. My guess is that I didn’t have any leverage. The company I was coming from was a no-name company in the southeast. Also, I believe data scientists receive less stock than software engineers at the top companies. Does that match your observations?
> If you also have [...] a PhD or something, you should be well over $200k on base salary alone, in major US cities.
I have a PhD + 1 year exp. and recently accepted a data scientist offer at a F/N/G company for around $200k total. If these companies are really top of market, then I either did poorly at the interview (in which case why would they make an offer at all?) or I just suck at negotiating.