Staff Engineer, Software Engineering
$125, 2K stock, 2K bonus
6 replies (most recent on top)
Follow on suggestion(s)
- - Make sure where you are going is a future direction and not something likely toast in a few years
- - Make extensive use of O'Reilly (and RH training and YL and ...) to for free
- - Tailor your learnings to what OUTSIDE jobs are requiring to ensure you remain current if not tops in
- - Eyes and ears on the ground Quarter to Quarter on both your product and business division
Lots of good things (possibly) to leverage as a jumping board
Staff = Band 7 = fresh grad hire, more or less. Sounds about typical for IBM, but below industry standard, especially the bonus (<2% in your case).
If this is your first job, it's probably adequate. But the pain will come if you stay. After 5 years, if you are still there, your compensation will likely be only incrementally more than where you started. Your non-IBM peers, if they stay where they start, will by then be earning substantially more.
OP - when you applied to Brass Ring / GOM - I thought IBM posted salary ranges for each position. Did they not? In my state it's not required but I get that (internally)
Mid pay for Band 9 is about $175K in USA with some possible regional variance.
I don't know what STAFF means for IBM. Ask what band and some of us could get you a range. For some companies STAFF is >>> Senior and for some STAFF is generic MTS. I'm at IBM and have never heard STAFF.
2021 perspective: Any company offering $125k base for staff level would be laughed out of the economy.
2023 perspective: this might be the new normal.
Need more details - typically it comes down to your cost of living. Are you in Bangalore, Raleigh or Vancouver? Small, medium and large cost of living. Vancouver is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Average house price is $1.3M and taxes are out of control. Or are you in a medium cost of living city like Raleigh, where taxes and cost of living are manageable or are you in Bangalore where cost of living is comparatively inexpensive? If you are in Vancouver, San Francisco or New York - you'll scrape by on a single income. If you are in Raleigh, Connecticut or Halifax you'll do well. And if you are in Bangalore, Rio you'll do extremely well.
Is it good enough for you? Then it's a good offer. Why compare yourself to others? It just causes pain and resentment.