Bay Area HW Engineer at aerial company

[Anonymous]

I’m in final round for an integration role at an aerial startup in Bay Area and trying to figure out salary strategy.

COL is insane and makes me want to ask for a seemingly absurd salary like $250k - $300k for a role that pays $170 in DC, and even then I think finding housing will be a challenge

Any insight?

[Anonymous]

Bumping for west coast crowd

[Anonymous]

Look at Glassdoor and reach out to recruiters telling them you'd like help getting a job and ask what the translation cost from DC to Bay Area would be for your experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at Glassdoor and reach out to recruiters telling them you'd like help getting a job and ask what the translation cost from DC to Bay Area would be for your experience.

Isn’t Glassdoor just fresh-outs? Salaries there don’t make any sense. On example would be Loon, and Engineers there seem to make $130-$150k, which is baffling. I think that qualifies for subsidized housing in the Bay Area if you have a family of 4!

[Anonymous]

Did you try https://www.levels.fyi/? I hear that recommended a lot.

I'm mid-career in a non-hot tech area, low key company, not startup and only make $150k. Def. could make more elsewhere, but the insane COL is driven by sofwtare types at tech companies and others who got a reasonable payout at a start tup.

$300k for a $170k DC role seems pretty aggressive to me, but I'm not an expert. They may not be able 100% make up for the COL difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you try https://www.levels.fyi/? I hear that recommended a lot.

I'm mid-career in a non-hot tech area, low key company, not startup and only make $150k. Def. could make more elsewhere, but the insane COL is driven by sofwtare types at tech companies and others who got a reasonable payout at a start tup.

$300k for a $170k DC role seems pretty aggressive to me, but I'm not an expert. They may not be able 100% make up for the COL difference.

Would $250k be possible? How do you live on $150k in Bay Area. All my friends who grew up there and aren’t SW or sales have left

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you try https://www.levels.fyi/? I hear that recommended a lot.

I'm mid-career in a non-hot tech area, low key company, not startup and only make $150k. Def. could make more elsewhere, but the insane COL is driven by sofwtare types at tech companies and others who got a reasonable payout at a start tup.

$300k for a $170k DC role seems pretty aggressive to me, but I'm not an expert. They may not be able 100% make up for the COL difference.

Would $250k be possible? How do you live on $150k in Bay Area. All my friends who grew up there and aren’t SW or sales have left

Stop being ridiculous. I live in San Francisco, earn less than five figures and have one child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you try https://www.levels.fyi/? I hear that recommended a lot.

I'm mid-career in a non-hot tech area, low key company, not startup and only make $150k. Def. could make more elsewhere, but the insane COL is driven by sofwtare types at tech companies and others who got a reasonable payout at a start tup.

$300k for a $170k DC role seems pretty aggressive to me, but I'm not an expert. They may not be able 100% make up for the COL difference.

Would $250k be possible? How do you live on $150k in Bay Area. All my friends who grew up there and aren’t SW or sales have left

Stop being ridiculous. I live in San Francisco, earn less than five figures and have one child.

You also have a rent controlled apartment in SF. You have posted about it many times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in final round for an integration role at an aerial startup in Bay Area and trying to figure out salary strategy.

COL is insane and makes me want to ask for a seemingly absurd salary like $250k - $300k for a role that pays $170 in DC, and even then I think finding housing will be a challenge

Any insight?

Salaries in tech roles are high, so you should always start with a healthy ask. Depending on the stage of the start-up, you could get higher comp, but it won't be in salary. A lot will likely be in stock.

I don't really know what "integration role" means (i.e. what level of seniority), but $250K-300K isn't crazy comp for a technical person in the Bay Area. But your estimate of COL living differential between the Bay Area and the DMV is ridiculously high, so don't use that for your justification. You don't need to live in SF proper, few people with families can afford it. I think the Federal COL adjustment is pretty similar for DMV vs. Bay Area, and I think you can lead a similar lifestyle with the same salary in both areas. The biggest thing that trips people up here is that public schools aren't as good, pretty much across the board, so if you use Great Schools ratings as your way of comparing similar neighborhoods, you'll end up thinking everything is priced like Palo Alto. It's not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you try https://www.levels.fyi/? I hear that recommended a lot.

I'm mid-career in a non-hot tech area, low key company, not startup and only make $150k. Def. could make more elsewhere, but the insane COL is driven by sofwtare types at tech companies and others who got a reasonable payout at a start tup.

$300k for a $170k DC role seems pretty aggressive to me, but I'm not an expert. They may not be able 100% make up for the COL difference.

Would $250k be possible? How do you live on $150k in Bay Area. All my friends who grew up there and aren’t SW or sales have left

I know very few non-dual income couples with kids in the bay area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in final round for an integration role at an aerial startup in Bay Area and trying to figure out salary strategy.

COL is insane and makes me want to ask for a seemingly absurd salary like $250k - $300k for a role that pays $170 in DC, and even then I think finding housing will be a challenge

Any insight?

Salaries in tech roles are high, so you should always start with a healthy ask. Depending on the stage of the start-up, you could get higher comp, but it won't be in salary. A lot will likely be in stock.

I don't really know what "integration role" means (i.e. what level of seniority), but $250K-300K isn't crazy comp for a technical person in the Bay Area. But your estimate of COL living differential between the Bay Area and the DMV is ridiculously high, so don't use that for your justification. You don't need to live in SF proper, few people with families can afford it. I think the Federal COL adjustment is pretty similar for DMV vs. Bay Area, and I think you can lead a similar lifestyle with the same salary in both areas. The biggest thing that trips people up here is that public schools aren't as good, pretty much across the board, so if you use Great Schools ratings as your way of comparing similar neighborhoods, you'll end up thinking everything is priced like Palo Alto. It's not.

I can buy a decent 70s home, 3 bedroom, with a 45 minute commute to DC and great schools for $700k in Burke.

From what I can tell, if I worked in SF or SV, where is the Burke where I can get a decent home for $1.4M, 45 minute commute, and good schools? That's why i think $300k is necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m in final round for an integration role at an aerial startup in Bay Area and trying to figure out salary strategy.

COL is insane and makes me want to ask for a seemingly absurd salary like $250k - $300k for a role that pays $170 in DC, and even then I think finding housing will be a challenge

Any insight?

Salaries in tech roles are high, so you should always start with a healthy ask. Depending on the stage of the start-up, you could get higher comp, but it won't be in salary. A lot will likely be in stock.

I don't really know what "integration role" means (i.e. what level of seniority), but $250K-300K isn't crazy comp for a technical person in the Bay Area. But your estimate of COL living differential between the Bay Area and the DMV is ridiculously high, so don't use that for your justification. You don't need to live in SF proper, few people with families can afford it. I think the Federal COL adjustment is pretty similar for DMV vs. Bay Area, and I think you can lead a similar lifestyle with the same salary in both areas. The biggest thing that trips people up here is that public schools aren't as good, pretty much across the board, so if you use Great Schools ratings as your way of comparing similar neighborhoods, you'll end up thinking everything is priced like Palo Alto. It's not.

I can buy a decent 70s home, 3 bedroom, with a 45 minute commute to DC and great schools for $700k in Burke.

From what I can tell, if I worked in SF or SV, where is the Burke where I can get a decent home for $1.4M, 45 minute commute, and good schools? That's why i think $300k is necessary.

Walnut Creek is a good option, but yeah you'll need $300k HHI.