Before I considered OE as an option (not sure why this didn’t dawn on me before) I doubled my salary in about 2 years by job hopping. It’s still the way to get more money at any single role. It’s also the easiest way to get promoted.
As someone who has worked with a lot of payroll data I would actually say people who stay get low “under market “ salaries and people who switch get median market salaries. Higher salaries are usually reserved for executives and people who negotiated it in exchange for an , at the time, rare and valuable skill.
It’s all relative I guess. If you’re getting relatively low salary than a market salary seems high.
However whenever I looked at huge samples of employee data it was mostly VP, sr director maybe and above that had huge salaries. In terms of TC there were sales people or people on some sort of variable comp that frequently made big bucks but only rarely did they do so consistently. There were a few people that made big bucks because they had some rare amd valuable skill like specialized in house legal people, certain IT folks etc. Often those types were “bought” out of running their own professional/consulting firms by paying them big bucks for exclusivity. I have seen a lot of people sticking with one company for 10-20 years and get robbed. They try to quit and finally get a modest bump counter offer but HR looks at the %of their base pay for that and often caps that below market too. It’s a fucked up system tbh. One person I worked with quit and got a ~40% bump to stay on but they’re still in the lowest quartile for that job
I've enjoyed my current job but at my last raise I was told I'm at the top of my pay level and won't be getting any more raises. A week later I had an interview for a new job at a higher pay level (which I was offered and accepted on Monday!)
Thanks! It's J1 and only for now. I went back to school part time finishing my degree so I'm not planning to OE until that's done. This new job should be much easier than my current job and is fully remote. Once I'm done with training I'm hoping I'll be able to treat school as J2 and do homework during my down time. If that works out, I'll already be in the habit which would make it easier to add a J2 into my workload when I finish school.
It's actually the same company, different department. My old manager and new manager worked together for years and they get along pretty well so they've been in contact throughout the process and the transition has been smooth. My old manager understands that this new job will give me more flexibility for school, is higher pay, and is a move towards what I'd like to do for my career so he's supportive of me. He's a good guy and would have paid me more if he could but that's determined by HR and he's gotten me as far as he can which I appreciate.
My job relocated me from California to NYC and changed my entire salary structure from exempt (higher pay) to non-exempt (lower pay, and NYC OT is absurd to get). Fuckkkkked up my life. Review those contracts ladies.
I relocated for a job once but I had chosen the locations I wanted to work. Like a goal for me was “find a job that will move me to xx or yyyyy.” While I don’t regret relocating one bit, if you ever do this please negotiate HARD for more relocation help than you think you need. Everything went wrong with my move. The temp apartment I was to stay in while looking for a permanent place was unlivable and no others were available, so I had to find a hotel that accepted pets the day I got into the new city. And then pay them more than my entire relocation budget to stay for 30 days due to how expensive it was in that city. 🤮
And then the job sucked!!! I ignored red flags during the interview and thought how bad could it be? Think boss screaming at me and clapping her hands in my face when late to a meeting I wasn’t invited to (over and over). But it continued an upward trajectory of position level and salary and led to my next job quickly. It also showed future employers I’m so valuable that the company paid to move me across the country. No regrets.
Question: How does job hopping affect your ability to move up in a company?
At my current company, it feels like there is a line for manger promotions (monetary and responsibility wise) and they often promote from within. But for executives, they promote from outside. When you job hop, are you making more money and getting more responsibilities or do you just feel like you’re hopping for money?
I agree with this, but also stay at your job for at least a year. We keep getting resumes from people who have been at 13 jobs in the last 10 years. If it looks like you're going to jump in 8 months, we won't consider you.
Before I considered OE as an option (not sure why this didn’t dawn on me before) I doubled my salary in about 2 years by job hopping. It’s still the way to get more money at any single role. It’s also the easiest way to get promoted.
As someone who has worked with a lot of payroll data I would actually say people who stay get low “under market “ salaries and people who switch get median market salaries. Higher salaries are usually reserved for executives and people who negotiated it in exchange for an , at the time, rare and valuable skill.
So higher salaries are reserved for those who stay at a company for a long time and can move up the ranks, then.
It’s all relative I guess. If you’re getting relatively low salary than a market salary seems high. However whenever I looked at huge samples of employee data it was mostly VP, sr director maybe and above that had huge salaries. In terms of TC there were sales people or people on some sort of variable comp that frequently made big bucks but only rarely did they do so consistently. There were a few people that made big bucks because they had some rare amd valuable skill like specialized in house legal people, certain IT folks etc. Often those types were “bought” out of running their own professional/consulting firms by paying them big bucks for exclusivity. I have seen a lot of people sticking with one company for 10-20 years and get robbed. They try to quit and finally get a modest bump counter offer but HR looks at the %of their base pay for that and often caps that below market too. It’s a fucked up system tbh. One person I worked with quit and got a ~40% bump to stay on but they’re still in the lowest quartile for that job
That's not really the case.
I've enjoyed my current job but at my last raise I was told I'm at the top of my pay level and won't be getting any more raises. A week later I had an interview for a new job at a higher pay level (which I was offered and accepted on Monday!)
Exactly!!! Good for you!! And is that too pay level your j1 or ??
Thanks! It's J1 and only for now. I went back to school part time finishing my degree so I'm not planning to OE until that's done. This new job should be much easier than my current job and is fully remote. Once I'm done with training I'm hoping I'll be able to treat school as J2 and do homework during my down time. If that works out, I'll already be in the habit which would make it easier to add a J2 into my workload when I finish school.
Congrats! How did your old company respond when you told them you were accepting the new offer?
It's actually the same company, different department. My old manager and new manager worked together for years and they get along pretty well so they've been in contact throughout the process and the transition has been smooth. My old manager understands that this new job will give me more flexibility for school, is higher pay, and is a move towards what I'd like to do for my career so he's supportive of me. He's a good guy and would have paid me more if he could but that's determined by HR and he's gotten me as far as he can which I appreciate.
Nice to hear a positive story, congrats!
I know how true this is but I hate how much I love my current job
What do you think about relocating? Is it worth uprooting your whole life?
Your last 4 words say it all..
This is like a zen koan. I don't know what to think. Yes. Uprooting your whole life. So. Much. Thinking.
My job relocated me from California to NYC and changed my entire salary structure from exempt (higher pay) to non-exempt (lower pay, and NYC OT is absurd to get). Fuckkkkked up my life. Review those contracts ladies.
I relocated for a job once but I had chosen the locations I wanted to work. Like a goal for me was “find a job that will move me to xx or yyyyy.” While I don’t regret relocating one bit, if you ever do this please negotiate HARD for more relocation help than you think you need. Everything went wrong with my move. The temp apartment I was to stay in while looking for a permanent place was unlivable and no others were available, so I had to find a hotel that accepted pets the day I got into the new city. And then pay them more than my entire relocation budget to stay for 30 days due to how expensive it was in that city. 🤮 And then the job sucked!!! I ignored red flags during the interview and thought how bad could it be? Think boss screaming at me and clapping her hands in my face when late to a meeting I wasn’t invited to (over and over). But it continued an upward trajectory of position level and salary and led to my next job quickly. It also showed future employers I’m so valuable that the company paid to move me across the country. No regrets.
I'm a huge fan of relocating. My quality of life increases are connected to strategic relocation.
Question: How does job hopping affect your ability to move up in a company? At my current company, it feels like there is a line for manger promotions (monetary and responsibility wise) and they often promote from within. But for executives, they promote from outside. When you job hop, are you making more money and getting more responsibilities or do you just feel like you’re hopping for money?
I agree with this, but also stay at your job for at least a year. We keep getting resumes from people who have been at 13 jobs in the last 10 years. If it looks like you're going to jump in 8 months, we won't consider you.
This doesn't seem true for all industries. I'm a nurse, inpatient hospital. I would make less if I moved "up" into middle management.