| The whole afternoon I'm so anxious waiitng the result. When I got the call and heard they'll give me some increase. I just accepted. But, I feel so depressed right now. my final offer is a very small change. 2k increase in base (at the mid point of my current level), add 7k on sign-on bonus, no title change...I cross my fingers to see if they could give me a raise and promotion in a year before I might change my mind doing this over again. I choose the most stable one. A few lessons: First lesson, h1b data isn't accurate for the salary structure in the company. Be smart to know the true numbers. In my opinion, lots of foreign workers, especially Chinese, are greatly underpaid. That's why you can't get a promotion. Because you're salary is too low. If they promote you they have to raise your salary greatly (10-20%) to match the salary level. In large companies, they can't do that at once. Second lesson, low cost area doesn't have to be low salary. So, for example, if you have a really good background you may get $130k in NC. The difference might be that you can only get one or two such offers in NC while you may have a bundle of such offers in CA. But, don't let the living cost against you. If you already have a salary of $100k in Seattle/Boston and you get a new job in TX, they should pay you around $100k not much less in TX. Of course, the higher salary you have previousely the more difficult you will have to find a matched position. You have to improve your other skill sets: including your communication skills, reputations, patents, publications, etc. I know this is the most difficult part for us, and thus, it should be the most important part when conducting your job. Third lesson,HR/HM often use the other team members as reference called salary structure. As a new guy, you certainly don't want to force him break the rule for you. But, remember, you're always compared with the "less-fortunate" people in the group, most likely Chinese. Not only did they make us cheap workers, also they make this become a tradition everywhere in the US. Fourth lesson, certainly there are more to learn. But the most important one is that we should help each others and improve ourselves in all aspects. thanks |
