I Asked Tech Twitter How Much I Should Earn

As the child of a blue collar, middle class family, I grew up around feelings of fealty to employers. My parents grew up impoverished, so their fear of financial instability takes the form of loyalty to the bossman. (As laborers, they also have a deep love for unions. Power to the workers!) They taught me to be grateful for stable income, and to not ask for too much for fear of retracted offers or resentment.

But how m uch is “too much” to ask for in technology? The tech industry is bloated in the US, with inflated salaries heavily dependent on location. I learned pretty quickly as a software engineer that my humble salary expectations inherited from my hardworking parents were…inaccurate.

I’m in the middle of a job hunt right now, and nearly every application asks for salary expectations. If it’s optional, I don’t provide one. I’ve been taught to wait for an employer to offer a number first, and that’s made negotiating much easier. If it isn’t optional, I put a value that I know will be negotiated anyway.

(After several people asked, I added that I’m looking for remote work in the US. There was also a consensus that internships do, in fact, count as work, so my years of experience became four. Also added: I have a computer science degree, a year of project management experience, and a strong background in DEI.)

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