OT: Career advice Part II

[Gardner McKay]

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[Gardner McKay]

True... yea, didn't want to post a big wall of text if no one had any insights.

Currently, I live in southern PA and work in DE for one of the big banks. I'd be moving to/near Staten Island, but for personal reasons, not bank relocation. So, without going thru HR yet, I don't believe I would get any pay bump. However, on some slight research, it looks like I might expect around a 30% increase in COL.

While I might be ok at my current salary, I'd feel a lot less stressed if I did get a bump. Also not sure if those figures online are accurate or not, but I'm not sure how to approach this possibility yet, so was hoping to hear any outside thoughts/opinions. Thanks.

So... there are a lot of things to unpack here. Without asking too many personal questions, I'll see what I can do.

Delaware as a whole is a largely COLA state. I don't know if you work as a remote employee making a DE salary living in PA or you work for a DE company at a physical location in PA and are being paid PA wages.

Generally, anytime a person relocates and it is of their own volition, rather than a company request, you aren't necessarily entitled to anything.

Additionally, COLA isn't always commensurate with an exact % above the average COLA amount. This is because it can sometimes fluctuate greatly year to year. It is generally a flat dollar amount that all employees that live in what the company designates as a COLA area, are entitled to. I will say, using online sources like Sperlings/bestplacestolive aren't your best option. They are generally not very accurate. Most employers use COLI report from the federal government. It is a paid for report and it does a nice job of breaking down Cost of Living into a lot of smaller subsections that allow you to look at things in detail vs. at a macro level.

I work in Human Resources and am responsible for our COLA policy/territory list, if you were wondering how I know so much about this. You're more than welcome to PM me if you have questions you don't feel comfortable asking here.

 

[sbjnyc]

True... yea, didn't want to post a big wall of text if no one had any insights.

Currently, I live in southern PA and work in DE for one of the big banks. I'd be moving to/near Staten Island, but for personal reasons, not bank relocation. So, without going thru HR yet, I don't believe I would get any pay bump. However, on some slight research, it looks like I might expect around a 30% increase in COL.

While I might be ok at my current salary, I'd feel a lot less stressed if I did get a bump. Also not sure if those figures online are accurate or not, but I'm not sure how to approach this possibility yet, so was hoping to hear any outside thoughts/opinions. Thanks.

Are you changing your work location as well or just where you live? My company has its main location in NY with locations throughout the country. We group locations into several schedules. Each schedule has salary grades and ranges, which reflect cost of living differences. However, this is based on where you work, not where you live (just like tax withholding). I assume other companies work similarly.

If you moved in reverse (NY to PA) do you think your salary should be reduced? Just remember that everything is subject to negotiation. If you got your job moved to NY, for example, that would potentially solve 2 problems.

 

[Zibanejbread]

So... there are a lot of things to unpack here. Without asking too many personal questions, I'll see what I can do.

Delaware as a whole is a largely COLA state. I don't know if you work as a remote employee making a DE salary living in PA or you work for a DE company at a physical location in PA and are being paid PA wages.

Generally, anytime a person relocates and it is of their own volition, rather than a company request, you aren't necessarily entitled to anything.

Additionally, COLA isn't always commensurate with an exact % above the average COLA amount. This is because it can sometimes fluctuate greatly year to year. It is generally a flat dollar amount that all employees that live in what the company designates as a COLA area, are entitled to. I will say, using online sources like Sperlings/bestplacestolive aren't your best option. They are generally not very accurate. Most employers use COLI report from the federal government. It is a paid for report and it does a nice job of breaking down Cost of Living into a lot of smaller subsections that allow you to look at things in detail vs. at a macro level.

I work in Human Resources and am responsible for our COLA policy/territory list, if you were wondering how I know so much about this. You're more than welcome to PM me if you have questions you don't feel comfortable asking here.

Appreciate you taking the time to type all this out. I might reach back out after I discuss things with my manager/HR to see what kind of options are available internally. Thanks again.

 

[Zibanejbread]

Are you changing your work location as well or just where you live? My company has its main location in NY with locations throughout the country. We group locations into several schedules. Each schedule has salary grades and ranges, which reflect cost of living differences. However, this is based on where you work, not where you live (just like tax withholding). I assume other companies work similarly.

If you moved in reverse (NY to PA) do you think your salary should be reduced? Just remember that everything is subject to negotiation. If you got your job moved to NY, for example, that would potentially solve 2 problems.

I would most likely change my work location as well. Working for one of the big banks, they have locations in Manhattan/NY/NJ and I could work out of one of those offices... if I stayed with them.
My thought is that since this is my own choice, I might not get that salary increase and I'm debating if I should start applying elsewhere or look for jobs within the same bank that are based out of NY (would think pay grade is higher if based out of NY)... but as you said, I'm sure there is some negotiating that can be done, which would probably be the best solution for all involved.

 

[Machinehead]

Just wanna say this has been a great thread to get advice or even just to talk about work.

We recently got a huge raise and I might get to fully run my own class next semester without any apprenticeship. I'm looking into to pursuing a doctorate soon if I can get a funding package, which basically means you don't have to pay for it if you work at that school.

Things are slowly coming together.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Just wanna say this has been a great thread to get advice or even just to talk about work.

We recently got a huge raise and I might get to fully run my own class next semester without any apprenticeship. I'm looking into to pursuing a doctorate soon if I can get a funding package, which basically means you don't have to pay for it if you work at that school.

Things are slowly coming together.

If they work anything like a company paid tuition reimbursement, those are really great. It is a win-win. You get to pursue your doctorate free of charge and the school gets a long term commitment from a professor.

 

[CasusBelli]

Just wanna say this has been a great thread to get advice or even just to talk about work.

We recently got a huge raise and I might get to fully run my own class next semester without any apprenticeship. I'm looking into to pursuing a doctorate soon if I can get a funding package, which basically means you don't have to pay for it if you work at that school.

Things are slowly coming together.

Well done mate! Happy to hear that! Nothing but all the best and great success. I think we all share that sentiment (toward you and each other).

 

[Thordic]

Generally, anytime a person relocates and it is of their own volition, rather than a company request, you aren't necessarily entitled to anything.

100% this. HOWEVER, your salary should increase quicker after you relocate if your manager isn't an idiot and/or jerk. Assuming performance is relatively even, you don't want two employees doing the same job making vastly different amounts of money. You're putting yourself at risk of losing the lower paid employee, not to mention screwing them over. Also, most companies have regional minimums for a position. Depending on your current salary, it may fall under the NY Metro minimum in which case your manager should be working to bring you up to that minimum at least.

Your salary being adjusted isn't something to count on but if you have competent management, especially as a large financial institution, your salary should be adjusted over time to meet the location you live/work in.

Source: 13+ years in Financial Services, including 8+ years in management and about half that time being spent at a large bank likely similar to where you are current working.

 

[Charlie Conway]

Just wanna say this has been a great thread to get advice or even just to talk about work.

We recently got a huge raise and I might get to fully run my own class next semester without any apprenticeship. I'm looking into to pursuing a doctorate soon if I can get a funding package, which basically means you don't have to pay for it if you work at that school.

Things are slowly coming together.

Congrats. I got my master's paid for while working for a community college. Hoping to figure out something similar with either a master's in a different area or heading towards a PhD.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

So I got officially promoted today. First promotion of my career. Got a bit of raise and some equity.

 

[Gardner McKay]

So I got officially promoted today. First promotion of my career. Got a bit of raise and some equity.

I can't stress enough how much of a game changer it can be. Congratulations!

 

[CasusBelli]

So I got officially promoted today. First promotion of my career. Got a bit of raise and some equity.

Congrats mate!

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Thanks guys!

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I can't stress enough how much of a game changer it can be. Congratulations!

Thanks, here's the catch, I need to stay here another 3 years for it all to vest. By that point I'll have more equity and hopefully VP status which would probably be good amount of equity. But still, I like everything about the company except for the pay and I don't know if I should look within the next couple of years or ride it out.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

So I spoke to a coworker who also got promoted to the same level and was upset about the raise. Am I being too patient in trying to get experience in a new industry and function? I try not think of how underpaid I am (even with the raise) and look at the positives and be patient for the future. I have classmates making more than 3 times what I'm making now out of business school (with bonuses). Am I a sucker? I don't know, I'm happy that I got recognized and I love everything about my job but I'm really underpaid.

 

[East Coast Bias]

So I spoke to a coworker who also got promoted to the same level and was upset about the raise. Am I being too patient in trying to get experience in a new industry and function? I try not think of how underpaid I am (even with the raise) and look at the positives and be patient for the future. I have classmates making more than 3 times what I'm making now out of business school (with bonuses). Am I a sucker? I don't know, I'm happy that I got recognized and I love everything about my job but I'm really underpaid.

stop worrying. Go out and have a few drinks and enjoy it. There’s enough shit to worry about, celebrate the victories.

 

[Cassano]

So I got officially promoted today. First promotion of my career. Got a bit of raise and some equity.

Congrats man - I am so proud of you! I remember reading your posts a while back and how stressed you seemed about the future. You put in the work and it all worked out.

 

[Cassano]

I'm buzzing. Today, I had the opportunity for an interview for my dream company AMD and I'm pretty confident that I landed the position. Ever since I entered university in 2014, it became an obsession of mine to work there. Every technical question that they threw at me, I was well prepared for through Leetcode which I worked 1-1.5 hours a day after work for about 5 months. I was able to answer the behavioral questions primarily through work experience for a job that was transitioning from physical servers to AWS cloud - so a lot of stuff to talk about Lol.

It's quite remarkable how I got the interview. Through LinkedIn, I recently touched base with a former classmate of mine from 2nd year Uni who interned there and I received an interview within 3 days (I never took LinkedIn seriously until this year Lol).

The dude would never attend classes and dealt with a lot of alcohol abuse (like you could smell it off of him) and I never seen someone in my life with this low level of self-esteem.

He was practically a genius, but convinced himself that he was dirt. I've never quite seen it to this extent. I felt pretty bad for him that he was spiraling, so I ended up solo-carried him hard in 2nd year Algorithms. There was no exam in the course, so he passed the course with a good mark and we said our goodbyes.

After the school year, he ended up transferring to a university closer to home, got sober, closed out all social media noise and worked his ass off. I didn't hear from him until a few days ago (4 yrs!). He told me he would lock himself in his room, study for 7 hours a day during the weekdays and on weekends surrounded himself with a strong support group. He ended up interning at AMD, TD Bank, Facebook and signed for Google in NYC with a hefty signing bonus starting this May.

You just never know who you end up working with during school. Don't be an asshole and don't give off a bad impression. Don't hesitate to reach out either unless it's your ex or something Lol.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Thanks, here's the catch, I need to stay here another 3 years for it all to vest. By that point I'll have more equity and hopefully VP status which would probably be good amount of equity. But still, I like everything about the company except for the pay and I don't know if I should look within the next couple of years or ride it out.

That is standard. Options are used as a retention tool. All four of my grants have vesting periods ranging from 3-5 years. The only thing I would be concerned of is an excessively high strike price but most companies don't do that any more. With the job market as hot as it is they can't afford to play games.

I don't know much about your company (if they are already public, planning an IPO/reverse merger, have no plans for market liquidity and are looking to sell at some point) but options are often used in lieu of higher pay. Less on the front end, significantly more on the back end.

 

[Gardner McKay]

So I spoke to a coworker who also got promoted to the same level and was upset about the raise. Am I being too patient in trying to get experience in a new industry and function? I try not think of how underpaid I am (even with the raise) and look at the positives and be patient for the future. I have classmates making more than 3 times what I'm making now out of business school (with bonuses). Am I a sucker? I don't know, I'm happy that I got recognized and I love everything about my job but I'm really underpaid.

I'm going to say something that is going to be as popular as getting a colonoscopy. People are often wildly misconstrued about their pay. That isn't to say that there aren't people who are genuinely underpaid or, that you aren't underpaid but...

What many fail to realize is that in 2020, many companies don't just view compensation in terms of dollars and cents. They use a wholistic approach. Your options for example, they guarantee factor into your compensation. In lieu of cash now, they are the potential for significant money on the back end.

 

[smoneil]

Just wanna say this has been a great thread to get advice or even just to talk about work.

We recently got a huge raise and I might get to fully run my own class next semester without any apprenticeship. I'm looking into to pursuing a doctorate soon if I can get a funding package, which basically means you don't have to pay for it if you work at that school.

Things are slowly coming together.

Are you looking to do the doctorate in English (I vaguely remember you mentioning that you did English)? If so, let me know. I finished a PhD in English last summer and am more than happy to answer any questions.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Congrats man - I am so proud of you! I remember reading your posts a while back and how stressed you seemed about the future. You put in the work and it all worked out.

Thanks, what I do now is very much in line with my strengths (analytical acumen). I was stressed out because when you're unemployed for 1.5 years out of 2.5 years sandwiching the worst job experience of my life it's tough. I appreciate the sentiment. Life has been much better since I found this job. But I won't lie about the pay not being an issue.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I'm buzzing. Today, I had the opportunity for an interview for my dream company AMD and I'm pretty confident that I landed the position. Ever since I entered university in 2014, it became an obsession of mine to work there. Every technical question that they threw at me, I was well prepared for through Leetcode which I worked 1-1.5 hours a day after work for about 5 months. I was able to answer the behavioral questions primarily through work experience for a job that was transitioning from physical servers to AWS cloud - so a lot of stuff to talk about Lol.

It's quite remarkable how I got the interview. Through LinkedIn, I recently touched base with a former classmate of mine from 2nd year Uni who interned there and I received an interview within 3 days (I never took LinkedIn seriously until this year Lol).

The dude would never attend classes and dealt with a lot of alcohol abuse (like you could smell it off of him) and I never seen someone in my life with this low level of self-esteem.

He was practically a genius, but convinced himself that he was dirt. I've never quite seen it to this extent. I felt pretty bad for him that he was spiraling, so I ended up solo-carried him hard in 2nd year Algorithms. There was no exam in the course, so he passed the course with a good mark and we said our goodbyes.

After the school year, he ended up transferring to a university closer to home, got sober, closed out all social media noise and worked his ass off. I didn't hear from him until a few days ago (4 yrs!). He told me he would lock himself in his room, study for 7 hours a day during the weekdays and on weekends surrounded himself with a strong support group. He ended up interning at AMD, TD Bank, Facebook and signed for Google in NYC with a hefty signing bonus starting this May.

You just never know who you end up working with during school. Don't be an ******* and don't give off a bad impression. Don't hesitate to reach out either unless it's your ex or something Lol.

Congrats! What a story. I'm not anywhere near what this guy was but lately have strongly been on a path of self-improvement. Maybe not career thread related. I signed up for a matchmaking service because dating apps weren't working for me and I'm too shy to talk to women otherwise. Anyway, I met the most amazing woman through it, my matchmaker. She has dealt with some of the same issues your friend did and overcame them and really motivated me to better myself. Between her power of positivity and this book I'm reading by David Goggins, I've been really working hard on just becoming a stronger person. I'm really happy for your friend sounds like he came out the depths of hell and has become successful. And congrats to you again.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I'm going to say something that is going to be as popular as getting a colonoscopy. People are often wildly misconstrued about their pay. That isn't to say that there aren't people who are genuinely underpaid or, that you aren't underpaid but...

What many fail to realize is that in 2020, many companies don't just view compensation in terms of dollars and cents. They use a wholistic approach. Your options for example, they guarantee factor into your compensation. In lieu of cash now, they are the potential for significant money on the back end.

I got $5,000 in options and I'll have more for 1 year tenure. I don't know how much that could mean if I wait it out. The company has had some very good people working for it. One I know went to Goldman, one to blackrock, and one to Facebook. I think they take advantage of inefficiency in the market where a lot of capable people have a harder time finding a job than they should. Then those people leave and they start the proces again.