Salary, Raises and Negotiation for Developers

Nobody teaches engineers how to talk about money. These episodes cover asking for a raise, negotiating a new offer, what to do when you learn a teammate is paid more for the same work, and how equity, bonuses and counteroffers really work.

50 episodes of Soft Skills Engineering, the weekly advice podcast where Dave Smith and Jamison Dance answer software engineers' questions. Every episode is free, and each page below has the listener's question in full.

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Every episode about salary and raises

  1. Episode 521: negotiating . . . now? and doing good work is not enough for promotion?
  2. Episode 511: Should I take a temporary management position and performance-based bonuses
  3. Episode 500: Am I the only one not getting raises and firing my whole team
  4. Episode 484: How to get a raise after slacking off for YEARS and my PM won't stop DM'ing me
  5. Episode 482: I got a promotion, but a tiny raise and an imposter interviewed for my team
  6. Episode 461: How to do side projects with a family and demanding job and my company promised me a raise, but didn't give it
  7. Episode 448: Title over salary and from figure skater to software developer
  8. Episode 428: Interim tech lead and asking for a raise when a peer leaves
  9. Episode 415: I got a low raise and merging teams
  10. Episode 410: Guaranteed cost-of-living raises and my manager doesn't like me
  11. Episode 401: I AM the superstar and pro-rated raise
  12. Episode 388: Money not compliments and principal engineer coding guidelines
  13. Episode 372: Equity and getting interrupted in Zoom meetings
  14. Episode 346: Changing jobs with no raise and wrangling a cowboy coder
  15. Episode 325: Surprise PIP and salary leak
  16. Episode 312: Nit-picking and Promo raises
  17. Episode 305: About that raise and *you're* not fired
  18. Episode 289: Sharing wisdom nicely and too many raises?
  19. Episode 276: Startup or big company and negotiating your exit?
  20. Episode 273: Influencing people and getting a raise in a flat org
  21. Episode 267: Cheap promotion raise and live coding blues
  22. Episode 260: Pay cut after hired and new job ramp-up
  23. Episode 258: Addicted to scrolling and underpaid with equity
  24. Episode 257: Oops I didn't negotiate and really another raise question
  25. Episode 246: Humanitarian salary conundrum and family benefits
  26. Episode 242 (Episode 131 re-run): Stinky feet and high salary expectation
  27. Episode 237: Salary vs tech stack and how to quit an ad agency
  28. Episode 222: Cowboy CTO and underpaid after promotion
  29. Episode 213: Interviewing your future boss and screwed by private equity
  30. Episode 201: Too soon for a raise and management, masters, maybe?
  31. Episode 186: First job negotiation and am I a senior engineer?
  32. Episode 173: Newbie burden and getting a 25% raise
  33. Episode 148: In the orbit of a Rock Star Programmer and Should I share my salary with my coworkers?
  34. Episode 138: Should I ask for a raise before my annual review and how to keep up with young, single, overtime-working co-workers
  35. Episode 136: My family thinks I'm over paid and Is a 10% raise good
  36. Episode 134: Boredom vs Money and Agile vs Long-Term Schedules
  37. Episode 131: Coworkers with stinky feet and Was my salary expectation too high
  38. Episode 126: I'm underpaid and Game Industry Bonuses
  39. Episode 123: Salary Promise Fail and Slacker Coworkers
  40. Episode 122: Too Much Process and Negotiating Salaries with Multiple Companies
  41. Episode 119 (rerun of episode 77): My boss wants me to speak at conferences and how to get better than a 2% raise
  42. Episode 115: Sharing Your Salary When You Leave and Hiring Decisions Overruled
  43. Episode 93: Negotiating Annual Raises and Part-Time Work
  44. Episode 77: Boss Wants Me To Speak and The 2% Raise
  45. Episode 74: Switching Languages Without A Pay Cut and A Missed Negotiation
  46. Episode 48: Quitting a Death March & Am I Underpaid
  47. Episode 23: Joining a startup as a CTO and asking for a raise
  48. Episode 11: Negotiating offers and dealing with an oblivious boss
  49. Episode 10: Mentors and Stock Options
  50. Episode 5: Developer Compensation

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Browse all 527 episodes or ask Dave and Jamison your own question.