Salary Transparency

This is my salary transparency page, inspired by Xe Iaso’s salary transparency page. My motivation for posting this is to inspire people to openly talk about compensation without being stigmatized and give them the information they need to better their career.

Thoughts on Salary Transparency #

I’ve built up these thoughts over the years, especially after working for Oxide, a company that publicly posts compensation information.

Money isn’t an idol in my life. You can’t just buy my time because you offered me more money than what you see here. I’m not trying to optimize my life or looking to switch roles every year just to get paid more. There’s more to life than just money and I’m very well compensated in those areas of my life.

You don’t pay me. I don’t pay you. The company pays us. Don’t get jealous or mad if I get paid more than you in a similar role or with similar experience. I won’t get mad or jealous towards you either. It doesn’t matter if we’re teammates or strangers. You knowing my salary isn’t going to stop me from pursuing my goals and me knowing your salary shouldn’t stop you from pursuing your goals.

Wealthy people are generally transparent about their salary. Yes, most of these wealthy people are forced to be transparent (e.g., officer in public company, public official), but I believe salary transparency helps develop a wealthy mindset. It’s always bothered me that investment firms like Fidelity and Charles Schwab are all around wealthy neighborhoods while impoverished neighborhoods get multiple liquor stores and strip clubs. No wonder why impoverished neighborhoods stay impoverished. Their mindset isn’t given a chance to change.

It’s okay to encourage yourself and others to discuss salary transparency, especially if you have the privilege to do so. I’ve spoken up about salary transparency at past employers. I’ve even managed a Slack channel named #talk-pay where employees could anonymously post their compensation information. I caught flack for that. I received direct messages from managers and directors asking me to stop. Did I stop? No. Do I regret that? Not one bit. Especially not after the countless direct messages from employees thanking me for speaking up about salary transparency and recounting how it’s helped them in their career.

I’m not embarrassed about anything listed here. I’m sure I could have climbed the career ladder faster if spent more time studying earlier in my career rather than chasing women or playing video games. Who cares!? That’s life! I didn’t start programming in my childhood like many do today. Instead, I played baseball and manhunt outside with my friends. There are teenagers that can run circles around me in programming. I could be embarrassed by that but I choose not to be. Similar to the “money isn’t an idol” point above there’s no point in treating your life like a min/max challenge. Live a full life, know who you are, and own your journey.

Salary History #

Here’s my salary history for all the full-time jobs I’ve had throughout my career. The information listed here does not contain data about stock options, bonuses, or any other compensation outside of annual salary. I opted to exclude that data since bonuses are not guaranteed and stock options can be worthless if a company never goes public and, even if a company goes public, the value varies depending on exercise price, market conditions, and sale price. I’m not opposed to talking about those other aspects of compensation but there’s so much nuance that makes it difficult to present here.

I’ll do my best to keep this table updated.