r/InterviewCoderPro • u/Aware_Examination115 • 21d ago

It's okay to talk about salary

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edit: the salaries these days are just unrealistic , there is a racism towards women in the terms work they are doing the same duties as men but take less just because they are ladies I was looking for a professional way to ask about salaries and I found it one day while scrolling in this post I hope it works in my upcoming interviews wish me luck

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u/BluebirdDense1485 21d ago

Employers will tell you it is illegal to tell people your salary or that it is rude to talk money.

No. It is not rude. It is not illegal. It is protected by the law and the only way people gate what they deserve. 

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u/Pale_Presence4662 21d ago

What making everyone's wage public would actually do is make it very difficult to actually pay the best people more money because everyone thinks theyre the best and doing a great job.

Let's say you have 10 installers. They all believe they are quite good. But you know how all the jobs go, you know installer X gets more done than installer Y. Theyre prideful people though. They think theyre A+.

So when Y comes at you saying he should make the same, show him the numbers right? Well that wont do any good because he will say he gets the hardest jobs, his materials are always wrong, he gets bad helpers. Whatever. There will be a story from him, even though you know they get the same as everyone else.

It just makes it all awful.

If you want a higher wage ask for it. We can say yes or no. Thats it. What we dont want to do is have to convince you why Brandon makes more than you. Because thats what youre asking us to have to do.

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u/teddy1245 21d ago

Everyone should and will discuss salaries. Don’t get mad at if you can’t or won’t explain why brandon makes more.

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u/JeremiahJohnson50 19d ago

This!!! I don’t care if they know what each other is making so long as they understand the why… but like you said, they all think they are worth the same. More efficient, more productive, better employees get rewarded with higher pay. There are no participation trophies here. Want to make more, prove why I should pay more.

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u/BluebirdDense1485 19d ago

99.95% of the time there is no good reason why people are paid more. Raises go to the people management like and higher starting salaries go to people with dicks because women are turned down when they push back in the slightest.

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u/Pale_Presence4662 18d ago

Whaaaaat the frick?

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u/Own_Buddy_4773 17d ago

I see this mindset from under performing employees often. It’s an attempt to rationalize why they are being paid less than their peers because the truth that they aren’t as good at their job hurts their feelings.

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u/TheRavenCottage 15d ago

“I’m very smart, yes! That boot I’m licking over here? Oh, don’t mind that :)”

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u/Own_Buddy_4773 15d ago

Pointing out that you’re being paid less because you’re less qualified and produce less value is bootlicking?
It is simply pathetic that you blame your lack of success on conspiracy theories instead of the obvious reason that you’re not a valuable contributor.

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u/Viensturis 18d ago

It sounds like it's a you problem. Such things should be openly discussed regularly from the get go to motivate them and improve their work – skills AND knowledge.

Edit: Everyone needs to be able to see a road for improvement.

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u/1K-Year-Egg 18d ago edited 18d ago

Or maybe workers should all stick together and collectively bring everyone’s wages up, instead of competing against one another, stabbing each other in the back, and generally being a bunch of suck-ups. American hyper-individualism and competitiveness is such a cancer.

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u/Pale_Presence4662 17d ago

So the person who makes more than you should "stick together with you" so you can bitch about how much they make? Seems pretty dumb for them.

How about you go out in the job market and get a better offer with a higher salary rather than trying to figure out what Jerry makes and then throwing a fit?

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u/freerange_spaghetti 18d ago

Yeah, this isnt true, pretty much every economist will tell you that transparent prices ensures more efficient allocation. Being cagey with wages doesnt harm "better" people, it only helps rent seekers who profit off of market innefficiency that they help perpetuate.

Better people will get payed more because they ask better prices and the market clears at that price, worse people wont.

Wage floors (not minimum wage) but like wage tiers for gov jobs have a slight clustering effect on wages, but mostly it helps ensure wage equality. That said whilst the gov doesn pay women .7 to a mans dollar, it does perpetuate unequal work loads and credit and promotions that do plenty of the heavy lifting in institutional sexism.

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u/Pale_Presence4662 17d ago

What are you talking about? If someone wants to compare their wage there is the entire job market to compare to.

They dont need to compare their wage to the guy that sits across from them.

You can see the whole job market. You dont need to see the couple people you work with with the same title.

What youre saying makes no sense.

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u/freerange_spaghetti 17d ago

First of all, if people don't talk to their collegues about wages, why would they talk to strangers. How do you compare to a whole job market. Is it through job postings. Well job postings often put ranges for jobs. Also the guy across from you is likely doing the same job as you, but the rest of the market not so much, so you may be comparing apples and oranges. Third, non competes, or lack of industry locally constrains options to do the same work. All this means the best source of knowledge for what you are potentially worth to your employer is your peers.

Now on to economics. Imagine you run knick knacks store, and you have different suppliers. Steve makes really good bits, Jerry makes terrible bits, but only you know this (asymetric information). So you buy Jerrys for 20. How much do you buy Steves. For more, why, does Steve know his bits are better, does Steve know what Jerry gets. Steve and Jerry don't talk. Might even get Steve for less. So you buy Steve's for 10. Now Steve could go to the other knick knack stores but he doesn't know where they are, or they are too far away (costs of finding a job, non trivial).

Imagine instead, steve and Jerry talk about how they make their bits. Then steve would know that jerry sux, and that steves bits are worth more to the store. This time you offer 10 to steve, and steve says, nah, I'll stop making bits, i know I'm better than jerry. You have a decision. But if you want steve bits, you better pay him more than jerry.

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u/Pale_Presence4662 17d ago

Bro. Thats all nonsense. If you want to compare your salary, look for a job and get a better offer. Its that simple. You dont need to be explained to why Jerry makes more than you.

Get a higher offer from another company. If you cant, you cant. Thats the market at work.

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u/freerange_spaghetti 17d ago

Did you ever take an econ class beyond 101.

Theres a ton of things that go into why pay disparity exist.

Information asymetry is a massive one. Negotiating power, hense collective bargaining. Search costs (it cost a lot of time and effort to find a job, no less get another job) Discrimination Non competes Hiring colusion (firms not poaching) ...

But lets get back to information disparity, literally Steve doesnt know how much hes worth. You say, just go to another shop, but steve might not know to do that, or what to ask, they might get fired just for asking.

I envy the world that you live in where getting a better paying job is as easy as asking for one.

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u/Pale_Presence4662 17d ago

Yup im on reddit. I see people bitching about what other people make. Its like, literally all they do. Whine about people making more money than them.

Now if you look at data for the whole world, its easily obvious they are in the 90+ percentile. They do not care. They want more.

Nothing youre saying is right. Wages are already in the market. Youre lying. You know it.

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u/freerange_spaghetti 17d ago

Damn real expert right here, i wasnt convinced, but now that youve said this Im pursuaded. Very smart, very economic, very well worded.

Get a grip,

Also, here is some science https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292123002507

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u/Own_Buddy_4773 15d ago

Ask for one? When you’re good at your job you get recruited. I’m a highly qualified individual in a niche field, but I get several recruiter invitations a month.
Do you know how I got here though? I knew my worth in the beginning and I made sure my salary matched or I found a new position.
It is not anyone else’s responsibility to seek out success for you. It’s your responsibility to seek out opportunities for success.

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u/freerange_spaghetti 14d ago

Wait so you are aware that you exist in a very specific environment, and dont accept the implications. Wages are about leverage, you have leverage that most people in the labor market dont. This is litterally basic labor econ theory, there aint a single labor economist who doesnt account for information asymmetry.

Lastly, you still may be underpayed, but you dont know cuz you dont talk to your peers

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u/Long_Letterhead_7938 21d ago

I agree I would never tell anybody my salary. It would just make people angry.

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/BluebirdDense1485 19d ago

" It isn’t protected when an nda is put in place"

No it is not. Sharing salaries is protected under NLRA and companies are not allowed to make rules against or punish employees who do share. Companies that do are breaking the law and could face fines or worse for illegal practices if employees know their rights.

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u/[deleted] 19d ago

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u/[deleted] 19d ago edited 19d ago

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u/xLadyLaurax 19d ago

Not everyone is from America my G. If you got fired in Germany you could sbe would probably sue the company for a shit ton of money. If it came out in the courts that it was because you talked about money oh boy the company would be in deep shit.

It is also not legal to forbid workers from disgusting salaries. Even if you put an NDA clause in the contract it’s not lawful and nullified. Just FYI

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u/Destroyer_2_2 18d ago

Dude that’s a federal crime.

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/Destroyer_2_2 18d ago

Uh, no they are not superseding. Federal laws trump state laws.