Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. Hemant Pandey discusses the evolution of salaries in the tech industry Hemant Pandey Hemant Pandey's job changes led to a significant increase in salary and role. Pandey's career includes stints at Tesla, SAP, Salesforce, and Meta. Pandey recommends negotiating for optimal compensation and taking advantage of multiple offers.
Software engineer Hemant Pandey has worked at four technology companies over six years.
The Bay Area-based engineer said each time he changed jobs, he had the opportunity for better work and a better salary.
“I bounced around a lot, chasing money and career growth as much as I could,” he told Business Insider.
He spoke about his compensation journey since graduating from college in 2017. His career path has taken him through Tesla, SAP, Salesforce, and now he works at Meta.
Tesla
Pandey joined Tesla in February 2018 after earning a master's degree in computer science. He was offered a standard entry-level job for a software engineer.
He was offered $150,000 per year in base salary, restricted stock units, and an annual bonus. He negotiated his signing bonus from $8,000 to $12,000.
Five months after joining the company, he was fired along with 4,000 other employees.
He had about three months to find a new job because he needed a work visa to stay in the U.S. He started applying, and landed a job with SAP at the end of July, seven weeks after he started looking.
Financial Statements
Like Tesla, Pandy joined the company as a graduate hire in September.
“There weren't many competing offers, so I didn't have much room to negotiate,” he said, “but I managed to negotiate a 6% increase in base salary and a 20% increase in signing on bonus.”
His total salary was $165,000 for the year, plus a signing bonus of $12,000. Pandy spent the rest of the year with SAP, receiving an annual performance rating of 5 percent, bringing his compensation to $173,250.
His friends spoke highly of Salesforce's company culture, and he thought he might be able to get a better salary there. After working at SAP for a little over a year, he decided to apply for jobs.
Salesforce
He moved to Salesforce to take a slightly more senior software role than his previous job at SAP.
Salesforce offered Pandy a 30% increase in his total compensation, bringing his total to about $190,000.
His base salary was about $150,000, with stock of $17,500 per year and an annual bonus of $15,000.
Before accepting the offer, he negotiated with Salesforce, which gave him a $10,000 bonus when he joined the company, something the company hadn't offered at first.
“There's always room to discount the initial offer, so I always try to negotiate,” he says. “Most of the time, they're willing to increase the price by 15 or 20 percent, so you don't want to miss out.”
He suggests that all candidates should negotiate, especially those with negotiating skills.
“If you have a competing offer, an interview scheduled, or anything like that, by all means negotiate. You can increase your compensation by 20 to 30 percent,” he said.
Pandy was promoted after 15 months at Salesforce and received a 20% raise from his previous position, bringing his total salary to about $240,000.
In his new role, he was promoted from software engineer to senior software engineer, led projects with two or three other engineers, worked with product managers and customers, and noticed increased recognition for his work.
I applied to Meta in 2021 after working at Salesforce for two years.
Meta
He joined Meta the same year as a senior software engineer, and it was still a vertical move because Salesforce and Meta have different ways of setting up levels.
“The most important milestone in my career was when I moved from Salesforce to Meta. My salary increased by almost 80-90%,” Pandey said.
At the same time he applied to Meta, Pandy also applied to TikTok, LinkedIn and two other companies, and he used offers from those companies to negotiate his salary at Meta.
“Make it clear that you have other offers, even if you're in the interview, and let them know so it can be used as a negotiating tool,” he said. This sends a signal to the recruiter that they need to act fast and get on your terms.
There were other offers available, so Meta’s recruiter tried to match the base salary and restricted stock units from the highest of all the offers.
In addition to being transparent, Pandey said it's important to be proactive and research how compensation works at different companies. For example, he said candidates should compare how stock renewals work. A renewal is when the stock option portion of an employee's compensation is renewed.
“I also negotiated my signing bonus and said, 'If I join Salesforce, I'm giving up $30,000 to $40,000 a year in bonuses. Can we work around that?'”
Pandy was offered $520,000 per year in 2021 in the move.
He currently works as a senior software engineer in Meta's Menlo Park office.
Business Insider reviewed his offer letter, employment history and compensation at Meta.
Do you work in technology, finance or consulting and have a story to share about your journey to getting paid? Email this reporter at shubhangigoel@insider.com.
