Ask HN: Ethics behind getting offers to figure out your "market value"?

3 points by rolandal 13 years ago | 4 comments

What are your guys thoughts on interviewing / receiving offers from other companies to help establish a better sense of "market value"?

Would you give a different answer if you were not actively looking vs looking?

What are some other ways at establishing "market value"? Having used Glassdoor.com, how accurate is this?

chrisbennet 13 years ago |

As long as you are up front with the people you are interviewing with, I don't see any harm. There's the rub though; who will want to waste their time to interview you if you have no intention of joining their company?

If you want more money you can talk to your manager but other then that, you just need to get another job. It sucks but that is reality.

The raise-by-counter-offer strategy rarely pays off. You may get your raise but only until they can find someone to replace you.

rolandal 13 years ago | |

For companies that are trying to "recruit" you away from your current employer, they are already aware I would assume.

Also, it seems like it would be make sense to deny an offer/opportunity if it's less than what you're currently making and/or vesting value.

I do agree that the counter offer strategy is not always a guaranteed win - I was more curious about people using this as a way to find out their "market value" (what someone is willing to pay/offer you)

ig1 13 years ago |

If you interviewed at a company you'd like to work for and they offered you your salary + 50% would you turn it down ?

rolandal 13 years ago | |

Depends - I would go back to the current place and see if they were willing to match.

Also, if that were the case, it would mean that:

* I under-valued, or under-negotiated my current compensation

* The current company doesn't value my skill set (either due to non-optimal performance or company structure)