Tell me more ×
Programmers Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professional programmers interested in conceptual questions about software development. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 10 down vote favorite
6

There are two situations where a programmer's salary is relatively easy to negotiate:

  1. When the prospective hire is fresh out of a well-recognized school/institution (which provides him with data form recent graduates that is very solid if relevant enough), or
  2. When he has a friendly contact in the prospective company who can fill him in on the local context.

For other cases, there is always scouring the web for info. A recently opened board provides that kind of data for startups in the US : www.ackwire.com.

A very nice detail is that, beyond experience levels, they capture important differences in industry or in locality : economic "hotspots" such as NYC don't involve the same salary levels as Kansas, for example.

Inter-country effects lay over these differences: salaries in the UK are not the same as in, say, South Africa. But the type of local difference I mentioned regarding hostspots still very much applies inside a country: e.g. Paris has higher salaries than the rest of France. So does e.g., London in the UK (the trick being to determine by how much, exactly).

So, for the candidate that aims at jobs outside the US, this board is near irrelevant: salary information is justifiably very local (nearly all similar P.S.E. questions tagged salary have been closed for being too localised), making entries listed under the broad "Outside US" useless.

As far as ackwire.com is concerned, I have contacted the creator about this issue. My question is more general: do you know of similar resources, that provide localised international salary data for programmers ?

share|improve this question
3  
Also take into account cost of living. E.g. salaries in Switzerland in general are much higher than elsewhere in Europe, but cost of living is too. – LennyProgrammers Jan 28 '11 at 9:02
Sure. A lot of economic effects factor in and should definitely be taken into account. But localised data on, say, housing prices, commuting, public transport or the cost of living is easy to find in local news or economic surveys. Salaries, on the other hand ... well, I guess we'll see what answers come up, right ? – huitseeker Jan 28 '11 at 9:23
Another factor you want to consider is business knowledge. Having worked in an investment bank, I've found that I'm taken a lot more seriously in interviews when I can discuss process like STP or tell the difference between a CDO and a Swap. This applies to most domains and is a bonus when considering customer facing skills. – Desolate Planet Feb 5 '11 at 17:03
These sites you are looking for will give you a good benchmark I suppose, but you also need to think about the level of outsourcing that's going on in a region. The place I worked at paid off over 100 java developers because that's mostly what the economy is producing, they are 10 a penny. What makes the difference is how well you know the business. Niche technologies are a bonus. If my employer looks at my CV and sees I take the time to look at things like Erlang and Lisp, I find it pays off. – Desolate Planet Feb 5 '11 at 17:08
No, but you can look for jobs in Japan here: skillhouse.co.jp – d-_-b Feb 10 '11 at 15:01
show 2 more comments

closed as not constructive by Mark Trapp Dec 17 '11 at 6:21

As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, see the FAQ for guidance.

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

I have used a site called PayScale it works quite well for almost any job in almost any country.

How this site works is you enter details about your job, skill set, qualifications, current salary etc. Then it works out based on other searches done by other users how your salary compares to other people.

I guess the quality of the answer will depend on how many other people have performed searches for the job and country you are looking at. I have used it in the UK and friends of mine have used it in Germany and Australia, and found it useful.

Check it out and I hope it is what you are looking for!

NOTE: I would only use the data as a rough guide!

EDIT: You don't need to sign-up for an account to use the service!!

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.