Compensation/Salary and Rates Negotiation - How to Ask for More in the HIGHER payband of the spectrum, not the low end

Question

I am frequently being told be senior software engineer/technical women that they think I am outrageous for saying I don't prefer to take a role that pays entry level in this market (which I know sucks), as any other AI/ML engineer I know would take opt out of roles at tech companies (FAANGMULA, startups or non-profits) where there expected comp was that of a college intern in undergrad CS (yes I've seen these roles on a number of women in tech Slacks and found it especially disturbing. The mods and recruiters that manage those Slacks just say "we can't control the market, but no job is worse than a job." The counterpoint is there is a database of salary transparency showing women getting paid at parity (and underpaid) across the board for technical positions and non-technical positions in tech (and other industries), and I am surrounded by people that tell me I am getting underpaid (everyone who is not a woman). For women, I got attacked when I mentioned that this is a pay equity gap and most women I know have a range of at least $100/hr or $180-200K for a senior SWE position in AI (given 8-10 years experience BS/BA or MS or not). I was also told by one person that it was impossible to find a staff position making more than $250K and I'm like uhhmmm I've seen EVERY counter argument to this - what gives?

Question: How can people from historically disadvantaged communities who tend to get paid less negotiate for higher salaries BY targeting companies that pay a higher pay band (not companies with a lower one)? How can they create leverage what they have gotten paid (for example, I have consulting / contract made 4x my original rate in the past, which when I did the math is is comparable to an L6/L7/E6/E7).

I find myself completely perplexed when people tell me they're stuck at a level and then saying a lot of negative things that signal to me they're in the far lowest of the payband/percentile and everyone else I should be listening to is at the highest end of the payband/percentile of a posted salary range (most people who I actually listen to and make sense)?

Rahul Pandey · Accepted Answer

I believe this is the core question: How can people from disadvantaged communities negotiate for higher salaries?  It sounds like you've had a lot of success with this. What has worked for you? I'm curious about what phrasing or tactics you used to increase your contracting rate. (4x is huge!)  The first step, in my opinion, is awareness. A lot of the comments on my video about $800K Total Comp at Meta was disbelief. If you don't think you deserve to be paid $300K+, you'll never get the offer.  We need to realize that many people are making that much and more. These engineers are not that special.  Another huge factor I've seen on this topic is to realize that salary is just one component of TC. At Big Tech cos, you should pay as much or more attention to other parts of the offer, like equity and yearly bonus. I talk about this in the negotiation course here: Understand What You’re Negotiating For

Compensation/Salary and Rates Negotiation - How to Ask for More in the HIGHER payband of the spectrum, not the low end

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