<p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/601bffb201504a00197fb91b-1108/Instacart Office.jpg" border="0" alt="Instacart Office" data-mce-source="Instacart" data-mce-caption="Instacart is headquartered in San Francisco, California"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Beyond traditional tech companies like Apple and Google, engineers and other technology-focused roles are becoming increasingly valuable across all industries.</p><p>For example, retail companies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-tech-salaries-revealed-software-developers-to-engineers-2020-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Walmart</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/target-tech-workers-make-six-figures-as-engineers-and-managers-2020-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Target</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ebay-salaries-revealed-how-much-designers-engineers-and-more-make-2020-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eBay</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-job-at-instacart-says-hr-chief-engineer-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instacart</a> seek out and employ engineers with experience in software, hardware, user experience, and backend development. In many cases, these roles are crucial for keeping companies' websites, apps and logistics operations up and running and tend to have salaries well into the six-figure range.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.levels.fyi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Levels.fyi</a>, which crowdsources salary and compensation data from tech workers and offers negotiation consultations for job candidates, there are certain techniques that can be used to get even more from an initial salary offer.</p><p>Insider spoke to Sarah Dinh, a negotiation product manager at Levels.fyi and a former recruiter at Google and Amazon, about the best ways to negotiate up a salary offer for a tech role at companies across the board. Dinh is part of a team of recruiters at Levels.fyi that helps candidates negotiate their initial offers of pay. </p><p>Since Levels.fyi rolled out this negotiation service in August of 2020, the platform says it has worked with over 500 people across over 100 companies and has helped employees negotiate up offers for mid-level roles by an average of $20,000 and by an average of $90,000 for leadership roles.</p><p>The service costs $199 for an initial consultation with someone from the platform's team of recruiters, all of whom are either former or current recruiters at tech companies. In addition to their own experiences, the recruiters at Levels.fyi work with compensation analysts and stay on top of industry news to help clients determine the best way to negotiate a contract. </p><p>Recently, Dinh said there has been an influx of clients looking to negotiate for jobs at Instacart, a third-party grocery delivery service, thanks to a push in hiring efforts across the company. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-job-at-instacart-says-hr-chief-engineer-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Insider previously reported</a> that Instacart is aiming to increase its headcount by 50% over the next six months and fill about 1,000 positions.</p><p>"With the steady traffic from offers from Instacart lately, most candidates reached out to us to evaluate the initial offer," Dinh said. "If they can ask for more, then how much more' And if they can ask for more, how should they go about it without offending the recruiter and getting the result that they want'"</p><p>Instacart offers employees a base salary, restricted stock units (RSU), and benefits package that includes medical, dental, and life insurance. In addition to vacation and parental leave, financial support for family planning, and mental health services are also offered to new hires.</p><p>According to Instacart's chief human resources officer Christina Hall, Instacart makes sure its offers are competitive and emphasizes to its candidates that Instacart is a place where people can define and grow their careers. </p><p dir="ltr">"Given the $1 trillion market opportunity in the US alone and the exponential growth of customer adoption for online grocery, now is a really unique time to join Instacart," Hall said. "We hear from our teams that what they can do in two years at Instacart might take them five years somewhere else."</p><p>When it comes to Instacart, most of the positions Levels.fyi has seen are for tech roles such as software engineer, software engineering manager, technical product manager, technical program manager, hardware engineer, and product managers.</p><p>On average, Levels.fyi said it has managed to increase the salary for Instacart candidates by about $60,000 more per year. Using examples from her experience counseling people for offers at Instacart and other companies, Dinh explained the best ways to negotiate up an initial offer for a tech job.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-job-at-instacart-says-hr-chief-engineer-2021-1" >The ultimate guide to getting a job at Instacart in 2021: Here's how to land one of the 1,000 corporate jobs the grocery startup is adding this year, according to its chief human resources officer and a recently hired vice president of engineering</a></strong></p><h3>Never disclose your target salary</h3><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5ff4b13c6056b6001872203a-400-300/never-disclose-your-target-salary.jpg" alt="" /><p><p>Certain states like California and Washington have specific <a href="https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/states-with-salary-history-bans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rules</a> regarding what an employer may ask of a candidate in regards to salary during the hiring process. But sometimes, an employer will ask a candidate for their desired salary in an interview.</p><p>Not mentioning your target salary at the start of the process allows a candidate more room to negotiate later on in the process, Dinh explained. She added that it could also be helpful to ask for a range of compensation for a role to understand what is appropriate to ask.</p></p><br/><br/><h3>Understand the company's compensation philosophy</h3><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5ff4deecd184b30018aad2e0-400-300/understand-the-companys-compensation-philosophy.jpg" alt="" /><p><p>According to Dinh, the process of compensation negotiation will be "determined by the company and not the job family."</p><p>In other words, negotiating a software engineering position at Amazon will require an entirely different approach than what would be necessary for negotiating the same job at a private company like Instacart.</p><p>Dinh explained that while publicly traded companies like Google and Amazon typically have a more straightforward offer process, private companies tend to be a bit more nebulous. In both cases, understanding a company's compensation philosophy is crucial for the negotiation process.</p><p>For example, Instacart does not offer a performance bonus. Instead, the initial offer includes a base salary and stocks vesting over four years. This means that for this company, the base salary is as high as you will get, in addition to compensation from stocks appreciating. So while it might not do well to ask the hiring manager for a performance bonus during negotiations, the lack of this compensation benefit can be used by the candidate to argue for a higher base pay.</p><p>"The best way to put this is really understand the offer, really understand the company compensation philosophy and speak the same language as them in order to increase the success rate," Dinh said.</p><p>When it comes to Amazon, a big part of its compensation philosophy is a large sign on bonus. Therefore, this should be taken into account when looking to negotiate.</p></p><br/><br/><h3>Explain what you could be walking away from</h3><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5ff4e8b5d184b30018aad31c-400-300/explain-what-you-could-be-walking-away-from.jpg" alt="" /><p><p>During the negotiations process, Dinh emphasized that it is important to explain to the new company what you would be leaving behind at a current company, such as total unvested stocks or a cash bonus.</p><p>When it comes to Instacart, Dinh said that the company will likely be open to negotiating with a candidate for an increase in stocks or sign-on bonus if it is clear what the candidate will be losing by signing.</p><p>"You don't have to share what you're currently making, only what youre walking away from," Dinh said.</p><p>She added that it is also helpful to make any competing offers known during the negotiation process to get a larger increase in the offer.</p></p><br/><br/><h3>Be clear about why you deserve more</h3><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5fa9b602f7d1cb0019e3aa8b-400-300/be-clear-about-why-you-deserve-more.jpg" alt="" /><p><p>Dinh says it is important to always be "sincere" during the negotiation process.</p><p dir="ltr">"Passion and excitement go a long way here at Instacart," Hall told Insider in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-job-at-instacart-says-hr-chief-engineer-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous story</a>. "We want to know why you're excited about the product, our industry, and what new perspectives and experiences you can bring to the team. Most importantly, Instacart is a place where we aim for everyone to bring their whole selves to work each day, so just be your authentic self."</p><p>In the case of Instacart, the company tends to offer comparable or even higher compensation than leading technology companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Netflix, Levels.fyi noted. Candidates who clearly explain why they deserve more are likely to reap the rewards. </p><p>"Treat your recruiter with respect and they will go the extra mile to fight for you," Dinh said.</p></p><br/><br/>
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