8/4     What's the average yearly raise (without jumping ship)?
        0-2%?  2-4%?  4-6%?  6-8%? 8-10%? > 10?
        \_ When I jump I get 15-35%.  When I don't jump, I get 8% and they
           always cry and high pressure beg me to stay but never come up with
           more bucks.  "My offer at this other company is $X" and the current
           place just turns pale and then asks if there's anything else they
           can do to keep me.  Uh huh.  "WHERE'S THE MONEY, HONEY!?"
        \_ > 10%
        \_ My first year, got a measly 5%. Then in this year alone, got
           20% raise *twice*
           \_ why?  Got promoted?  Thought you were leaving?
              \_ first was a level promotion (doesn't mean that much except
                 i get paid more), and second was an adjustment to keep
                 pace with dotcoms.
                 \_ Now this is a company that you can stay with.  what's
                    the name? =)
                 \_ Did you get the two 20% raises as counter-offers when you
                    were thinking about jumping ship, or did you get the
                    raises even though you were not considering leaving?
                    \_ HP. They were afraid I was going to leave even though
                       I had given no indication (I'm happy here). It's cuz
                       so many other people have left.
        \_ When I was at Cisco, they told me salaries were going up
           17% a year. That includes people jumping ship. You make your own
           estimates (I'm guessing 10% if you stay, 25% if you jump around).
        \_ 40% first year, 100% second year, 25% third year.
                \_ You must have started with dirt.  $20k * 1.4 = $24k.
                   $24k x 2 = $48k.  $48k * 1.25 = $60k.  Hmmm... so your
                   first two raises *tripled* your initial salary??  It
                   _must_ the case that you were getting nothing and now have
                   an almost FMV salary _or_ that you're now getting paid an
                   outrageously high salary.  Is there something else going
                   on?  Is this a startup where you're employee #2 and own
                   10% of the company?
        \_ You people are nuts.  Find somewhere to work that you _like_, and
           that pays you enough that you don't worry about it.  If it really
           bothers you whether you're getting paid _enough_ or _as much as
           everyone else_ you've got issues.
           \_ Yes, this is a nice fantasy.  Living in the bay area with sky
              rocketing housing and other costs, there's no such thing as
              "paid enough that you don't worry about it".  And if I'm working
              my ass off for half the pay the slacker next to me is getting,
              then my issue is that I'm getting fucked.  You must be working
              in academia or <DEAD>Dilbert_Corp.com<DEAD>.
              \_ Part of my definition of "someplace I like" is that I'm not
                 working next to slacker idiots who get paid as much as me.
                 And I'm not working my ass off...  I'm not slacking, but I'm
                 not killing myself, and the company doesn't ask me to.
                 Could I get paid more?  Probably.  Can I afford a house in
                 SV?  Not yet.  This doesn't mean "fuck loyalty, fuck
                 happiness, gotta job-hop till I hit the jackpot" though.
                 I know so many people doing this, because they take as given
                 that their job is the negative, the money from it is the
                 positive, and what they do with the money will make up for
                 all of their work-related unhappiness.  Sounds needlessly
                 complicated to me.  Find a job, be happy.  If you need more
                 money, yeah, sure, that's a factor.  But just job-hopping
                 because of some vague sense of self-worth, or because some
                 job website (or, dear god, the motd) told you "you aren't
                 making enough" is idiotic.
           \_ If I don't get paid as much as everyone else then
              I think I'm getting stiffed and any like I may have had
              turns into hate.