Are Developers Good Negotiators?

Developers come from all walks of life, and have many unique interests, passions, and hobbies. Often the only thing that developers have in common is their love for programming. It follows that some are good negotiators; others get the double digit percentage finance rate at the dealership when they go in to buy that new car.

How Does Your Company Determine Compensation?

When you hire developers, how do you decide on their salary? Do you allow for negotiations to take place? Is there a strategy in place where you offer a low value, expecting the candidate to counter with a higher number? Are you pleased when they don’t counter, and you get good talent for cheap?

Intro

Almost exactly 1 month ago today I found myself on a video call with Joel Spolsky. It feels insane to write that, even now, as it was a banner moment in my career. For me it was the equivalent of meeting a movie star who I had idolized since I was old enough to know what movies were. There had always been this Joel Spolsky guy throughout my career that I regularly read about and whose opinions on software development agreed with mine, and suddenly I was talking with him face to face. It was awesome.