[byoung2]

Going from $55k to $110k looked like this:

In July 2009 got a raise to $58k at my company (Internet Brands, formally CarsDirect) so I started looking. I applied to a bunch of places and within a week I had an offer for $65k which my company matched. I told the new company and they increased their offer to $70k. I accepted.

The environment was pretty toxic at the new place so I was looking too leave when one of the other places I applied got back to me. Although I was making $70k, there were bonus opportunities of up to 10%, so I reported total compensation of $80k. The new company matched with an offer of $80k. So 3 months after I made $55k, I was making $80k. This was ClearChannel (now iHeartMedia), and sensing a major reorganization and possible layoffs, I left to work at a small startup in November 2011.

They offered a choice of low salary/high options or high salary/low options. I took the high salary, which was $110k. After 18 months I got a raise to $117k, but wasn't happy. They offered me more options but I wasn't interested. When I discovered a coworker's offer letter on the shared drive stating he made $135k, I started applying. I got an offer for $130k which my company countered at $140k plus a few perks like an extra week of PTO. In December 2014 I got a raise to $155k, and then a promotion to director of engineering at $175k in January 2015. I started consulting on the side in November and found it more lucrative, so I left in December 2015.

[xiphias]

Thanks, so the main message is clear: it's worth to interview with other companies as well instead of just focusing on getting promotion. It was just not talked about that much before in the software community.