Weekly Roundup - Issue #19
In the last 2 weeks, the topic of design compensation resurfaced so I thought that I would share some of the articles I reference when it comes to design compensation.
I attended the Pave design compensation webinar last week. The conversation majorly revolved around how to approach compensation as a candidate. Panelists shared stories from their experiences which was great to listen to.
My takeaways from the conversation were:
- For freelancers/contractors/consultants, adding a point in your contract stating that you revise your billing rate every year helps from being under compensated for long term projects
- Be open about your compensation and the negotiation with friends who you can trust
- Even if you love the people you work with, if they can’t pay you.. you got to move
The links below were shared during the webinar on chat:
Pave’s data analysis of the US product designer salaries seems similar to what I’ve been noticing in India. The entry level salaries have not moved too drastically for product designers since 2015. However in the last 2 years, we’ve seen the senior designer+ levels seeing a lot more growth in terms of compensation as more companies look to get them as a key early hires.
During the webinar, the panelists asked candidates to consider stock options in their compensation. They encouraged them to ask their managers to explain the stock compensation to them. Folks on chat shared Carta and Investopedia as good places to learn about ESOPs.
There was a reference to Jessica Hische’s Dark Art of Pricing which is a paid PDF talking about how to price creative work. I’ve not read it to comment on it. For Creative folks in india, you can have a look at yadayadacollective’s work.
And finally I would like to link you to a couple of evergreen compensation negotiation guides