On the salary front, Schaefer says candidates should be shooting, on average, for a 15 percent increase over their current or most recent position. The salary increase should be closer to 25 percent in hot IT segments like Web site development, she notes. IT candidates, like anyone else, need to sit down and really look at what s important to them in sizing up a job. IT candidates should definitely look for bonuses in their job negotiations, according to Schaefer. Performance bonuses, Schaefer says, are more variable and are generally based on a combination of the company s overall performance and individual performance.
Stock options are the hottest negotiating point in today s hot IT market, according to experts.
Schreiber says candidates should make a strong case for stock options, stressing that they don t cost the company anything. The details of how those options become vested are a complex part of negotiations about which Schreiber says candidates may want to seek advice of a lawyer or at least become familiar with industry standards. They ll need to know, he says, the vesting schedule for stock options as well as provisions for what the employee can keep if they leave the company or if the company is acquired. Candidates need to compare the number of options they are being offered to the total number in the option pool, Schaefer says. Andy Updegrove at Lucash, Gesmer and Updegrove in Boston, which represents high-tech startups, cautions that candidates shouldn t be too dazzled by the number of zeros behind their option offer without first considering how many shares will be authorized.