I've been interviewing for jobs in image processing as a researcher/developer and I'm always asked what are my salary expectations. Now I've been interviewing for entry-level jobs for people with a Master's or a Ph.D (I have a Ph.D in CS) and I'm not sure what a reasonable estimate is. I live in British Columbia, Canada and the cost of living is pretty high here. I estimate a reasonable range to be between $70k - $75k but I'm always low-balled to $60k - $65k as a counter-offer. Can somebody advise on what a reasonable range is? Assume there are no additional benefits to the salary package. The basic responsibilities are to develop computer vision/ image processing algorithms in C/C++ with an aim towards later porting them onto FPGAs with the camera sensor. I'd appreciate any comments/advice/links to resources.
Rule #1 for devs during salary negotiations:<p><pre><code> Don't answer questions about salary expectations.
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Any company worth working for already knows the value of the work you are offering to do for them to their bottom line.<p>You, on the other hand, do not.<p>The best outcome for both parties is one where the salary you get paid corresponds to the value of the work you are doing.<p>For the company, it reduces systemic risk by providing a critical diagnostic for management decisions. Any company unable to reliably hire people to produce the product they are selling at this rate has a huge problem which will not be solved by creating opportunities for competitors to poach their staff by offering marginal pay increases.<p>For you, it provides a shared context within which to negotiate future salary increases with the company you love working with and not needing to go through the soul-sucking process of finding a new job every 12-18 months.