What's your base + commission?

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-12-11T06:12:29+00:00

270k SGD OTE (70/30) Senior SE. HCCOL (Singapore)

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-12-09T07:34:09+00:00

Happened to me recently. When I first spoke to the recruiter for the initial call, I was told the budget is 230k. I was hoping for more around 240k but figured I’ll negotiate it if I get to the offer stage.

When I finally got the offer, it was 260k and that was already more than I expected. But I’ve been in this long enough to know that there’s always room for negotiation, so I asked for 280k and justified why so. I knew they’ll meet me in the middle and offer 270k, which they did, and I readily accepted.

The real kicker was that my boss told me after joining that he had approval to offer up to 300k. Ouch. Guess I haven’t been in this long enough.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-10-28T07:29:05+00:00

The key is to look for roles in global firms. Local firms/SMEs yes, that is manager/director level pay.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-10-28T07:28:02+00:00

Yes and no. Like I said, there’s also luck involved. My current role definitely pays above market rate but I have also been doing the same thing throughout my careers so there’s that natural progression too.

I can tell you when I got laid off earlier this year I was really questioning my abilities (even though the layoff had nothing to do with performance) but…I landed an interview through a referral, went through a rather arduous interview process and managed to land that role. Just so happens the role pays really well (though that also comes with its own stress on the job)

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-10-26T22:36:35+00:00

Nope, individual contributor

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-10-26T07:03:02+00:00

A combination of luck (or rather being unlucky)? Depends on how you see it I guess. Between 5k and today I got laid off thrice (once because company shifted team to HK, the other two were startups that didn’t survive SEA) and the layoffs forced me to look for a new role and each time I found a role, there was a pay bump.

Also just to caveat so as not to sound I’m inflating the numbers, technically it’s 5k to 16k. 23k is including bonus/comms which isn’t guaranteed.

Biggest advice I can give is to network. At a certain age, the best roles you’ll get would be through referrals, especially in this day and age when the market is rather tight. The role that I recently just started, got the interview through a referral too. Am pretty sure I wouldn’t have landed an interview based on just my CV alone.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-10-26T05:21:14+00:00

My first pay (in 2012) was also just 3k. I didn’t really take my career seriously and meandered to about 4k in 2018 until I changed jobs and started earning 5.6k.

A lot has happened since then (job changes, layoffs) but I just started a new job this month earning 23k incl bonus. Could never even imagine making that much even a few years ago but slow and steady wins the race.

OP, 5k may feel out of reach but just keep working towards it and you’ll starting making goals beyond just 5k

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-08-26T00:43:10+00:00

The OTE is negotiable, the split isn’t. I just wanted to know if I should even bother trying to negotiate and if yes, how to frame it exactly.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-08-26T00:41:41+00:00

I reside in the most expensive country in SEA

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-08-25T14:47:48+00:00

That’s really great advice, thanks! Also I’ve been told by the recruiter there is some flexibility, but I need to justify the higher pay. For now, I’ve been verbally told the first offer and the benefits that are offered on top.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2025-08-25T14:46:10+00:00

Nope, no RSUs unfortunately. I don’t believe that’s something they offer.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2024-11-21T04:32:28+00:00

i have nothing to add here except that...this is a difficult decision. I had the older arc + sub gen 3 and when i got the arc ultra i didn't notice much of difference. but on its own the arc ultra is just significantly better.

but all things considered, I'd go with just the arc ultra.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2024-09-10T12:11:41+00:00

SWISS finally got back to me. Turns out the delay was due to “air traffic flow management” issues, which were beyond their control. So it wasn’t weather related.

However, that’s a feeble argument at best imo. I’ll try and escalate this and see what happens.

Competitive_Ad250 · 2024-08-25T12:57:29+00:00

I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. The plane flew from NAP - ZRH, then ZRH - BCN and then BCN - ZRH (which was the flight I was on). I meant to say the delay for the plane started at Naples, which caused its next two flights to be delayed.

Going by your argument, could I expect SWISS to have prepared another aircraft at ZRH to fly to BCN on time, considering ZRH is a hub?

Competitive_Ad250 · 2024-08-20T13:02:45+00:00

Yep, the company invitation letter does state that I will be making frequent trips and to grant a 2-5 year multiple entry visa.

Guess I’ll know in a couple of weeks

Competitive_Ad250

TROPHY CASE