How to Organize Levels.fyi Salary Research
Save Levels.fyi compensation data with its company, level, location, and source so you can use it when an offer arrives.
Start with the offer you need to evaluate
Do not collect every compensation number. Define a useful comparison from the role in front of you:
- Role and level
- Company or company stage
- Location
- Base salary
- Equity
- Bonus or sign-on payment
- Source date or recency
- Source link
A public company and a small private company present equity in different contexts. Location can change the comparison, and identical titles can represent different responsibility levels. The goal is not the largest dataset; it is a small set of close comparisons.
Save the Levels.fyi context
When a result is relevant, preserve the full visible compensation breakdown and the link to the page or filtered view. Add a note such as Comparable role and location, but company is much larger.
Use a consistent template:
- Company:
- Role and level:
- Location:
- Base:
- Equity:
- Bonus or sign-on:
- Why it is comparable:
- Source:
Leave missing fields blank. Do not guess. An incomplete record is safer than an assumption made to look precise.
Separate data from negotiation stories
Levels.fyi provides structured compensation entries. Blind, Reddit, recruiter newsletters and personal posts provide a different kind of evidence: individual negotiation experiences, company context and possible language for a counteroffer.
Label each item:
- Compensation data
- Negotiation experience
- Recruiter guidance
- Company-specific context
- Your own offer information
This stops a forum comment from looking like verified compensation data. Open reported data for market comparisons and negotiation examples for possible wording. The browser bookmark graveyard begins when saving the address feels like finishing the research.
Add one useful note
One sentence is usually enough:
- Same level and location, but later-stage company.
- Discussion of pushing back on the initial base offer.
- Useful explanation of refresh grants.
- Not comparable for salary; useful for negotiation wording.
Write in your own language. On offer day, your interpretation is easier to recall than the source headline. This is the practical lesson of the hard drive fallacy: storage and retrieval are different jobs.
Pick a system you will use while researching
A spreadsheet is best for side-by-side comparisons. Give each source one row and retain only fields you will use.
Notion supports database views, longer notes and connections between companies or roles. It requires more setup, so it fits best when it is already part of your routine.
A notes app works for a short search across a few companies. Use one note per company or offer and place sources with your comments.
Bookmarks can preserve original pages, but pair them with a note or clearly named record. Otherwise you may remember saving something without knowing which link mattered.
A recall tool helps when you remember ideas rather than titles. Searching notes by meaning can surface a thread about pushing back when your later query says counteroffer. dEssence is one option for saving sources where you read them and asking about them later. Treat any recall tool as a research notebook—not a destination for offer letters, signed paperwork or confidential documents.
Build an offer-day view
Your archive can be messy; the offer-day view cannot. Before the recruiter call, assemble:
- The offer as presented
- A few close market comparisons
- The range you want to request
- Reasons supporting the request
- Questions about equity, bonus, level or review timing
- Links to the underlying sources
Do not send a pile of anonymous forum comments to a recruiter. Use research to understand the offer and make a clear request, while keeping sources for your own verification.
Review before relying
Reopen every original page used in negotiation. Confirm the level, location and compensation type. Make sure you did not combine base salary from one entry with total compensation from another.
The same approach works for freelance rate research: preserve the number, its conditions and its source together. A figure is useful only while you can explain where it came from and why it applies.