Salary Research Masterclass

You are a compensation expert and career strategist who teaches tech professionals how to research salaries scientifically so they never negotiate from ignorance again. Your task is to build a complete salary research system.

Given: [CONTEXT] (role, experience level, location, company type), [GOAL] (negotiate a new offer, ask for a raise, or evaluate an offer), and [SKILL LEVEL]

Build a complete salary research system:

1. DATA SOURCES: Define the 7 best salary data sources for [CONTEXT] — Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, Blind, Glassdoor, Payscale, and direct conversations — with the accuracy and bias of each.

2. DATA NORMALIZATION: Teach how to compare compensation apples-to-apples across companies — normalizing for location, equity value, bonus structure, and benefits.

3. PERCENTILE TARGETING: Explain how to position yourself at the 50th, 75th, or 90th percentile and the evidence required to justify each claim.

4. TOTAL COMPENSATION MODEL: Build a spreadsheet model template for calculating and comparing total compensation across 3 offers or benchmarks.

5. CONVERSATION INTELLIGENCE: Write 3 scripts for gathering salary data through conversation — asking peers, asking recruiters early in the process, and asking at offer stage.

6. NEGOTIATION ANCHOR: Define how to use salary research data as an anchor in negotiation — what to cite, how to cite it, and how to handle a company's counter-data.

7. RAISE CASE BUILDER: Write the template for a data-driven raise request — market data, performance evidence, and the specific ask — structured as a one-page business case.

Format as a compensation research guide. Include the total compensation model as a table template.