Levels.fyi started in 2017 as a side project. Today over 1.5 million professionals use Levels.fyi each month to find and evaluate their next job. The site started off helping job seekers compare levels across different companies. While recruiters often had internal leveling data, that information wasn’t transparent to prospective employees. As a result, it could be weeks after starting a new role before an employee realized that they had been down-leveled. This could mean a smaller scope of work or missing out on a higher pay band.

As we collected leveling and salary information, we noticed that our data looked very different from what we saw on other sites. Whether intentional or the consequence of the market changing rapidly, published compensation numbers seemed lower than our data. It turns out that salary transparency becomes complicated when data is manipulated, stale, or worse, intentionally suppressed.

We use a combination of verified submissions and leveling information to help employees understand what they should be getting paid. And while we do investigate and remove suspicious data points, we’re proud to say that we never accept any form of payment to adjust leveling or salary numbers.

Today, Levels.fyi has a small, dedicated, team. Our mission is to help every professional build a better career through the highest integrity insights and services. These include salary negotiation help, resume reviews, tools to understand compensation, and an online community.

If you also believe in salary transparency, you can help by contributing timely and verified salary submissions. Verified submissions are one of the most important ways we make sure our data is accurate. If you’re less comfortable displaying your name, you can still send a verified data point while hiding identifying information. And while we weigh non-verified data differently, anonymous and unverified submissions also help.

Last, but not least, be sure to spread the word by sharing the site with your friends, family, colleagues, and social network. Let’s Get Paid, Not Played!

–– Levels.fyi Team