Hi, I’m Sam! I have been a product manager for years. Now I work as an industry mentor for the product, strategy, and operations track at Pathrise. I help people land their dream job through technical training and 1-on-1 mentorship. Check out my article to learn about the average product manager salary in Boston. Then, use these tips to increase your compensation!
Product manager, product owner, product marketing manager, and scrum master were all listed in the top 15 jobs of 2019 by Linkedin. In addition, product management roles grew by 29% that year. Now, they continue to rise in demand in 2021 as more companies utilize these roles to help expedite processes, especially while working remotely.
Tech companies are cropping up all of the time and looking for homes outside of the traditional locations like San Francisco and New York. Boston has become one of these hubs. In fact, tech companies like Toast, Drizly, edX, Atlassian, Grubhub, and Chewy have set up shop in the city.
If you are looking for product management roles and wondering how you can increase your product manager salary in Boston, Pathrise can help. We have worked with hundreds of people as they navigate their job search and negotiate 10-20% increases in compensation, on average.
Average product manager salary in Boston
In order to be successful in your negotiation, you need to remember that the process begins with your first conversation. Never give a salary number or even a range, even if you are asked on an application or in an initial phone screen. Just write or respond, “negotiable within reason, based on current market trends and cost of living.”
You can also tell the recruiter or hiring manager that you want to do research on the average compensation for the role. This background knowledge will help you understand the starting point for your negotiation when the time comes.
Let’s take a look at some average salaries for product manager roles in Boston. All of these numbers come from Glassdoor.
- Associate product manager – $78,984
- Product manager – $109,897
- Senior product manager – $140,011
How to negotiate your product manager salary in Boston
With knowledge of the average salaries for each role, you can plan your negotiations. Do not feel nervous about negotiating because companies expect it. In fact, they typically leave room for it in the initial offer, so if you forgo negotiation, you are likely leaving money on the table.
In order to ensure you are cool, calm, and collected during your negotiation, we always recommend that you avoid doing it over the phone. Knowing this, most recruiters call candidates to give them their offer verbally. Therefore, you should express your excitement on the call, thank them, and then hang up as quickly as you can. The next step is for them to send you the written offer, which means you can see exactly what they are giving and plan how you want to counter.
If the recruiter pushes you to accept the offer over the phone, be firm, but polite. Explain that you want to see it written out before agreeing. You can also let them know that you’d like to talk it over with your mentors, family members, or friends. They cannot force you to accept it verbally, so just get off the phone as quickly (and calmly) as you can.
Once you have the offer in writing, read it carefully and make sure that you understand it all. Compensation is not just salary. It also includes benefits, perks like PTO, and equity. Make sure you do your research if you have questions about equity or other, similar elements.
Plan your negotiation
Then, you can plan your negotiation. When preparing, think about the type of company. For example, big tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon are known for giving high salaries and good benefits in their starting offers. Therefore, you might see better results if you negotiate on signing bonuses, equity, relocation funds, and other benefits with these organizations.
On the other hand, startups might offer lower salaries and higher equity at first. So, you should focus on increasing compensation, unless they explicitly mentioned that they cannot go higher. In that case, turn your attention to bonuses, perks, and benefits. For more info on how to increase your salary, check out our guide.
With this background knowledge on the average product manager salary in Boston and these tips, you should be able to successfully navigate offers for these roles and negotiate to increase your compensation. For more guidance on how to become a product manager, check out our guide.
Pathrise is a career accelerator that works with students and professionals 1-on-1 so they can land their dream job in tech. With our guidance, we’ve seen a 10-20% increase in salary from our fellows in the program.
If you want to work with our mentors 1-on-1 to get help with negotiation or with any other aspect of the job search, join Pathrise.
Apply today.
