<p>MiamiDAP - Actually, I can say definitively that doing IT in a bank is less complex, largely because you’re just incrementally tinkering within a massive system (which, even if you’re doing a complete overhaul, means you have huge amounts of manpower to work with within the firm). For a startup, you need to be a lot more adaptable and a lot more experience with different languages and systems off the bat.</p>
<p>That aside, a lot of us do know salary information because people either slip during drinking, brag about it, or give ball-park comparisons which are not as subtle as they think they are. Also, the compensation structures of most of the well known firms are common knowledge.</p>