Provide many early opportunities for advancement. Some people advise having a lot of levels toward the beginning of the ladder to account for the fact that early-career engineers expect frequent raises and promotions. You may want to be able to promote someone every year for the first two to three years of her career. If that’s the case, create several levels that encompass the role of software engineer and provide relatively narrow salary bands for those levels, on the expectation that people in those roles are either being promoted quickly or moving on from your company.
