Most of the time the wage is not up for negotiation. Forget about it, you can't change it. HR and your future boss are tied up with company policy which says you start at X and you can't change that.

Spend your time instead on getting more vacation from the start. If instead you ask for 25 days of vacation per year instead of the default 10 you have a deal (or maybe they bring you down to 20 days). You can't get 50 days of vacation (there is a company max they can't go beyond), but you can get a lot more time.

I haven’t experienced what you claim. I’ve succeeded to the 99th percentile with wage negotiation the last 2 times I job hopped (both FAANG). The trick is you really do need to do the work to collect a poker-hand of competing offers with which to have leverage. You can then say “I won’t take your offer unless you make it (top of band, L+1, remote)” etc.

This has not backfired on me. It just takes 8 times more effort than getting hired at one place. I figured the benefit would compound.

Every company is different. Congratulations for pulling that off. It won't work everywhere though. The real trick is figuring out where they can negotiate - there is always something.

Wait so you got an offer at a FAANG for one level, and you negotiated to go up a level in pay, but not actually go up a level?

I know multiple successful wage negotiators at FAANG. Before their promotion their annual salary increase is on the order of hundreds to low thousands because they are already at the top salary for their level.