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Ask HN: How much do you make at Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google/Microsoft?

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Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google/Microsoft?

#151

Post by rndmswethrwawy »

who_is_firing wrote: post #128
rndmswethrwawy wrote: post #23

Staff SWE, Google Seattle. Total 2018 comp will be around 550k with a roughly 55/45 equity/cash split if GOOG shares remain constant. Historically they have typically gone up meaningfully over the course of any given year. The cash component includes base salary and bonus.

Thanks for answering the previous person's questions; your answers were very helpful. Can you talk about how long it takes most people to reach staff level (or how long it took you)? At what level do most engineers plateau at Google (meaning most people are unable to go past it)?

I came into Google as Senior with about six years experience at another large tech company (where I'd also made senior recently).

Senior (one level below Staff) is deemed "career level," and if you just want to build stuff it's a good place to stop. Staff involves a much more substantial leadership and coordination component, and that requires both the skill and desire to take on that sort of work.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google/Microsoft?

#152

Post by rndmswethrwawy »

phx wrote: post #137
rndmswethrwawy wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not going to talk about my specific skills (throwaway account). The algorithms stuff is useful. More useful than it seems. It comes up often in many engineering jobs. Perhaps more importantly at your stage in life, it will get you an internship. Do internships. If you miss the one you really want, think hard about why, then try again. Internships are the best place to start into my next piece of advice. Specialize in…

Could you say more about why robotics today? It has always seemed very mature and saturated to me. I went into the automotive/manufacturing industry after getting graduate degrees in controls and recently shifted toward software and simulation work at the same company. What business problems are out there right now creating new demand for expertise in this area?

I think we're entering a new generation of controlled machines. Aerial drones, in particular, have found a staggering number of commercial and industrial uses, and many of them are operating under constraints that require bespoke platform designs to minimize weight while meeting requirements. Aquatic drones also seem to be coming into fashion. At the "that's a bit large to call it a robot" end of the spectrum, I'd put SpaceX and their auto-landing rockets in the same category (not to mention the drone ships that provide the stable landing platforms!)

It provides exposure to embedded systems, likely involves caring about communication protocols, sensors, etc. It might involve hard real-time constraints, and if you're really lucky it will also involve dealing with noisy data and maybe even a taste of applied machine learning.

That said, I could believe that all of the fun work is being tackled above the entry level.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google/Microsoft?

#153

Post by JofArnold »

Something I’d love someone to explain: in USA as in UK contract developers seem to be paid around $600-1000 a day with a few exceptions. In the UK this is higher than at least 95% of the permanent jobs I see - which is what you’d expect given you’re hiring an expert who is taking on some risk.... But in the USA (if the data in this post is to be believed) I’m seeing even inexperienced graduates earn more than experienced contractor devs. Is that right?

Also, I’m curious; I read figures like $400-600k... Is that actual salary you see on your wage slip or wrapped up in that are things like healthcare that you never “see” normally?

I’m curious because these figures are astonishingly high and I’m wondering 1) how on earth do startups find devs 2) how on earth there’s any developers over 30 when you can become a millionaire and retire early.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google/Microsoft?

#154

Post by noitsnot »

briandear wrote: post #139
fnbr wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is technically illegal to fire you for discussing this, at least in the US. I know at Google there's supposedly a big internal salary sharing doc started by Erica Baker, and she wasn't fired for it (although her manager was supposedly quite unhappy).

If your employment is at-will, they can fire you for no reason at all.

At-will states still have to abide by wrongful termination laws. They can't just do whatever they would like, even though that is the case some of the time.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google/Microsoft?

#155

Post by SmellTheGlove »

austinengineer wrote: post #150

IBM, Austin, TX, band 10 (Senior Technical Staff Member) Base salary: 190k / yr base salary, ~6k / yr performance bonus Equity Grant: ~$125k stock grant, vesting twice in four years, so ~$31k/yr stock presuming I stay for all four years So - total annual compensation (excluding healthcare benefits and our 6% 401k match) is about $216k annually.

You and the other poster at Google in Boulder have probably found the sweet spot between comp and cost of living. Nice work!

Re: Ask HN: How much do you make at Facebook/Amazon/Apple/Netflix/Google/Microsoft?

#158

Post by mcherm »

Viker wrote: post #10
mcherm wrote: post #2

I don't feel like discussing my salary publicly. Have you considered checking glassdoor.com or other similar sources?

Why do people feel this way about their salaries. Always seemed to me that in the grand tottal we will be better off if we did discuss our salaries publicly. I make around 60k usd in a Scandinavian startup as a programmer with experience. What is so big deal about it

There are two reasons.

First: because it is socially unacceptable.

In the US culture, talking about one's salary is taboo. It is rather as if someone were to post naked pictures. Sure, you are an enlightened person and you probably wouldn't hold it against them. Much. But you'd find it a bit weird. Americans try hard to hold to the illusion of a classless society and treating everyone equally, and hiding salary is an important way to do this. It also allows people to not feel cheated, if they don't realize that others are making more than they are.

Secondly: because my company might not like it.

US labor law actually REQUIRES that employees be permitted to discuss their salary with each other, which is why companies do not forbid discussing it, and to be clear: my company does NOT have any policy against discussing salary. But it is to the company's advantage to be a bit vague about salaries. Cynically one could say that this permits them to pay each individual the minimum they can get away with without having to deal with a sense that this is unfair. As a representative of my company, they would probably prefer that I talk about work conditions and company culture rather than specific numbers about the salary we pay.

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