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Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#151

Post by malux85 »

some_random wrote: post #139
amonith wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would gambling be high risk for employees? Unless you compare it to some cushy govt job it isn't really more "layoff-prone" than others.

The risk is that if you ever want to leave the gambling industry you'll be the candidate who made their living swindling vulnerable people.

Capitalist societies where the alternative to employment is destitution can force people into working at huge online gambling companies due to the need for employment and their responsibility (kids, aging parents, etc)

While I agree in an ideal world, individuals should all stand up against unethical employment options, I am also mature enough to know not to penalise someone who might be otherwise meritorious based on what could be situational.

We should take a stand against predatory companies that attack the vulnerable, but this should be done at a government level, not an individual employee level, because it’s a much more efficient utilisation of resources for a large organisation with teeth to be subdued by another large organisation with teeth.

I would hire someone who used to be in gambling (if they were a good fit culturally and technically of course) because that would take a skilled developer OUT of the gambling industry, implying that you shouldn’t hire someone who used to work in gambling is a sure way to make sure that predatory industry keeps enough developers to keep shirking the poor

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#152

Post by [deleted] »

zxexz wrote: post #88

I’m aware of a couple people at health systems/hospitals that work maybe 400 hours/year making $500k+/year. Experts in legacy languages, specifically COBOL and MUMPS. For legacy billing and EMR/EHR and related systems code, respectfully. One guy gets flown out to the east coast from his ”chateau” in Utah every month or two; the only downside is he’s on-call pretty much all year round. I’ve heard banks have people lik…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#153

Post by teqsun »

slekker wrote: post #31
jimt1234 wrote: post #28

Story time: About 6 years ago a close friend with years of software experience was bored with her job and decided to look for another. She received plenty of solid job offers, all with excellent pay, but one of them stood out. It was a company that made back-end software for credit unions. Not sexy work, but what stood out to my friend was the how genuine the people she talked to during the "interview" process seemed…

Great story. With most interviews nowadays happening on-line, how can you recognize companies such as your friend's?

As others have said:

- The people you speak with have been at the company for a long time

- The fairness and quality of the interview process (especially w.r.t. the tech screen)

If multiple people you speak with have been with the company for more than 10 years, it's a great sign. And if the interview is really high quality and fair (such that it is an accurate representation of your skills), it's a really great sign for company quality in the intangibles.

The company I just joined is like this, and I can totally understand why people don't leave to try to continue up the total comp pyramid elsewhere.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#154

Post by syntheticnature »

sshine wrote: post #50
markus_zhang wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes money is really not the only variable, unless it's a very large amount, say half a million. For people with family, I believe a good insurance plan and flexibility in hours also mean a lot. Especially hours.

> a good insurance plan Can be purchased with money. > flexibility in hours Hard to not get flexibility if remote is on the table, which it usually is for these jobs.

When I was a consultant, I could not find a health insurance plan that was even vaguely the equal of my current job's health insurance. Not too expensive, but simply not offered.

That's not to say that job insurance is automatically good -- the job I had before being a consultant had worse health insurance that was a little worse than the plans I had as a consultant.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#155

Post by chollida1 »

Sure, if you work at many hedge fund you'll make similar money, and likely more if you are good at the job and the fund has success.

One other nice thing is that instead of restricted stock you get actual money.

And generally the money will be locked up for less time than the 4 year vesting that these companies often follow.

And on top of that you can usually invest your money fee free in your own fund to help juice your returns.

The downside is that there is almost certainly going to be more stress on you and probably no where to hide if you want to just rest and vest.

Your team and company will likely be pretty small and everyone will be very aware of what everyone's contribution to the company's success.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#156

Post by wnolens »

juujian wrote: post #124

I know this is a tangent, but, and I'm putting words in your mouth, is it so important to earn a FAANG salary? And yes, I know, it helps with negotiating salaries but that's circular. Maybe that's just the state of the job market, no desirable jobs left, only thing we can hope for is a high salary?

If you live in NYC and want to own where your family can live on a single income, then it's important to be north of 300k.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#158

Post by rqtwteye »

zxexz wrote: post #88

I’m aware of a couple people at health systems/hospitals that work maybe 400 hours/year making $500k+/year. Experts in legacy languages, specifically COBOL and MUMPS. For legacy billing and EMR/EHR and related systems code, respectfully. One guy gets flown out to the east coast from his ”chateau” in Utah every month or two; the only downside is he’s on-call pretty much all year round. I’ve heard banks have people lik…

I have heard/read of these people but people I know who work at hospitals doing MUMPS get paid very little. Same for COBOL programmers. There are some mythical people who make bank but most COBOL guys make way less than the typical JS guy.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#159

Post by wnolens »

joenot443 wrote: post #110

Definitely there are. I got an email from Stubhub the other day advertising $500-700k for a staff iOS position. I'm pretty comfortable in my current setup, but it's nice knowing the option is there.

Interviewed and was given a "huge" offer from them. 50-70% of the comp is non-liquid equity at the valuation of their choosing (ok, technically a 'third party' decides this, but I call partial shenanigans and it fluctuates wildly anyway such that a ton of their employees hired a few years ago at a ridiculous valuation are getting shafted - check blind)

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#160

Post by neilv »

fnbr wrote: post #106

Yes, many AI startups pay more than FAANG for ML talent.

I think FAANG-like big IC offers right now are flying around for technical people familiar with the current hot "AI" methods. A lot of hype, a lot of situational ethics around copyright, and some investment scams, but some of the tech is ready for legitimate things people want to do, at acceptable quality levels for the application.

Also, one thing that happened early in the dotcom gold rush is that a ton of people swarmed in, all suddenly acting like experts and professionals, with little/no prior experience. Meanwhile, Internet people who were also prolific programmers were, like, who are all these people, and why do many of them have fashionable eyeglasses like nerds would never try to pull off. I don't know how much we'll see something like that this time.

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