I saw a 450k for a C++ dev in a HFT firm in Switzerland.
Never saw anything like this (also in Switzerland). Seems also especial hard to find a Rust job here (which is just what's most fun these days).
Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
171–180 of 547 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#172Sure, 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…
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Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#173Be a consultant/contractor for a company who pimps you out to rich customers on a cost-plus basis. They don’t care if you bill them a million a year or more so long as the end customer is re-billed (at their agreed mark-up). High skill, niche, high pressure (although you can always quit and run a cafe if it gets too much).
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#174Sure, 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…
It's pretty hard to get into these IME. I'm considered a top-performer at the deep tech company I currently work at, and interviewed at a hedge fund awhile back. The process was way less intense than what I would expect a big tech co. interview to be. I made it to the top three candidates, but didn't get it. In hindsight, the role wouldn't have been a good fit, it was "higher up in the stack" than I prefer to be, which is also what they said.
I think you need to be a pretty unique individual to succeed in environments like that. Most people I know break down under intense pressure when shit hits the fan, even if they're wildly competent. I can only assume it's that much more intense when tons of money is at stake.
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
You might not easily find another job after
Maybe it's a country thing but here in Poland no one would care. Various forms of gambling are legal under supervision of authorities so legal companies exist around that. Unlike porn it wouldn't really be an embarrassing topic on an interview. Lots of interesting technical stuff to deal with in such a job.
I would be equally embarrassed if either of those were on my resume. I'd have similar levels of embarrassment with alcohol, firearms, cannabis or politics. You don't want your resume to suggest you are controversial in anyway. Maybe 80% of the people you run across will be cool with it, but it only takes one person in a company to veto your resume and there are usually 3+ people that look at a resume with veto power. It'll close doors for sure.
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#176Anecdote: I'm a Sr. Staff Engineer at a large employer in a LCOL city. Typical middle class houses cost $300k - $500k here, with luxury houses costing roughly $1m and small starter homes costing $200k (just using real estate as a rough proxy for cost of living).
My base salary is $150k/yr. My cash bonus maxes out somewhere around $80k/yr, and typically falls in the $50k - 70k range. I also receive equity worth roughly $12k - $15k per year. Counting in the value of benefits, my comp package is worth roughly $280k - $300k/yr.
I am extremely well paid for the area I live in. It's very unlikely that I could make more money without moving to a different metro, getting lucky with a remote position, or going into niche contracting.
Just throwing this out there, because a $250k salary (plus bonus) is doing well even in a HCOL area.
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#177There's also the option of making 120k or so working remotely while living in a LCOL country. You end up with about the same purchasing power.
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
Layoffs are not the primary risk of being an employee at a gambling company.
You’ve piqued my curiosity. What would you say is the primary risk of being an employee at a gambling company?
Possibly reputation risk. Future employers may pass over applicants that worked at gambling companies if they consider it unsavory.
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#179Sure, 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…
YMMV but the one hedge fund offer I got required putting 50% of the bonus into the fund itself, which then vests out over 4 years. I was told this is industry standard, so it's analogous to the 4 year RSU vesting you'd get at FAANG.
Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am part of the group that misses unlimited PTO. I was averaging 8-9 weeks of time off under the unlimited model while I am capped at 5 weeks at a company with actual PTO. The only difference is that I get paid out any remaining PTO, should I leave, whereas with unlimited, there was no expectation that it will be paid out on departure.
I also came from a place with unlimited and I loved it. Makes me wonder if the people that regurgitate the notion that it's a trap actually have worked in places with unlimited.
There are three situations from what I've seen, one is toxic workplaces where PTO is closely tracked and people who use it are punished (socially or otherwise). That happens more often in unlimited PTO places, but absolutely happens in places with traditional PTO plans too. Second you have the more common situation where without a use-it-or-lose-it resource people end up taking less PTO than they would normally, this happens naturally A LOT. Third are people who have never worked somewhere with unlimited PTO who are justifying to themselves and others why it's bad :)