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Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

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Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#21

Post by thrway127627 »

karterk wrote: post #5
thrway127627 wrote: post #3

The article seems to be using "cloud engineering" to mean what I would call "data engineering" or "distributed systems engineering". If so then the numbers they're throwing around seem high but attainable. I would call myself a "data engineer" (I build ad servers, recommendation engines, etc for clients) and have been getting offers in the low 300s for full time work with about five years of experience.

Interesting. What does your typical day look like? Does it involve a fair bit of ML/algorithms and making them scale horizontally?

Yep, exactly. 70% working with colleagues to design ML algorithms (which is mostly thinking of clever ways to extract features, to be honest), and 30% implementing said algorithms in a way that scales horizontally.

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#22

Post by goldenkey »

SecConsult wrote: post #17
goldenkey wrote: post #14

This is a fucking joke guys. Programming is not the career job that will get you those kind of figures, if it does it sure as fuck will be more of a management position. Look guys, salaried work will never make you 'rich.' Believing it will is the same belief that a startup will succeed. You need to get out of the salary game and work for yourself or do consultantcy if you want big bucks

People might not like your comment and have different opinions, but as person who did exactly what you said and now making around 420k/yr for cyber security consulting, I have to say, you are 100% right.

I am already getting downvoted for putting the truth out there. These fools like the idea that their web development job can turn into a 300k a year salaried job but its a pipedream. I am not saying those jobs don't exist. But they usually are anomalies or due to other things like a PhD.

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#23

Post by thrway127627 »

mavelikara wrote: post #4
thrway127627 wrote: post #3

The article seems to be using "cloud engineering" to mean what I would call "data engineering" or "distributed systems engineering". If so then the numbers they're throwing around seem high but attainable. I would call myself a "data engineer" (I build ad servers, recommendation engines, etc for clients) and have been getting offers in the low 300s for full time work with about five years of experience.

Does the low 300s number include the value of offered equity, benefits etc? Or it is just the base salary?

It includes vesting equity, but not benefits; in other words, it's what shows up on my W2. This is usually what recruiters and employees at AmaGooFaceSoft refer to as "total comp".

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#24

Post by jordanb »

krschultz wrote: post #11
eranation wrote: post #7

I have a friend who is a cloud architect at a big-4, he is making a little more than $300k in total comp in NY (base is lower, a lot of RSUs etc), but he is more than just an engineer. He has a friend at another big-4 in NY, also a cloud architect, he is making $400k I think that the $1 million package is incorrectly calculated. This is perhaps the total package for 2-3 years, including signing bonus (vested over a c…

Quick question, who are the "Big-4"? I count Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft at a minimum.

I see "Big 4" on r/cscareerquestions a lot. It seems to have been invented by that sub as some kind of mythical club of golden programmer employers.

It came from accounting/consulting where there are four really big consulting giants: (KPMG, Earnst & Young, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, and Deloitte). Interestingly enough, the above aren't known for being particularly nice employers.

On the sub the inclusion in the "big four" varies a bit, Google is the only one who's always in it. Others sometimes included are Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Adobe.

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#25

Post by sailfast »

eranation wrote: post #7

I have a friend who is a cloud architect at a big-4, he is making a little more than $300k in total comp in NY (base is lower, a lot of RSUs etc), but he is more than just an engineer. He has a friend at another big-4 in NY, also a cloud architect, he is making $400k I think that the $1 million package is incorrectly calculated. This is perhaps the total package for 2-3 years, including signing bonus (vested over a c…

I'm not sure you can equate "Big 4" compensation (especially at senior level given responsibilities for sales, market offerings, etc) with engineering roles at software / product companies. The comp structure is much different, and there are a lot of differences in expectations.

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#26

Post by SecConsult »

goldenkey wrote: post #22
SecConsult wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People might not like your comment and have different opinions, but as person who did exactly what you said and now making around 420k/yr for cyber security consulting, I have to say, you are 100% right.

I am already getting downvoted for putting the truth out there. These fools like the idea that their web development job can turn into a 300k a year salaried job but its a pipedream. I am not saying those jobs don't exist. But they usually are anomalies or due to other things like a PhD.

I would say even with a PhD you can't make 300k/yr for web or any other development. Top notch developer's salary won't exceed 220k/yr

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#27

Post by fosco »

can someone find a job posting with this type of pay scale? I am curious what skills I should develop.

at this point I do not believe this unless you are the lead architect.

for exaple this job posting I cannot see payin more than $165,000 in dc/ny/bay areas... but maybe my previous exposure to the big four has been limited... was anyone able to find a job posting that pays this much?

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#28

Post by stormqloud »

acquacow wrote: post #20
stormqloud wrote: post #8

A few people that get interviewed by a reporter do not make a trend. I've heard of SALES ENGINEERS making that kind of money, but not technicians. The moment a programmer is working at home remote making $300K per year, the employer will find some offshore person to do it at 10% of that price. Reference Disney and the H1B debacle etc. The only way somebody as a technician is making that much money is the company they…

Sales engineer chiming in... You can certainly come close, though I've never hit it... depends on the year/etc... I do a lot of architecting of cloud storage solutions involving flash storage in my role. Lots of work to engineer solutions into existing hardware/environment, some rip and replace... Not sure if that makes me a technician or not...

A real computer technician looks and has the personality of Simpsons Comic Book Guy. That's why they are computer technicians not salespeople.

Nobody that sits and writes code and rarely interacts with other employee's is worth $300K.

http://www.amazon.ca/The-Nudist-Late-Shift-Silicon/dp/037550...

The naked guy at night doesn't get $300K. He's just happy to have a job where he can sit naked..

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#29

Post by fosco »

SecConsult wrote: post #17
goldenkey wrote: post #14

This is a fucking joke guys. Programming is not the career job that will get you those kind of figures, if it does it sure as fuck will be more of a management position. Look guys, salaried work will never make you 'rich.' Believing it will is the same belief that a startup will succeed. You need to get out of the salary game and work for yourself or do consultantcy if you want big bucks

People might not like your comment and have different opinions, but as person who did exactly what you said and now making around 420k/yr for cyber security consulting, I have to say, you are 100% right.

are you working for yourself or another company is compensating that?

Re: Ask HN: Who's making $300k to $1m as a cloud engineer?

#30

Post by ropiku »

stormqloud wrote: post #16
ropiku wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's entirely possible at FB/Google/Apple/etc. They definitely have H1B employees earning that much and I'm sure they are not looking to outsource those jobs. They are looking for quality not the cheapest possible price.

Right up until the time the companies are asked to pay taxes. Anyone can give out $300K per year jobs when they are global monopolies that pay no income taxes in any jurisdiction. These are short term anomalies not structural jobs indicate any kind of long term trend.

Companies pay profit tax, not income. Since employee compensation is an expense, the tax rate has nothing to do with it. The employees do pay income tax, quite a lot of it.
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