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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?

#31

Post by slekker »

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?

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

#32

Post by jefozabuss »

Can confirm the 500k+ jobs in HFT/crypto (well the latter might not be a life insurance). I saw a couple of these job postings mostly in the Cyprus/Switzerland area.

You could also make these amounts in adult/gambling marketing but that's another can of worms..

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

#33

Post by chipdart »

aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA wrote: post #25

Don’t ignore the other aspects of compensation: raises, bonuses, vacation days, health insurance, etc. It’s not just salary.

> It’s not just salary.

The "not just salary" bit is very often used as a mirage intended to fool employees to take a lower compensation than what they can get, and then tag a bunch of conditions that can't possibly or realistically be met.

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

#34

Post by uh_uh »

fleabagmange wrote: post #10
padraicmahoney wrote: post #7

Yes. Some of the opportunities exist in odd corners of the software universe. To offer just one example, I'm aware of a software company that does nine figures in ARR making high performance computing software for very large financial institutions. There's basically no chance you've ever heard of them. They're very low key. The company hasn't grown headcount much in the last decade, and their employees don't really l…

I used to work at such a place. Contracts with places large as BAML and other places you e never heard of… Unless you’re the low level wizard you’re just going to make an industry standard salary, maybe a bump but nothing special.

What does a low level wizard need to know more specifically?

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

#35

Post by bilalq »

mlhpdx wrote: post #4

Are you counting the $1m in options as compensation? If so, plenty of startups will offer you that.

The stocks come as RSUs of publicly traded shares for FAANG+. That's a lot more cash-like than the monopoly money of most startup options.

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

#37

Post by freeqaz »

chipdart wrote: post #33
aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA wrote: post #25

Don’t ignore the other aspects of compensation: raises, bonuses, vacation days, health insurance, etc. It’s not just salary.

> It’s not just salary. The "not just salary" bit is very often used as a mirage intended to fool employees to take a lower compensation than what they can get, and then tag a bunch of conditions that can't possibly or realistically be met.

There is certainly a balance to be struck. Being in a meat grinder that pays well is not super fun, and a lot of people would gladly take 70-80% of that in exchange for work/life balance and strong PTO.

TBH that's one of the reasons I chose the company I'm at now. I had other options, but having a team that I love and very healthy PTO won me over. To each their own!

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

#38

Post by david_allison »

b20000 wrote: post #19
fleabagmange wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work at such a place. Contracts with places large as BAML and other places you e never heard of… Unless you’re the low level wizard you’re just going to make an industry standard salary, maybe a bump but nothing special.

BAML?

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

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

#39

Post by aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA »

chipdart wrote: post #33
aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA wrote: post #25

Don’t ignore the other aspects of compensation: raises, bonuses, vacation days, health insurance, etc. It’s not just salary.

> It’s not just salary. The "not just salary" bit is very often used as a mirage intended to fool employees to take a lower compensation than what they can get, and then tag a bunch of conditions that can't possibly or realistically be met.

Members of my family have serious health problems, and the company’s PPO plans cover medical treatments with world-class providers. It would probably be prohibitively expensive for us to purchase such a plan on the open market.

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

#40

Post by kachapopopow »

padraicmahoney wrote: post #7

Yes. Some of the opportunities exist in odd corners of the software universe. To offer just one example, I'm aware of a software company that does nine figures in ARR making high performance computing software for very large financial institutions. There's basically no chance you've ever heard of them. They're very low key. The company hasn't grown headcount much in the last decade, and their employees don't really l…

Aren't you just indirectly working at FAANG then? In most cases you end up being hired by a 'talent' agency that finds work for you at these major companies.
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