What are these $200k+ software engineering jobs, and how do I get one?
Live in the bay area; be a really really good engineer. You will make 200k soon.
Now the question is how does one become a really good engineer.
Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
191–200 of 250 posts
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#192Wow, that disparity between developer and engineer... I'm not an H1B worker, but does this mean I should start calling myself an Engineer?
In the US. YES. YES. YES.
Work for companies that hire Engineers, not Programmers, or Developers.
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends on pay. For 75k - yeah, hard.
> Depends on pay. For 75k - yeah, hard. Most positions don't list salary. From my experience, it's not a problem getting candidates to accept offers, but instead get qualified candidates to extend offers to. If there aren't enough engineers with skill X, and Y years experience, willing to work for pay Z, we need to adjust one of those 4 levers.
Expect to pay a premium that is commensurate to real estate prices, then advertise that premium. You'll find people.
If you refuse to pay that premium, nobody will move from other cities, so you're fighting for local talent.
If you refuse to even post your salary range, nobody who knows Seattle real estate prices and has wasted time interviewing for Seattle positions before, will even bother applying. That is the case with me.
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a huge surprise to me. When I went back to college, I graduated in 2006 and IS/CS/CE rates were at all-time lows. I guess it's been awhile now, but the numbers probably rebounded so recently that the only glut of talent (if there is one) is in very recent grads. We do not have major unemployment in the Valley. It's very very very hard to find good people.
> It's very very very hard to find good people. Any time somebody says this, I always mentally add "...at the wage I want to pay." It is not hard to find good people if you offered a million dollar salary. If there were a legitimate labor shortage, wages would be skyrocketing. Instead, we get employers whining and agitating for increasing the H1B quota.
Even offering a 7-figure salary, you still have the massive filtering problem (because the median programmer is fairly poor, IMO).
The filtering problem might even get worse if you offer such an out-sized salary in the marketing of that open position...
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#195Alternatively, you could look at what % raise a former H1-b visa holder receives when he gets his greencard. I heard it can be 2x-3x, but I've never seen a formal analysis.
Former h1b here, now green card, soon citizen. I got a 0% raise when I got my green card. Have never heard of anything like this either amongst 10s of friends with h1b visas.
The one person I spoke with got a 3x raise when they won the greencard lottery. That's just one data point and it was 15 years ago.
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because we have major unemployment inside of the US. We also have the highest ever rate of Computer Science graduates.[1] Those two combined make the 'need' for foreign tech workers seem very suspicious. On top of questionable need, there are other facets of the program that are obvious areas of potential abuse (employer reported prevailing wages, employer sponsorship forcing employees to stay out of the competitive…
It is a hard problem, but there isn't enough evidence to link legal immigration to the shortages and unemployment that you have cited. It is as easy to say "there is some unemployment, so we should make life difficult for non-immigrant aliens, that'll fix it" as it is to say "the sun goes around the earth because we see it go across the sky." It is not clear if you can draw a causation between restrictive (or unfair…
I don't mean to imply that restricting H1Bvisas would solve our unemployment by any means.
I was just trying to explain why a lot of people here seem suspicious of the motives behind companies hiring H1Bs.
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is there an implicit assumption that the H1B visa program engenders fraud? A lot of H1B discussions on HN focus on fraud and avoid talking about legitimate talented foreigners because that stuff is not as interesting. H1B discussions on HN are like the crime beat in newspapers. Further, 'H1B' seems like a catchall term for hating on immigrant labor in the software industry. Here are some examples on HN that demon…
Because we have major unemployment inside of the US. We also have the highest ever rate of Computer Science graduates.[1] Those two combined make the 'need' for foreign tech workers seem very suspicious. On top of questionable need, there are other facets of the program that are obvious areas of potential abuse (employer reported prevailing wages, employer sponsorship forcing employees to stay out of the competitive…
It's also suspicious that there are significant numbers earning below or close to the poverty line. I find it hard to believe that these are skilled tech workers doing tasks that can't be done by domestic labor.
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#198Interesting to note the "developer" position salary in Illinois is slowly getting lower year by year.
seems to be the trend in majority of other states as well.
I guess H1B program is working as the design intended; wage suppression.
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#199A few of you have mentioned http://www.visadoor.com below. I am the builder of the site and really did it for my own use.
If you find any bugs or need any features implemented, contact me at the email on my profile.
Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Canada, you wouldn't be allowed to call them an engineer if they didn't have professional certification as an engineer. It's against the law. People have been taken to court over it.
IIRC, the US believe is similar, however the title engineer can be bestowed by a company to an employee while they are working for the company.
No. There are no real restrictions on the title of engineer in the US. In some industries (health, civil eng.) you need a PE for public safety reasons but it is rare for engineers to have them in general. A PE can be hard to get in many places because you need at least one coworker with a PE who can vouch for your work. Without one it is an impossibility. A system like Canada's would be nice to have to eliminate the cheapening of the title.