Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level • Hacker News Board

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#201

Post by sidlls » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:46 PM UTC

ammon wrote: post #194

sidlls wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Triplebyte do anything other than get past the phone screen these days? Because that value proposition is really low. Saving 30 minutes on a phone screen isn't very valuable. Bypassing the absurd CS trivia interviews would be. If you could somehow convince your clients that a technical interview with Triplebyte is an acceptable proxy for their technical interview, so that on-sites are more about personality fit…

Yeah, we do more than let people skip phone screens (although don't undervalue skipping phone screens and take-home projects at 8+ companies). Companies really do look for different things in interviews. Not all companies look for CS trivia. So in your case, if you went through our process, we'd suggest 20 or so companies that look for more practical / architecture skills (depending on your skillset). Because we do t…

It's not even about skill at CS. I have no problem in that regard. I just see it as a stupid, irrelevant hazing ritual.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#202

Post by xbzbanna » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:46 PM UTC

jorblumesea wrote: post #78

For the cost of living, these aren't really as high as I'd thought. Goes to show you that salary doesn't always scale with living expenses. I'm curious what the real world take home is between housing + income tax + general living expenses. Being paid 150k but paying 3k in rent sounds like a raw deal...

It depends a great deal on your household situation and where you are on the pay scale. If you are an average skilled dev in a single income family with multiple dependants who require separate bedrooms, you are probably going to be worse off in SV. Your housing cost will be a relatively high proportion of your income, so you won't have as much left over.

If you are an above average dev who is decent at negotiating salary and splits housing with other income earners, you have the opportunity to build a ton of wealth. You can save six figures annually and buy a million dollar bungalow if you want.

SV has absolutely huge opportunity for advancement compared to most regions - I think any good software dev should spend some of their early career years here to see if they can make it big, family attachments permitting. Worst case scenario, you don't like it and go home with a stack of cash after your RSUs vest.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#203

Post by htormey » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:46 PM UTC

malyk wrote: post #192

htormey wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t the average tenure at amazon and most tech companies 2 years these days? http://www.businessinsider.com/employee-retention-rate-top-t... Not saying it’s a bad thing just that vesting schedule is Something to think about when comparing offers. Liquidity is worth something.

That's likely the reason for the skew. They are trying to retain engineers past the typical time on site.

The problem with that is that they become a talent pipeline for Facebook/Google/Apple/Netflix.

I met tons of people who did 2 years at amazon and departed to Facebook for a fat offer that was worth far more than the remaining unvested amazon stock.

Trying to nickle and dime people when they come in the door just leads to people departing early. Employee turnover is a massive cost.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#204

Post by sn9 » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:47 PM UTC

wolfspider wrote: post #198

This is a huge contrast to the south and particularly in Florida. I'm a project lead in Florida, started programming when I was 8, have won multiple national competitions, and now a project lead with people working under me (most that apply have an MS degree) but as a government worker making only 58K. I work for the government because in this area of the country there have been problems with finding companies that h…

The numbers are less shocking after running them through a cost-of-living comparison with your base salary.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#205

Post by SmellTheGlove » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:52 PM UTC

bgentry wrote: post #28

I understand that it’s hard to compare non-salary compensation. But these figures give the impression that compensation for a Bay Area software engineer is shockingly lower than the reality. RSUs and bonuses at established companies will easily double your take home pay. Even the salary figures themselves look low and are probably heavily skewed by an overrepresentation of underpaying startups. My base salary ~4 year…

> I understand that it’s hard to compare non-salary compensation. But these figures give the impression that compensation for a Bay Area software engineer is shockingly lower than the reality. RSUs and bonuses at established companies will easily double your take home pay.

I agree with your overall message, but base salary itself is very important. That's what puts a roof over your family's head and food on the table. Bonuses and RSUs might accelerate retirement, but I wouldn't put them into the overall household budget.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#206

Post by karthikshan » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:53 PM UTC

1001101 wrote: post #69

> We've found that engineers are at a fundamental disadvantage in salary and equity negotiations. They always know less than the hiring manager. This is unfair. I'd be interested to know if they are motivated not just by a sense of fair play, but also if their commissions are tied to salary.

I think triplebyte's commission is 25% of first year salary, but that doesn't mean the people behind triplebyte are solely motivated by larger commissions.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#207

Post by bgentry » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:57 PM UTC

SmellTheGlove wrote: post #205

bgentry wrote: post #28

I understand that it’s hard to compare non-salary compensation. But these figures give the impression that compensation for a Bay Area software engineer is shockingly lower than the reality. RSUs and bonuses at established companies will easily double your take home pay. Even the salary figures themselves look low and are probably heavily skewed by an overrepresentation of underpaying startups. My base salary ~4 year…

> I understand that it’s hard to compare non-salary compensation. But these figures give the impression that compensation for a Bay Area software engineer is shockingly lower than the reality. RSUs and bonuses at established companies will easily double your take home pay. I agree with your overall message, but base salary itself is very important. That's what puts a roof over your family's head and food on the table…

Completely agree! Even a substantial portion of your base salary should go into savings & retirement rather than being spent.

Easier said than done in the Bay Area without 2 good salaries, especially for those with kids.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#208

Post by aantix » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 8:59 PM UTC

sidlls wrote: post #164

digitalsushi wrote: post #74

My god this is just another universe to me. I've got 19 years on the clock doing stuff, right now extending the jenkins model to make a usable 2.0 pipeline, for a fortune 50 hiding on the new hampshire seacoast, senior-straddling-principal level and just barely squeaking out a 6 figure salary. I know it all comes out in the wash, but it just blows my mind how different money is across the country. or, i am a country…

It doesn't come out in the wash. It's much easier to max out the 401k when your salary is higher, and with the exception of housing specifically the cost of other things is on par with anywhere else I've lived (in the midwest). The commute (by train) is in fact less expensive than gas and maintenance on a car in many cases. If you double your housing cost, even moving from a mortgage to renting because you cannot aff…

Agree. Engineers outside the Valley often list the cost of living as a negative, but coupled with the insane amount of salary leverage (in part because of the COL), I never got financially ahead until I moved to the Bay Area.

You're a King in SV as a software engineer.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#209

Post by bogomipz » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 9:04 PM UTC

potatolicious wrote: post #199

compumike wrote: post #2

(Disclosure: I work at Triplebyte and built this salary tool from our offers dataset.) I was surprised to learn that the median senior engineer earns only $36K more than the median junior engineer (base salary only). The gap does get wider on the right tail of the distribution: The 90th-percentile senior makes $47K more than the 90th-percentile junior. One possible explanation is that our data is dominated by startup…

One point of anecdata: I've typically found that recruiting sites like Hired and Triplebyte lean low on the comp scale when it comes to senior engineers. This may be less of a gap in salaries, and more a gap in the kinds of companies using your service. The last time I used Hired, for example, it asked me to name a salary expectation - I put in ~my base salary at the time, and got an email soon after asking me to low…

Wow, that's pretty horrible that that's a requirement. It's the equivalent of them asking "what's the least salary you will accept?" It's never in your best interest to answer this up for especially to a company playing both side like Tripplebyte and Hired.

This is a question that is best avoided until a company is interested in making you an offer.

Re: Silicon Valley Software Engineer Salaries by Experience Level

#210

Post by softawre » Wed, Nov 29, 2017, 9:05 PM UTC

aantix wrote: post #208

sidlls wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't come out in the wash. It's much easier to max out the 401k when your salary is higher, and with the exception of housing specifically the cost of other things is on par with anywhere else I've lived (in the midwest). The commute (by train) is in fact less expensive than gas and maintenance on a car in many cases. If you double your housing cost, even moving from a mortgage to renting because you cannot aff…

Agree. Engineers outside the Valley often list the cost of living as a negative, but coupled with the insane amount of salary leverage (in part because of the COL), I never got financially ahead until I moved to the Bay Area. You're a King in SV as a software engineer.

You're a king? So you live in a mansion?

I live in the midwest, wife doesn't work, 10 years experience - we live in a 4k sqft house in the best school district in the state about 25 minutes from the city. How much does that cost in SV?