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My Salary Progression in Tech

georgestocker.com

541–550 of 631 posts

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#541
post #514

> It's always been my intention to retire early, > I'm interested in making huge money and retiring early, > I don't begrudge people with their crazy salaries but I do get frustrated that I can't find success myself. I am shocked and surprised at the same time (knowing that I only selected quotes of a few commentators). Shocked to see the same mindset as many managing consultants and investment bankers I have met and…

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mex…

I can't say that I agree completely with the message from this story, but I do think the point would be stronger if the last bit was changed to:

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to an exclusive coastal tourist village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your grandkids, take strolls with your third wife, go to an expensive place in the evenings where you could sip fancy wine and watch people who remind you of your old amigos play the guitar.”

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#542
post #70
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can we really compare them, though? I live in France, where €90k/y puts you in the top 1% salaries. In the US, you’d need to earn $400k/y to be in the same position. Standard of living and other social benefits come to mind.

lol I'm sorry but no. 400k a year in US puts you in "I am a millionaire" status after like 5 years. 90k euros and big city purchasing power in France is most likely comparable to 180k in US. Remember, all these jobs we are talking about come with full benefits -- 401k with between 5-8% matching, stock options, healthcare, vision, dental, etc. And I am assuming you are talking about 90k euro after taxes not before bec…

> And I am assuming you are talking about 90k euro after taxes not before because the French have one of the highest tax burdens in the world.

Source?

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#543

I've been pretty fortunate. Hard to believe that in 2004, my little family survived on only $16k. That was a tough year. I was really grateful for government assistance, as we were below the poverty line. And last year I made more than $2M. I paid more than $1M in income taxes. I hope some of that money is going to help little families like mine in 2004. 2004: $16k 2005: $36k 2006: $47k 2007: $53k 2008: $56k 2009: $6…

Wow! What did you do that led to such a dramatic growth starting in 2013?

Guessing he got to senior manager or higher at Amazon and lucked out since most higher ups pay is in stock and Amazons exploded by a factor of 6 in the past 5 years.

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#544
post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, but anyone who says any domain is easy either hasn't written real code in it, or is making gross generalizations about entry level code monkey positions that doesn't reflect the entirety of the space. I don't care if it's games, web front end, back end, databases, machine learning, mobile, embedded literally doesn't matter, if you think you can brush off any of them like that, you haven't built something s…

I get your point, but it's objectively false. If your same argument cannot be made for any domain, than you can't simply make it for domains of your choosing. Certain careers DO have levels of challenge, as well as other barriers to entry, that increase the value of workers. You could not argue to me that flipping burgers at McDonalds is hard. Within the domain of computer science, you simply cannot argue to me that…

And you can't argue that the extent of web/ios/android development is generic CRUD. I'm not attempting to make it for domains of my choosing, I'm making it for the entirety of computer science related domains.

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#545

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can one see these compensation data's in the SEC filings themselves? Where do I look? Are you saying some of the people here with 400-800k salaries are top 5% at a FAANG?

Managers will usually pull 400k+, I wouldn't say that's a top 5% salary. Above 300k isn't unusual at all. Check out levels.fyi for some examples of top-of-band salaries in each level.

Engineering managers?

Are there any non tech management level positions at FAANG that net these types of salaries as well?

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#546

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, no degree at all for you? I have this mental hurdle I cant seem to get over, I keep reading about how there are engineers at FAANGs purely self taught but then im also reading about people with degrees, bootcamps, internships under their belts having a hard time getting hired. What advice do you have for me? If im self taught how do i even get my foot in the door with amazon? How do I have them even consider me f…

To get in all you need is to clear the technical and behavioral interview. I participated in over 300 interviews, and not once was education ever brought up as a factor. Amazon in Seattle hires hundreds of people a week, and there's plenty of openings in other places. Just find a position you think is a good fit and apply. If you know someone working there it'd be good to get a referral, but it's not required. I just…

How do you get past the resume screeners?

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blind is an anonymous messaging app where people talk about their salaries, employers, and other topics. It’s somewhat toxic. $240k seems in the range of normal for most of the FAANGs. Of course it can go much higher. It doesn’t seem like the typical new hire just out of undergrad gets that much to start.

Agreed that Blind is a crap community, but their numbers are more accurate than I've seen anywhere else (including levels.fyi).

https://www.teamblind.com/articles/Topics

this is it? any reason for the toxicity? poor moderation?

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#548

My progression: 23 - 45K (University sysadmin, east coast) 26 - 60k (University research systems programmer, east coast) 31 - 65k (SWE, small IHV, remote) 32-42 -- incremental raises up to $145K (senior SWE, same company) 43 - 425k (Senior SWE, Google, Mountain View CA) 44 - 390k (Senior SWE, Google, Mountain View CA) 45 - 350k (Senior SWE, Netflix, Remote) 46 - 400k (Senior SWE, Netflix, Remote) 47 - 525k (Senior SW…

At 800K, I am extremely curious how your work-life balance is? I am assuming after an age and salary number, a lot of your time goes into managerial tasks and at the rate you are compounding on salaries, I would bet it will be a hectic WLB. Further out of curiosity, at what age do you plan to retire?

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#549
post #449

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I'm at a stage in my life where my median friend probably is between 'just entering the workforce' and maybe 2 years of experience (from uni). One reoccurring idea in my mind right now is the notion of 'selling out'--what does the transition look like from "I'm happy living frugally like a college student" to prioritizing your career in your waking hours of your life? What does it look like to slowly convince…

I found that fortunately right out of school I was very content- I had roommates, but I enjoyed that lifestyle. I had enough to put away each month into retirement and outside savings accounts and life was good. Then I got a serious girlfriend. We moved in together. We were getting a bit older and eating dinner on the couch because our tiny apartment couldn't fit a table grew old. We got a bigger/nicer place. This wa…

I'm in kinda that position (keeping the condo not having more than 1 kid, though). And honestly the sad thing is the kids don't care. Growing up my parents did the whole, salary treadmill, long hours, 30% travel, Saturday conference call business. The money's gone. The vacations forgotten. It kind of sucks nobody cooked in my home and I had to learn how to boil pasta at 17. I don't have college debt, but it's not like I use my degree anyway. I'm not sure all the stuff my parents doubtless told themselves they were doing for me was worth it.

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can solve a leetcode medium in an hour _and_ get a work visa in the US, then you can easily double or triple that salary. Just throwing this out there: grinding interview problems sucks but it's the best thing you can do for your income in industry these days.

I can't get a US work visa. I need a bachelor's degree.

There are some US companies that will let you work remotely.
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