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My Salary Progression in Tech

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Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#551

Post by peripitea »

throwawhale wrote: post #160
peripitea wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without knowing your skills, there's a good chance you've just been working for the wrong companies. There are lots of companies in Canada that pay absolute garbage to software engineers. And if you don't have the skills that higher-paying companies look for (mainly coding+algorithms+data structures in interviews), you can get that without going to college. Also look into working remotely for US companies.

The company I worked for was a software shop. Most people there were developers. I don't really have algorithms and data structure skills. I almost never have to do these things in real life. I have done mostly front-end stuff (web and mobile). Should I go all-in on LeetCode? Will that guarantee a good paying job? It seems like 4 more years without income to get a bachelor's degree would be worth it considering the c…

Grinding leetcode or similar things would probably work if you have the right work ethic. You could also consider a coding bootcamp like Lambda School. Way cheaper/less time than a 4-year degree, and they have much better job placement programs. (And will probably teach you the skills needed to pass an interview better than most 4-year undergrad programs would.)

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#552

Post by distances »

jimmy1 wrote: post #483
distances wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was discussed in the sibling thread, but that 90k€ is definitely before taxes. It's exceedingly rare to make that much after taxes, perhaps unless in senior management.

Wow, well then 90k Euro in France is no where close to 400k, much less 180k US.

It's worth noting though that it's the US (and Canada to a degree) that is the exception here. It's great that software engineering can be such a boon for talented folks, but everywhere else even the highest SW salaries place people squarely in middle class, alongside teachers and doctors.

It's still a nice life, just not one of abundant riches. Over 4k€ monthly after taxes goes quite far in Europe as you don't need to worry that much about saving for healthcare, pension, and your children's education later in life.

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#553

Post by soulnothing »

towaway1138 wrote: post #536
soulnothing wrote: post #141

Honest question has anyone else seen salary decreases. I peaked at ~190k w2 contractor so no benefits. But after death march after death march and canceled projects. I got down to ~105. One of my biggest stress right now is due to money. Contributed to by a foreclosure that has a monthly payment. I've been east and west coast and tried FAANG, but unless I waited the vesting it was a drastic pay cut, and the midst of…

I have. My gross is now about one-third of what it was a few years ago. Briefly, a really ugly divorce that I didn't see coming pretty much sucked the life out of me. I'm inferring that you have a family to support. (If it's just you, I'd seriously consider declaring bankruptcy.) I can relate. For what it's worth, this can be the lot of men in our society. I don't think it's an indication that you did anything wrong.…

It is just me and bankruptcy was the way forward. Im amazed at how much harder it is to climb out after.

My condolences on the divorce. I wasn't married but went through something similar. And know that suck the life feeling.

I agree with your last sentiment. Alot of the career seems to be luck or right time right place. I know a number of phenomenal engineers in similar positions.

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#554

Post by aerovistae »

DVassallo wrote: post #511
aerovistae wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could you possibly run out of savings when you had that kind of income? Were you spending most of it? What is your monthly expense rate now? Perhaps you bought a multimillion dollar house?

I live in Seattle (high cost of living area) and have 2 small kids (2 & 4). Just housing and insurance (health, life, disability, etc) are $84K/year. That’s before food and utilities. My total expenses are about $150K. I start with a round $1M in liquid savings, so it’s about 5.5 years of runway. There’s more detail about my finances in this post for those curious: https://danielvassallo.com/from-employee-to-bootstra…

Very interesting blog post, to me at least.

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#555

Post by nixgeek »

mettamage wrote: post #138

Didn’t read the article, I did read the thread. How do I get into the USA? The difference is too big, even when I give 20% to charity. Or any ideas how to become well off in Europe? Tech feels so much more difficult than manager or other business roles (cognitively). I feel like I should switch if I can’t get into the USA.

I grew up in Europe and now live in Seattle. I'd agree with @DVassallo about Dublin being a good jumping off point.

Moving over to the US typically requires a corporate sponsor for L-1, and you must work 12+ months for them overseas before they can petition to transfer you to the US, or winning the H-1B lottery.

I think the cost to relocate someone to the US is between $50-100k depending on what benefits they offer employees. Therefore you need to consider the companies motivation - why would they spend that money, and increase their payroll cost by having you in a more expensive market?

You need to be a good investment for them.

Additionally, I think it's _also_ worth noting that FB E7+ and the equivalent roles at AMZN and GOOG which pay $1MM+ are typically 1-3% of engineers in the company, and for every person making $1MM+ there are many making much less.

Finally when you're a 'visa slave' (here on a corporate-sponsored visa which doesn't give you an option to quit and find another employer, the L-1 is an example of this) there's less motivation for the US entity to pay you extraordinary amounts of money.

I don't mean to discourage you. I do think it's worth noting this is a hard road to travel. Some luck is involved too.

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#556

Post by vonmoltke »

throwaway011010 wrote: post #538
vonmoltke wrote: post #516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Education? Eh... not really expensive in the US, is it? the US student loan debt is swelling at about $1.5 trillion... and counting. It speaks volume as to how costly education is in the US. [1] Education in the US is not unavoidably expensive. Quoting student loan aggregates does nothing to account for the number of students who took tens or hundreds of thousands worth of loans they didn't really need because they…

> In 1998 I rejected my target school because attending would have cost me a minimum of $12,000/year out of pocket. I stayed local and graduated with no loans. 21 years later, if I started in 2019, I would still graduate without loans from that same school. In 1998 . That's really the crux of your comment. As to the costs of your school in 2019, since you haven't provided a link to back it up, I cannot check your cla…

> In 1998. That's really the crux of your comment. As to the costs of your school in 2019, since you haven't provided a link to back it up, I cannot check your claim.

Fair enough. http://www.fau.edu/finaid/other/cost-of-attendance.php

> Fair enough. In that case, I think it's expensive. The same price range gets you a very comfortable flat in Berlin, Germany's capital. [1]

I was filtering apartments out, but there are quite a few in Brooklyn and Queens as well.[1]

> And yet, you're pointing fingers at me like I'm the problem. How about a nice warm cup of reality to start the day?

> Still not OK with reality. That's fine, you'll get used to it. We all do after a while. :-)

I'm complaining about your tone and general attitude, which have apparently not improved. Being a condescending jerk has nothing to do with reality.

[1] https://www.redfin.com/neighborhood/219258/NY/New-York/Brook...

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#557

Post by swat535 »

11thEarlOfMar wrote: post #25

Some random points of advice after 30 years in tech... First, decide whether you are more interested in pushing forward on technology or on earning more. Yes, you probably want both, but you should decide which matters more. Also, note that the answer will likely change if your personal situation changes, in particular, if you start a family. These points are primarily for those who put earning more above pushing tec…

I would like to add a point of caution to this advice, with regards to making your boss succeed, the OP mentioned it already but make sure you WANT your boss to succeed.

In my experience, the harder you work for your boss , the more they will extract out of you. E.g you suddenly have 10x tasks assigned to you.

So make sure you don't get burned by doing this and NOT getting a raise after. Most bosses will simply take more and not give much back.

I guess the essence of it is that you should work smart, figure out what are the most important tasks that your boss needs and complete them really well, but don't naively burn yourself

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#559

Post by hk__2 »

salarythrow5 wrote: post #219
hk__2 wrote: 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.

90k euros is where, not Paris right? $120k feels very different in San Francisco vs Boise Idaho.

France in general. I took this number from here: https://www.atlantico.fr/decryptage/1698781/ce-qu-il-faut-ga... (in French)

Re: My Salary Progression in Tech

#560

Post by hk__2 »

distances wrote: post #423
aristophenes wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get this thinking. I think everyone is making the comparison to Silicon Valley, which is ridiculously expensive because their are too many people making too much money that all want to be in the same place. In most of the USA, not only do you make more than you would in France, but things are actually cheaper, not more expensive. Imagine you make $150,000/year, a really nice house cost $300,000 (think $2,000…

> I think the biggest difference might be that Americans report their salary before taxes, and I think Europeans tend to do it after taxes. $150,000/year with a small family is probably $110,000-$120,000 after taxes in most states. €90k after taxes is comparable. Europeans also report before taxes, and that 90k€ is definitely before taxes. I don't know about this person's taxation, but it's probably around 50k€ after…

I took the 90k figure from [1]. I don’t know about the average european country, but in France annual salaries are reported before taxes. You can remove ~25% off that to get the after-taxes amount.
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