Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level • Hacker News Board

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#531

Post by cletus » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 10:19 PM UTC

superfrank wrote: post #511

Bahamut wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree - I joined a FAANG company 2.5 years ago and was given a $280k package as a mid-level. After two annual review cycles, I currently make $318k. My initial RSU grant is about to hit double what it was ($105k initially), and my refresh RSU grants are close to hitting 50% above their initial value (two grants of $125k) still as a mid-level. Benefits like 401k matching and ESPP stock purchasing also push up eff…

> Unlimited time off is bullshit. Think of this as no time off. I'm so tired of hearing this. I think there are some professions/job levels where that is true (client facing jobs or higher up managers), but for most non-management development jobs, this just isn't the case. I've worked at three different companies that have had unlimited time off (I seek it out now) and I have plenty of friends who have worked at com…

If I can't join the company then immediately take the next 30 years off I don't have unlimited time off.

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#532

Post by peripitea » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 10:38 PM UTC

enitihas wrote: post #521

peripitea wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's exactly what he's saying -- the "just as well" part is key. Sure, there's an IC track that goes up to the SVP level at many companies, but it's statistically much harder to climb pretty much everywhere.

I think most companies do not even have IC roles analogous to SVP. Google has two Senior fellows, and those are two guys who are far too famous and responsible for too much of the Google backbone infrastructure.

Yeah you're probably right that VP, rather than SVP, is the more common cutoff.

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#533

Post by subsubzero » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 10:38 PM UTC

senordevnyc wrote: post #322

Reposting from previous comment of mine [1]: I can't speak to the actual work yet as I haven't started, but I just accepted an offer as a senior / staff level engineer in NYC at one of the smaller public tech companies (think Dropbox, Lyft, Pinterest, Snap, etc) after 10+ years of being self-employed. I had two startups offer me $170k plus some (probably worthless) options. When the offer I ultimately accepted came i…

I too work at a smaller tech company, market cap is near the ones you posted and one thing many people forget is the share price upside on those sized companies is enormous(also downside too!) I came in during a low point in the companies stock and saw my yearly RSU's go from being valued at 70k to over $200k a year. I don't think the large FAANGs will see even a 100% upside in share price(maybe NFLX though) in a year or two.

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#534

Post by beefalo » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 10:42 PM UTC

dorgo wrote: post #502

beefalo wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to back you up on this, the savings should more than triple. 3x the compensation probably more than offsets the 3x in costs, so your savings may be more like 5x or more compared to low COL areas.

Assumption: cost + savings = income 3 * income - 3 * cost = 3 * ( cost + savings ) - 3 * cost = 3 savings Is my assumption wrong? Otherwise it's 3x and not 5x.

I should have phrased it differently, the 3x in cost primarily applies to housing while most other expenses only increase marginally. Overall costs are closer to 2x increase instead of 3

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#535

Post by dmode » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 11:02 PM UTC

monoideism wrote: post #323

bovermyer wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is fascinating to me since I've never worked (since graduating, anyway) outside of the Upper Midwest. I worked for a startup here once, but that was bar none the worst job I've ever had. Job offers have never been anything but a straight salary and a 401k, sometimes with matching, sometimes not. No bonuses or stock ever. Raises have usually been just below inflation rates. Vacation peaked for me at 3 weeks. For…

> I make $130k right now. If you're in a reasonable COL area, you're probably closer to FAANG salaries than you think. I make about that in a relatively low COL city in the south. After receiving some recruitment emails, I thought about FAANGs but ran the numbers and decided against it. $400000 is not nearly as awesome as it sounds if you're living in the Bay area or similar tech mecca. Note: it's an immense salary,…

This is very bad advice. 130k in low COL is absolutely not equal to 400k in Bay. People generally cap their housing expense to 30% salary. So that may give you a mansion in low COL and a 3 bedroom townhome in bay, but the remaining 70% goes very very far. Remember vacations, Tesla, electronic goods, in n out, cost the same no matter where you live.

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#536

Post by tikiman163 » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 11:16 PM UTC

cletus wrote: post #171

As a FAANG engineer going on 9 years now, let me address the usual rebuttals: - There is a selection bias. Nope, this is pretty much accurate. - These aren't real. Yes, yes they are. - Self-reporters are lying. Maybe some do but these numbers are pretty accurate. If anything, I question Lyft and Airbnb as such outliers. I wonder if this factored in Lyft's post-IPO stock performance and makes unrealistic valuations of…

I tried doing starts for the first couple years including during school. I've been personally involved in 5 different startups and after my involvement I conducted research to see if my experience was typical. To make a long story short, all 5 starts I participated in were badly managed to the point of failure and this is typical.

Any promise of eventually being the smarter move due to ownership or profit share is not worth it. Only 1 in 10 startups is likely to exist at the 10 year mark, and the majority of those still won't be well funded or be issuing dividends. Working for a startup is roughly similar to playing the lottery, somebody is going to win and it won't be you.

To your point FAANG companies used to be the worst career option because managerial expectations were impossible, but that ended almost a decade ago. If anything, FAANG companies will likely be among the first to even implement a 30 hour 4 day work week in the next 10 years for the same salary as the 40 hour 5 day work week. It's getting batter to work for an established company, and most of the bad managers that insisted on making the working environment terrible are now running the startups.

After years of research the clearest conclusion about who you should work for should always be answered by who has the best management team. Good managers enable work life balance, compensate above average and rarely dictate how to get things done. They should be more interested in making you valuable than whether you plan to stick around, and all of this is supported by real research into successful management techniques (See books like Good to Great, Team of Teams and The Goal for supporting reference materials).

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#537

Post by geoelectric » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 11:16 PM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #508

Bahamut wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree - I joined a FAANG company 2.5 years ago and was given a $280k package as a mid-level. After two annual review cycles, I currently make $318k. My initial RSU grant is about to hit double what it was ($105k initially), and my refresh RSU grants are close to hitting 50% above their initial value (two grants of $125k) still as a mid-level. Benefits like 401k matching and ESPP stock purchasing also push up eff…

Does Netflix have a true "unlimited PTO" policy or do they enforce a minimum PTO usage per year? I've heard of places with unlimited PTO but they require their employees to take a minimum of 2 weeks a year (and strongly, strongly encourage 4-5 weeks a year).

I've been at Netflix a few years now as a SWE.

There's no forced PTO, though good managers will encourage you to take it. That's relatively common from what I gather.

I've never had any friction around taking time off, if I was responsible about clearing/delaying/delegating projects and getting my day-to-day work covered.

It's easy to fall in the psychological trap of thinking you never can, sure, but since Netflix pretty much starts at the Senior level for hires (biggest reason they aren't in the first two sections probably) I think it's less of an issue. The fact you see your coworkers taking time off without the world blowing up is also a powerful social cue.

I'd never trust a startup with unlimited PTO, but Netflix actually does mean it.

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#538

Post by zuhayeer » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 11:16 PM UTC

Plyphon_ wrote: post #256

zuhayeer wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Added to our list, will try to work on it!

Sorry to highjack - any plans to expand to Europe and/or the UK (Brexit looming...) ? Cheers!

We're working on it! Still very sparse data for Europe right now, but you can search for UK specific salaries on our compensation page at https://www.levels.fyi/comp.html?track=Software%20Engineer&s...

We also have a very preliminary salary page for London available at https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/London/

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#539

Post by Infinitesimus » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 11:20 PM UTC

jiveturkey wrote: post #509

how does this compare to the data at levels.fyi ?

This data is from levels.fyi

Re: Top Paying Tech Companies by SWE Level

#540

Post by _qbxp » Mon, Jan 06, 2020, 11:24 PM UTC

Some of these salaries are hilarious. I work in a small city in the Southeast at about 250k cash comp and feel blessed because of it. Leave it to HN to make me feel that tinge of envy. The weird thing is, I never get jealous/envious of someone my age making 1 million. 2 million. Or hitting the jackpot and selling their company for hundreds of millions. Doesn’t give me one iota of “wish I had that”, but the 400k starting salaries really make me wonder if I should be starting the job search again and uplifting the family out of the Southeast lol. I wonder if it’s because I can envision myself working for those companies and actually making it (versus founding a company and making millions). The mind is an interesting thing. I am very grateful to be making what I do, and even more grateful that people who practice my trade (in some form or fashion) are getting paid well for it!