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I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

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Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#41

Post by eatYourFood »

Xophmeister wrote: post #23
savant_penguin wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I was stuck programming for 140k

Indeed... I'm beginning to believe that I exist in an alternate universe (colloquially known as "Europe") where insane software engineering salaries aren't normalised.

It took me 7 years to get to 101,000 GBP (140,000 USD) in London. After 10 years I am now on 125,000 GBP + bonuses (172,000 USD).

Wages in the US are higher but for some reason I don't see a higher standard of living; there must be other factors at play.

History:

Java dev - large consultancy

Java dev - small consultancy

Tech lead - contractor

Senior Architect - Massive software vendor (not FAANG)

Principal Architect - Massive software vendor (not FAANG)

Principal Architect - (current) medium sized consulting firm

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#42

Post by pixelgeek »

mg wrote: post #21

The headline caught my eye because I love software development. And I thought "Yay, let's see what better thing they found". Then I stumbled at the given reasons: splitting up frontend and backend development, loading a dependency for every problem at hand, microservices and the explosion of frontend frameworks It is not as if you have to do that. I write a lot of software and I do the full stack, have zero dependenc…

> My suggestion if you love coding: Create your own world which is exactly as you like it.

I love this concept but I think we all need to keep in mind that not everyone has the same options. I have been quite lucky in my life that I have had the option to do things my own way but I know a lot of people that don't

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#43

Post by phreeza »

oblio wrote: post #6
ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #4

I really think people who leave software engineering altogether mostly failed to find a company that respects engineers/pays well. If you are good at the algorithms interviews, you can make ~400k with 5 to 8 years of experience. Do that for a decade, and with some saving and basic investing, you are basically done working. On the other hand, fail to pass the algorithms interview, you are essentially stuck at 140-170k…

> It all comes down to a test. And willingness to relocate, possibly across the world. And feasibility of getting an US visa. Or facing much, much stiffer odds if you want to be paid that well as a remote worker, since the number of remote spots with that kind of pay is incredibly small compared to the amount of people fighting over them.

> > It all comes down to a test.

> And feasibility of getting an US visa.

Or Switzerland, which is relatively easy for most Europeans, and easier than US for virtually everyone, I think.

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#44

Post by Humdeee »

mjirv wrote: post #19

I would recommend that SWEs who feel this way but still like coding try their hand at data science/data analytics/analytics engineering. We're still early enough in the data world that it's easy to find that sense of ownership over the whole "data product." You probably won't get paid as well, although it's possible, but the pay won't be bad either.

Although somewhat bored of the whole SWE day-in/day-out of problem-solving, I have taken an internal lead role on a data science team for the past while. Controversial to your advice, it has been one of the most mundane, monotonous, and boring work experiences of my life. If feeling worn out or seeking a new creative spark with software, the data science space has been the absolute opposite.

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#45

Post by TameAntelope »

eatYourFood wrote: post #41
Xophmeister wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed... I'm beginning to believe that I exist in an alternate universe (colloquially known as "Europe") where insane software engineering salaries aren't normalised.

It took me 7 years to get to 101,000 GBP (140,000 USD) in London. After 10 years I am now on 125,000 GBP + bonuses (172,000 USD). Wages in the US are higher but for some reason I don't see a higher standard of living; there must be other factors at play. History: Java dev - large consultancy Java dev - small consultancy Tech lead - contractor Senior Architect - Massive software vendor (not FAANG) Principal Architect…

What qualifies as a "higher standard of living" to you, that isn't culture specific?

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#46

Post by [deleted] »

pixelgeek wrote: post #31
johncessna wrote: post #22

I think he's setting up some false choices here. Also, when I look at the interests list, 'Tech evangelism' was the first thing I thought of, not kitchen helper. I'll also argue that after 10 years as a software engineer, if you're still just putting buttons on a page or waiting for next feature to show up on your queue, you're doing it wrong. Software engineering contains a large range of disciplines. You don't need…

> I'll also argue that after 10 years as a software engineer, if you're still just putting buttons on a page or waiting for next feature to show up on your queue, you're doing it wrong. Sometimes the job market doesn't provide people with fulfilling jobs and roles. They might not have any choice in doing it 'right' and just have 'wrong' as an option.

[deleted]

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#47

Post by TameAntelope »

mg wrote: post #21

The headline caught my eye because I love software development. And I thought "Yay, let's see what better thing they found". Then I stumbled at the given reasons: splitting up frontend and backend development, loading a dependency for every problem at hand, microservices and the explosion of frontend frameworks It is not as if you have to do that. I write a lot of software and I do the full stack, have zero dependenc…

And put food on the table how...

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#48

Post by eklbt »

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #4

I really think people who leave software engineering altogether mostly failed to find a company that respects engineers/pays well. If you are good at the algorithms interviews, you can make ~400k with 5 to 8 years of experience. Do that for a decade, and with some saving and basic investing, you are basically done working. On the other hand, fail to pass the algorithms interview, you are essentially stuck at 140-170k…

RCG with 5 years as an intern. Now that I'm out of college, most of my projects have been minor features that take more time fighting an ancient windows GUI library than actually improving my programming skills. Any suggestions for finding work that will actually improve applications of the various algorithms(outside of grinding leetcode)

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#49

Post by vesuvianvenus »

johncessna wrote: post #22

I think he's setting up some false choices here. Also, when I look at the interests list, 'Tech evangelism' was the first thing I thought of, not kitchen helper. I'll also argue that after 10 years as a software engineer, if you're still just putting buttons on a page or waiting for next feature to show up on your queue, you're doing it wrong. Software engineering contains a large range of disciplines. You don't need…

I agree.

Given the author's interest in language and technical projects, I think they should add Sales Engineer & Solutions Engineer to the list.

Both are client facing sales / application setup roles... and Tech Evangelist roles as well.

Unless the author just wants to get away from IT in general, which is understandable.

Re: I am getting out of software development after 10 years of coding

#50

Post by samhw »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #40
Xophmeister wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed... I'm beginning to believe that I exist in an alternate universe (colloquially known as "Europe") where insane software engineering salaries aren't normalised.

Many fang companies have offices all over Europe. The pay is not quite as high as the US but it is much higher than average dev European salaries.

Eh, this is not always and everywhere true. I have friends at Google here in London and some of the salary figures I've heard are shockingly low. As in, sub-or-around-100k low. Though admittedly these are people who I'd guess are below, say, L5.
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