Mid-level Engineering Manager at FAANG pre-tech downturn.
What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
31–40 of 81 posts
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#32My trophy job is where I get paid well, don't deal with idiotic janitorial work being forced upon me by upper management who have no idea what they're doing, and don't have to work off hours very often.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#33Quants at prop trading or buy-side HFT (not banks). There’s a lot of substance in those jobs (denominator), but the status is insanely high (numerator). Smart. Quants are generally “smart” with diverse software, hardware, and math knowledge. Scarcity. In the United States, the entire industry might hire 1,000 to 2,000 new grad quants per year. And most importantly, a realistic path to $1M+ TC by 5 YOE, and $10M+ TC i…
I think these roles only hire from top tier colleges and if you didn't get into one, too bad the ship has sailed. Can't argue on comp though. These jobs post very well.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#34I know recruiters working half the year making $500k from beaches in the Caribbean.
Still?
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#35Devrel where you spend your time being a public speaker more than a technical professional, talking about code that you've never run in production?
Sales in disguise
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#36Quants at prop trading or buy-side HFT (not banks). There’s a lot of substance in those jobs (denominator), but the status is insanely high (numerator). Smart. Quants are generally “smart” with diverse software, hardware, and math knowledge. Scarcity. In the United States, the entire industry might hire 1,000 to 2,000 new grad quants per year. And most importantly, a realistic path to $1M+ TC by 5 YOE, and $10M+ TC i…
“ And most importantly, a realistic path to $1M+ TC by 5 YOE, and $10M+ TC is not uncommon for 15-20 YOE.” That’s wild, if true.
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Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#37Surely this varies massively by your priorities?
I mean if someone said they were a Quant or PM that seems a bit meh to me, but if they were a Linux Kernel "lieutenant", I'd be impressed.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#38CTO / VP of engineering at small VC-backed companies that employ less than 50 engineers. My current CTO spends most of his time spamming ChatGPT-related stuff, and discussing "key objectives" he replaces every few months, thus having next to no accountability. It was the same at my previous job.
The quality of talent at VC backed businesses could actually be quite abyssmal. I have even companies where directors of entire orgs never worked as an engineer and it's laughable how little some of these people actually know about the field.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#39CTO / VP of engineering at small VC-backed companies that employ less than 50 engineers. My current CTO spends most of his time spamming ChatGPT-related stuff, and discussing "key objectives" he replaces every few months, thus having next to no accountability. It was the same at my previous job.
The quality of talent at VC backed businesses could actually be quite abyssmal. I have even companies where directors of entire orgs never worked as an engineer and it's laughable how little some of these people actually know about the field.
Well, as they say it's about who you know not what you know.
Re: What are the “trophy jobs” in tech?
#40> Ask any recent college graduate and they’ll tell you the most coveted jobs in each field and across all of them. They’ll also tell you how competitive it is to get one. These tend to be common targets for trophy jobs. This really gets at the heart of my reaction to this article - this feels like a description of how people who have no real idea of what life is like in an industry think people feel might feel about…
Yeah, I'm not sure I'd take deep insights about a career field from people who haven't yet worked in it.