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Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

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Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#341

Post by CoastalCoder »

selimthegrim wrote: post #191
greenie_beans wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sounds like you're in bham or atl? and you're right. i know numerous talented engineers in the south who you can pay less and get as good or better of a job done than a FAANG engineer. tbh i might be biased towards a non-FAANG engineer. them southern devs be scrappy.

Why should I (in NOLA) take a salary that I got as a team lead 10 years ago on the West Coast?

> Why should I (in NOLA) take a salary that I got as a team lead 10 years ago on the West Coast?

I can't speak for your particular situation.

As someone laid off about a year ago, the answer for myself is supply and demand. I had been holding out for my previous TC, but now I'm pursuing lower-paying positions.

It's disappointing, but I don't take offense at it.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#342

Post by CoastalCoder »

tomaato wrote: post #334
memset wrote: post #66

I am actively looking to hire - either freelance or full-time - an engineer to write open source golang code for my YC startup. However, I literally cannot afford FAANG salaries at my stage. It would literally bring my runway from n to n/5 years. And many candidates are asking for 400k+ salaries. I’d love to hire someone who knows what they’re doing but I’m just not able to find people who are both qualified and inte…

Why do you need to compete with FAANG? I'm in New Zealand. I'm paid approx $120k USD as a staff engineer equivalent at a conaultancy, and I think that's about market rate if you're good. I've never worked for a FAANG (was at Xero in the early days though). You could hire three and a half of me for the price of one ex FAANG person in your city. NZ is English speaking and has a fair amount of time zone overlap with the…

Not to distract from your main point, but I wonder how other employer costs (payroll taxes, insurance and other benefits, etc.) vary between the two countries.

That could affect the 3.5x number.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#343

Post by CoastalCoder »

alex_c wrote: post #214
memset wrote: post #66

I am actively looking to hire - either freelance or full-time - an engineer to write open source golang code for my YC startup. However, I literally cannot afford FAANG salaries at my stage. It would literally bring my runway from n to n/5 years. And many candidates are asking for 400k+ salaries. I’d love to hire someone who knows what they’re doing but I’m just not able to find people who are both qualified and inte…

I am fascinated by this - how wildly different experiences can be in different pockets of the industry. The only way I can see 400k+ salaries is if your requirements are a very restrictive Venn diagram of: * Geographical location (assuming in person, Bay Area / SV?) * FAANG experience (is it an actual requirement?) * Seniority (does not necessarily translate to ability... but it does translate to higher asking salary…

It's also possible that the developer who quoted $400k was probing the current market rate for his/her skills.

When I was laid off almost a year ago, it wasn't clear how much of a pay hit I'd need to take to get a job in the new market conditions.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#344

Post by CoastalCoder »

thelastparadise wrote: post #298
resource_waste wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to make airbags. People could die if I mess up. Heck, literally hundreds of thousands of people. (see Takata) One time, I saw someone cook raw chicken at a restaurant. A $10 an hour worker can cause people to die if they mess up. Don't let the Physician cartel make you think they have some magical powers because they have the AMA and ACGME working to limit the supply of Physicians. The fact that you are treate…

> One time, I saw someone cook raw chicken at a restaurant. Isn't cooking just what you're supposed to do with raw chicken?

I think the point was that failing to properly cook raw chicken could be dangerous to the customers.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#345

Post by CoastalCoder »

throwaway4220 wrote: post #304
edgyquant wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you believe radiologists somehow are more deserving than high level engineers?

lol no I wish I had stuck with my engineering degree and not gone into medicine

Is it too late to switch back?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#346

Post by shrimp_emoji »

ThePowerOfFuet wrote: post #273
shrimp_emoji wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saur, ... [0] 0: https://youtu.be/EmT0i0xG6zg

What does that two-hour video have to do with the comment you replied to?

I was alluding to the parent beginning their post with "So," which I instantly exaggeratedly read as "Saaaur," and I couldn't help but commenting about it but wanted to provide an example (hence the video) for clarity.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#347

Post by ptero »

rhelz wrote: post #316
ptero wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't claim that the cause of the problem was with manufacturing capacity. But if the US didn't have implicit price controls ("just try raising prices 3x at this time of national need, you will regret it" from politicians), the deficits would have resolved in a week. My 2c.

Sure, if there were not price controls, the shelves would have been full of toilet paper.....but a large segment of the population wouldn't have been able to afford to buy it. I don't know if you've ever been so poor that you couldn't buy toilet paper. But I sure have, and let me tell you, sneaking napkins from starbucks, and getting ink all over your hands from using newspapers goes from being inconvenient to being…

Heh, I have grown up not having the toilet paper -- workers paradise, stores carrying mostly the necessities, and luxuries like the toilet paper are only for the few big cities. Using scraps of paper does not kill you. And dental work without Novocaine does not kill you either (although I sure prefer it done with Novocaine now).

But living in this workers paradise I have seen real people suffer from the lack of medication that was available to anyone in the West. The party leadership did not find it necessary (or easy) to produce it locally, so it was only available to those with the right connections. And so on.

I am now a well-off, spoiled American (and the above reads like an O'Henry? story about two rich gentlemen arguing in a restaurant on who had it harder during their youth), but first impressions linger and I will take capitalism over socialism any day. Yes, capitalism has many failings, but replacing the guidance of money with the wise rule of the elite will always lead to a Venezuela-type mismanagement. My 2c.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#348

Post by CoastalCoder »

BadCookie wrote: post #134
swatcoder wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unemployment is capped very low compared to tech salaries, involves a bunch of paperwork, and requires you to attest that you're actively pursuing opportunties for work in your field. Lots of highly paid people don't bother with it, even when they might have qualified -- whether because they're lazy to lazy to do the paperwork for a small offset against their expenses, or because they intentionally took time away fro…

In some states, severance pay can delay or reduce eligibility for unemployment benefits. The generous multi-month severance packages that many tech workers receive could have an effect on the unemployment numbers as a consequence—but I’m speculating.

Rhode Island has that policy.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#349

Post by birdlogic »

gamblor956 wrote: post #215
dnissley wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

200k is just 100/hr, no? Seems like there are many more than just a handful of companies willing to pay that rate

I know a lot of people who claim to make 200k+ as contract programmers doing vaguely web-related stuff. But as a tax guy, I generally see the actual financial data (i.e., the actual 1099-reportable payments), and I rarely see anyone who actually does make 200k+ as a contractor. And all of those positions are always niche positions, and almost all of these roles are for less than a year: meaning: the 200k is the amoun…

I’ve done this for the past 3 years - two startup clients for 20 hrs/week each, just over 500k total pretax. Mostly staff-eng work, lots of independence, got to run some projects, pretty indistinguishable from full-time except for fewer meetings and no health care or equity. I’ve loved it - and so have the startups - they get a staff-level eng for the cost of a mid-level, just for half the hours. I think there’s value there.

Just wanted to put out a data point that it is possible and enjoyable.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#350

Post by selimthegrim »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #341
selimthegrim wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should I (in NOLA) take a salary that I got as a team lead 10 years ago on the West Coast?

> Why should I (in NOLA) take a salary that I got as a team lead 10 years ago on the West Coast? I can't speak for your particular situation. As someone laid off about a year ago, the answer for myself is supply and demand. I had been holding out for my previous TC, but now I'm pursuing lower-paying positions. It's disappointing, but I don't take offense at it.

I went to grad school.
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