Are you an underpaid developer?

Post by positr0n » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 5:24 AM UTC

yekko wrote: post #35

m_mueller wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that's interesting, the specialization gave you a salary boost then? I always thought that after some point (team leaders / project leaders) a CS generalist would be more valuable. Edit: Wow, very insightful responses, thanks yekko, svachalek, josh

What I found is that if a company has a problem and you sell yourself as the solution, you can ask for the moon. This highly depends on the company. If the company is simply looking for bodies, avoid :) Even for the exact same job, I've seen pay difference of beyond 50% (even within the same team!). I helped this guy raise his salary from 85k(?) to 130k simply by showing him a piece of paper. (Don't ask) Oh, another…

  Oh, another tip, discuss salary with your co-workers, only good can come out of it.

Post by inovator » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 5:29 AM UTC

baddox wrote: post #46

svachalek wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're making $100k in say, San Francisco, about half your paycheck is gone to federal, state, and local taxes, social security, retirement plan, etc. Say you're left with $4200/mo. Take a look at house prices and rents there. There goes half of that. Now half of what's left on food. Now you need transportation, clothes, a phone, insurance, etc. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good life. And you can definitely s…

I make significantly less than $100k in San Francisco and net significantly more than $4200 a month. I don't have a retirement plan, but I doubt that would be enough to cover the difference.

Post by kevincennis » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 5:34 AM UTC

sherm8n wrote: post #36

bostonthrowaway wrote: post #27

Posting this on a throwaway account, but I would like some feedback. I'm currently making $60k in Boston as a front-end developer with just over a year of working experience. I've wondered for a while whether I'm underpaid, but I am getting a lot of experience, so I figure it evens out. I mostly wonder what I should ask for when I start my next job after I pass the hallowed "two years experience" mark, and whether I…

Wow, you are underpaid. Do you have a CS degree? The smartest graduating students are starting their careers off at 100K at least.

Post by Evbn » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 5:36 AM UTC

sherm8n wrote: post #22

hdub wrote: post #17

There's a lot more to a total comp package than just straight salary. I'm probably an outlier on HN as a .Net dev in finance in NYC. I was making ~250k as a freelancer but went perm. I now make ~200-220k after bonus but I now have a gold-plated health plan, 5 weeks vacation, a retirement plan and a training budget. It isn't always about straight up cash.

It's not about cash, but you sure do make a lot of it. I don't think this is necessarily an outlier. It's just that other developers don't know it's possible. The problem with the US work culture vs somewhere like Europe is that talking about your salary is so taboo. And it shouldn't be. What's wrong with compensating people who are comparable in skills and execution fairly?

Post by hcarvalhoalves » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 5:37 AM UTC

svachalek wrote: post #32

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #20

I'm depressed looking at those figures now. I'm not in the US, but still... As a developer who works both on backend and frontend, let alone sysadmin work, I'm not making 1/3 of that. I should look into working with US contractors.

If you're making $100k in say, San Francisco, about half your paycheck is gone to federal, state, and local taxes, social security, retirement plan, etc. Say you're left with $4200/mo. Take a look at house prices and rents there. There goes half of that. Now half of what's left on food. Now you need transportation, clothes, a phone, insurance, etc. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good life. And you can definitely s…