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Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

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111–120 of 420 posts

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#111
I earned between 35-50k when I was there ('08-'11). Salaries are crazy low. The secret is actually contract work. Friends of mine were doing bog standard java dev work, and taking home between 80-100 £/hr. It was big company work so it was full time, 40 hours a week type of work.

As others have said, finance is the way in London. Better salaries, better perks.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#112
post #17

As someone debating whether to do a Mathematics vs Computer Science vs Joint Honours, I'd really like to hear from graduates what worked out for them. - As a developer, how often are skills from CompSci degree applied on the job? - What do you wish you knew about the job market as an undergrad? - How much part did the prestige of your university play in your current salary?

I did two years of computer science, then quit. I use very little of what I learnt, and the personal development (no pun intended) outside of what I was taught at university has been far more important to my career. If money is your goal, knowing how to sell yourself (in job applications and interviews) is very important. For job security and progression in general, people skills are essential . My advice? Don't both…

Could you please refer to any good sources or books that you've worked through for people skills? Thanks!

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#113
The cost of living in San Francisco, according to Numbeo, is overall lower than London: http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?coun...

Having said that, food is mostly more expensive in SF, and the results there are skewed by the cost of cigarettes being much lower.

Rent appears to be higher, which I've also been told by a three or four ex-Londoners who've moved to SF.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#114
post #74
post #13

The software industry here in London is really badly paid, for salaried jobs outside finance at least. I know plenty of developers who started at £20-25k as graduates from decent universities and whose salary has slowly risen to 40k over quite a few years. PhD graduates making £35-45k too.

It's the legacy of the old class system rearing its ugly head. No matter how well educated, and from what prestigious colleges, (software) engineering is blue-collar work and will never be as well paid as the "graduate management fast-track" type with a sociology degree from a "red brick". Finance isn't highly paid for software work, it's fairly paid, by world standards, only because they contrary to popular belief,…

What is a "red brick"?

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#115
post #114
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the legacy of the old class system rearing its ugly head. No matter how well educated, and from what prestigious colleges, (software) engineering is blue-collar work and will never be as well paid as the "graduate management fast-track" type with a sociology degree from a "red brick". Finance isn't highly paid for software work, it's fairly paid, by world standards, only because they contrary to popular belief,…

What is a "red brick"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_brick_university

One of 6 particular universities.

A similar term in the USA would be something like Ivy League:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_League

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#116
post #86
post #17

As someone debating whether to do a Mathematics vs Computer Science vs Joint Honours, I'd really like to hear from graduates what worked out for them. - As a developer, how often are skills from CompSci degree applied on the job? - What do you wish you knew about the job market as an undergrad? - How much part did the prestige of your university play in your current salary?

1. My job requires software engineering skills more than compsci skills, i.e. designing a program in UML, or writing elegant code is important, but most actual algorithms are pre-implimented, e.g. container classes implement sorting. 2. Big companies pay more, and give you access to an internal job market. Getting work is easier than you'd think, so don't worry all that much. Your first pay settlement plays a big par…

Is the 2.1 number you refer to a GPA? What's it out of?

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#117
post #13

The software industry here in London is really badly paid, for salaried jobs outside finance at least. I know plenty of developers who started at £20-25k as graduates from decent universities and whose salary has slowly risen to 40k over quite a few years. PhD graduates making £35-45k too.

I'd add that for jobs in startups (a focus for the HN crowd) salaries are particularly low.

Why is this the case? I'm a frontend dev for a startup in London and I make 18k annually (80% of that because I only work 4 days a week). It's peanuts, but luckily I don't mind being poor.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#118
post #51

is £50k enough to live in London on your own? (i.e. a one br flat)

Of course it is. If you are single you can live comfortably in zone 1 for that, even in Kensington. All-in rent for about £1k. I'm confused by the replies saying you can't. There's people living happily near me earning a lot less than that.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#119
post #13

The software industry here in London is really badly paid, for salaried jobs outside finance at least. I know plenty of developers who started at £20-25k as graduates from decent universities and whose salary has slowly risen to 40k over quite a few years. PhD graduates making £35-45k too.

That tends to be the case mostly everywhere in Europe. For that matter, most places in the world outside the US (and Silicon Valley) tend not to pay software engineers very competitively. I am from a fairly small central European country and programmers there barely make more than other professions; the salaries often amount to the national average.

They pay just fine in Australia.

Of course the cost of living is alsop very high.

Re: Poll: Full-time software engineers in London, what's your annual salary?

#120
post #116
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. My job requires software engineering skills more than compsci skills, i.e. designing a program in UML, or writing elegant code is important, but most actual algorithms are pre-implimented, e.g. container classes implement sorting. 2. Big companies pay more, and give you access to an internal job market. Getting work is easier than you'd think, so don't worry all that much. Your first pay settlement plays a big par…

Is the 2.1 number you refer to a GPA? What's it out of?

UK degrees are classified into four classes: 1st, upper and lower 2nd, and 3rd. A first corresponds to about an average of 70%, 2.1 60%, etc.
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