Bringing Silicon Valley to the Midwest • Hacker News Board

Re: Bringing Silicon Valley to the Midwest

#81

Post by eldavido » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 8:42 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #60

nanidin wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how two people producing the same output deserve different salaries based on where they live - why should geographic location dictate my salary relative to my peers?

Because "you" (the generic you--not necessarily you specifically) are usually willing to accept a different salary for a given job description based on where you lived based on a variety of factors: alternative opportunities, attractiveness of the area, cost of living (primarily housing), etc. And, in fact, jobs in higher cost of living areas (assuming equivalent jobs are actually available elsewhere) tend to not ful…

> Because "you" (the generic you--not necessarily you specifically)

"One". Wish this was in more standard use.

Re: Bringing Silicon Valley to the Midwest

#82

Post by bane » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 8:48 PM UTC

nightski wrote: post #80

vonmoltke wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is correct. I, living in Dallas, am willing to sell my labor in Dallas for a lower price than I am willing to sell my labor in Palo Alto. Thus, a company in Palo Alto can save money by hiring me in Dallas to do the job. There is nothing inconsistent about this.

Price should be based on the value you are providing to your clients/employer. Not your expenses.

If only the price of my house was based on the value I provide my employer.

Re: Bringing Silicon Valley to the Midwest

#83

Post by bcbrown » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 10:45 PM UTC

wyclif wrote: post #72

htormey wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, their are plenty of startups with less brand name recognition hiring. A friend of mine from a non technical background managed to get a decent PM job after finishing hackbrite. Alternatively you can get in the door of a brand name company by doing QA for a year or so.I have multiple friends that transitioned from a liberals arts degree to being developers by first starting in QA. It's totally possible. Internshi…

That's interesting; I never thought about the QA angle. Maybe you can say a little more about how that works and what companies?

That's what I did. I had a degree in Physics, and at the time, Microsoft had a small training program for test developers. I did that for a couple years, and through a pair of job hops, am now a developer at an established startup. I didn't try to switch internally at MS, but I believe it would have been possible.

The one thing I would note, is that QA generally has lower prestige/pay then dev, so if you want to move to dev, be careful about things. Make sure any QA job you take has a significant development component, ideally letting you design and implement decent-sized projects you can point to when interviewing for a dev role.

If you have more questions, email is in profile.

Re: Bringing Silicon Valley to the Midwest

#84

Post by nightski » Wed, Apr 16, 2014, 4:43 PM UTC

bane wrote: post #82

nightski wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Price should be based on the value you are providing to your clients/employer. Not your expenses.

If only the price of my house was based on the value I provide my employer.

What does this have to do with anything? The amount you paid for a house is based on it's value to you. Same as your employer and it's employees. I live in the midwest - a cheap place to live. But I charge SV rates because of the value I provide my clients. I don't have to charge "less" because I live in a cheap area. It is irrelevant.