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Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

swizec.github.io

141–150 of 250 posts

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#141

These H1B engineers make more than me.. How do I become an H1B engineer? I was born in the USA and have the title "Senior Software Engineer".

Salary is about negotiation and leverage, not being born in a particular country, holding H1B status or having professional titles. This might have offended you, sorry for that, but it is just true.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#142

In Alaska, software engineers on an H1B made $72,000/year in 2014 In 2014 the Alaska software industry gave jobs to 1 foreign software engineers, 100% less than the year before. Most of them made between $NaN and $NaN per year. The best city for software engineers was Anchorage with an average salary of $72,000. Hahah.

Handling edge cases. One of the most important qualities of a software engineer. Actually, of any engineer.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#143
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Only if you're a certified Engineer Not really. If you've got a CS or SE degree you are certainly an engineer. If you've built systems and worked in the industry solving difficult problems you are an engineer. In the US we don't need an expensive piece of paper telling us what we're qualified to call ourselves. EDIT: To be clear I'm referring to software engineering. Not all engineering. I thought that was obvious…

Did you have to take a course on ethics? What about software and society? In Canada, in order to get accreditation as an engineering program (including software engineering) there's a set of requirements to be taught. One is a course on technology's impact on society. Also, in Ontario in order to get professionally licensed as an engineer (which is required before you can call yourself an engineer, legally) one has t…

In California, people call themselves "Software Engineers" all willy-nilly (even if they haven't graduated from high school) because the term isn't regulated down here.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#144
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how that affects pg's views on allowing more H1B workers. ( http://www.paulgraham.com/95.html ) The H1B program doesn't really help or address the need by startups for qualified employees.

It is actually alarming how 'anti startup' USCIS can be. Here are list of fraud indicators they released: http://www.happyschools.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/h1b-v...

They aren't anti-startup as much as anti-fraud.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#145
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The link shows h1bdata.info as a source, which uses data from here: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/performancedata.cfm#d...

Yep, and it shows 2,830 H1B applications approved in Oregon in 2012, which sounds more accurate

Not all H1Bs are for software engineers though.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure why you're getting downvoted, other than maybe because the original topic is US-centric. In many countries (not sure about the US), it is illegal to call yourself an engineer, regardless of what discipline it is. In Canada, various provincial bodies (PEO in Ontario) regulate the use of the title "engineer", including derivatives of it such as "software engineer". [0] Some of this might seem heavy-handed (see…

Probably because the two largest English speaking countries in the world place almost no restrictions on using the title "Engineer" whatsoever, so people from those countries get annoyed when people authoritatively state that you must not use the title "Engineer" unless you are properly certified, neglecting to mention that their authoritative statements apply to perhaps 10% of their audience.

There's a movement in the UK to protect the title of engineer. Plus, in the US, it varies from state to state. For example, see Case Number: B-32981 on this page

http://engineers.texas.gov/da/da021512.html

They were fined for using the term "foundation engineer". From a quick search it looks like California is one state where you're not allowed to use it if you're not licensed. I'm guessing a number of people are actually in violation of this, but are unlikely to be fined unless it's reported.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#148
post #61

This gets to the rub of prevailing wage. You are hiring a developer, do you call her an engineer where the prevailing wage is 87k or do you call her a programmer where the prevailing wage is 61k? This type of fraud is difficult to prove and there probably isn't even anyone responsible in the government to verify or investigate issues. EDIT: forgot to mention that the prevailing wage can be determined by salary survey…

Why is there an implicit assumption that the H1B visa program engenders fraud? A lot of H1B discussions on HN focus on fraud and avoid talking about legitimate talented foreigners because that stuff is not as interesting. H1B discussions on HN are like the crime beat in newspapers. Further, 'H1B' seems like a catchall term for hating on immigrant labor in the software industry. Here are some examples on HN that demon…

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Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#149

Wow, that disparity between developer and engineer... I'm not an H1B worker, but does this mean I should start calling myself an Engineer?

If you are in the US, yes.

It depends on where you are in the US. In some states, it's against the law to call yourself an engineer without being licensed. From what I could find with a quick Google search it looks like California is one. But it relies on reporting, so if no one reports it to the licensing board, you're unlikely to be fined.

Re: Show HN: A histogram of salaries given to H1B workers in the software industry

#150

Wow, that disparity between developer and engineer... I'm not an H1B worker, but does this mean I should start calling myself an Engineer?

If you are in the US, yes.

Great. It's unfortunate that I'm not joking. I've used hacker/programmer/coder/developer/engineer interchangeable for a while now, but I've been running with "Fullstack Developer" because I think it rolls off the tongue better than "Fullstack Engineer"
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