Are salaries generally higher at big companies (google/twitter/fb) or at startups?
You'd expect salaries at startups to be lower, but they often include equity.
Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
101–110 of 245 posts
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#102If you look at how salaries are distributed across the US public, the 60k - 100k category is way too large while 151k-200k should probably be just one range and not two. As someone who hires programmers, I am much more interested in how many people make between 60-70, 70-85, and 85-100.
I think it adds value but I have also created a richer survey here ( https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey... ) The raw anonymous results will be shared on HN in a few days w/analysis.
C++ is an 'Other' language? I am feeling really, really unhip.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#103I wish I could compare this curve to comp in finance. It seems like a lot of money until you realize PE firms/hedge funds/banks are offering fresh MBAs +$200K a year. I'm not saying finance is better, it's just a data point to put things in perspective.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#104Here in Brazil, I get paid approximately 11k brazillian reais.. Translating to U.S. dollars that would be 7k. These numbers are really impressive to me.
Brazilian college student here. We get a lot of job offers, and 11k is what most internships pay. Sure, my jaw dropped on the number of people earning 60k+, but R$ 11k is really low.
And I would like to point out that the consumer electronics tax is a PITA. A simple Amazon Kindle, considered extremely cheap in the US, is an internship's month salary.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#105If you look at how salaries are distributed across the US public, the 60k - 100k category is way too large while 151k-200k should probably be just one range and not two. As someone who hires programmers, I am much more interested in how many people make between 60-70, 70-85, and 85-100.
The buckets might have a Valley bias. It seems the only programmers at SV companies that make less than 100k these days are interns.
Also it might have a bias towards Web/Mobile Apps. So, I created another poll to verify that.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#106Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just apply for jobs, and negotiate, and you will get a feel for what you are worth.
I think the problem with this is that negotiations are very sensitive to starting terms, what he would pay for (and I think many others would as well) is basically an intelligent idea of where to start.
Exactly. I don't want to know what an employer thinks they can get away with or even what level I can push it to (which may be higher or lower than my 'recommended' level).
To get a proper idea I'd also have to do a lot of interviews. Hence where someone who's got a bit of experience/knowledge in this area can save me a load of hassle.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#108Quite interesting. In Germany or Europe very very few programmers would make more than 100k USD (around 70k EUR) unless he is in some position where he leads a team or oversees bigger projects. Then i see how cheap cars and computer hardware etc is in the US and i really start to wonder where this massive difference comes from. US engineers seem to earn way more and generally pay much less for many things. Apple hard…
We work many more hours and we have to pay more for benefits like health care. Most other medical costs are higher here too; drugs are a lot more expensive in the US than the rest of the world, because the drug companies fold the research and testing costs into our prices, and only include manufacturing and distribution costs in the rest of the world's pricing. Cars might be cheaper here, and gas certainly is, but we…
Erm.. I'm certainly no expert, but 'we have to pay more for benefits like health care' should be somewhat qualified.
In DE half of the (state based. There's a 'I don't want to be part of the general system' option that works slightly different) health care is payed by your employer, half is deducted from your salary. It's a percentage of your income.
Next thing that kind of trips me here is that I'm pretty sure that the tax rate is a little different...
So - comparing the salary is probably already problematic, but if you want to start a discussion about costs you should compare the income _after taxes_. Good luck with that..
Edit: For kicks and giggles: If you're a single (not married, no children etc.) your tax rate here would be around (ballpark fiture. +/-5, I was too lazy to look it up and it ~depends~) 40% of your salary. This is the tax for your income only. You pay more than that (your share of the health care, a different 'tax' like thing for retirement fonds etc).
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#109This has got me thinking. I would literally pay someone to figuratively sit down with me, go through what I've done/can do etc and then based off their experiences tell me what I could be getting. Of course, it won't be too accurate and location makes a big difference but perhaps an enlightened recruiter type with a bit of experience in a couple of parts of the world could give a ballpark figure, say X in SV, Y in NY…
recruiters are not your friend and are incentivized to place you quickly, not necessarily at top dollar.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#110This has got me thinking. I would literally pay someone to figuratively sit down with me, go through what I've done/can do etc and then based off their experiences tell me what I could be getting. Of course, it won't be too accurate and location makes a big difference but perhaps an enlightened recruiter type with a bit of experience in a couple of parts of the world could give a ballpark figure, say X in SV, Y in NY…
You're making a mistake in thinking that there is an objective value that you can apply to yourself. It's not you.value, it's you.valueTo(other,now).