What shocks me more is that he is physically no longer able to work from home. :(
My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
151–160 of 691 posts
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#152Michigan. BS in CS. 2005 - $9/hour web dev intern 2007 - $14/hour part-time web developer and software engineer. (This was still in college.) 2010 - $60K/year software engineer. 2013 - $85K/year sr. software engineer (including bonuses). 2018 - $103K/year sr. software engineer (including bonuses). I feel I've been somewhat underpaid compared to market averages, but I have reasonable money for now. Lived super-frugall…
Paying off student-debts is a modern form of slavery.
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#153I'm actually surprised that as a 'Principal Architect' he was only making $208,000 a year. Considering that entry-level positions at large companies which can have cash compensation of around $150,000+, it seems he may have been 'underpaid'. Of course $208,000 is nothing to scoff at, and money is hardly the most important thing when it comes to life. Just interesting to see that a reasonably large Bay-area company wo…
In the US, maybe. In other countries like the UK, a principal architect is probably not getting half that. I would guess from a quick google that an architect in the UK is on around £50k to £70k. Which is $63k to $90k. I'm a senior software engineer with around 10years experience. I'm on £38k ($48k) plus a very small bonus, maybe £2 to £3k if I'm lucky. Last job was a mid-level engineer on £28k. I've seen junior deve…
I'm the Systems Architect in a small (fifteen people) non-IT consultancy, and I'm on £72k, so I'd say your estimates are bang on.
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#154I always wonder when I read about salaries in other countries - what do the numbers usually mean? Not sure if this is how it works everywhere, but where I live, we have 3 different ways of talking about salary: 1) What you actually get 2) What you actually get + what you pay in taxes 3) What you actually get + what you pay in taxes + what your employer pays in taxes Usually we talk about #2 when discussing salaries.…
Yes, almost always number 2. Number 1 only when they specify "take home pay" and almost never number 3. Because the total amount your employer pays is not readily available nor easy to calculate.
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#155I always wonder when I read about salaries in other countries - what do the numbers usually mean? Not sure if this is how it works everywhere, but where I live, we have 3 different ways of talking about salary: 1) What you actually get 2) What you actually get + what you pay in taxes 3) What you actually get + what you pay in taxes + what your employer pays in taxes Usually we talk about #2 when discussing salaries.…
People in the US almost always quote salary in terms of gross amounts - so if someone makes $200k, that's before tax. But it's not including the employer taxes.
I.e. their paycheck will show $16,666 per month at the top line, a bunch of state, federal, maybe local taxes, disability and social security (also basically taxes), etc. and then roughly $10,500 at the bottom line depending on your situation.\
Edit: sometimes people include stock in their pay. This can be perfectly reasonable (guaranteed grants in a publicly traded company) or complete BS (pretending your startup will sell for 1B+ even though you might as well just buy lottery tickets)
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many hours do you work per week? How many days off per year?
The hours of work per week varies. Some weeks it is 5-10 hours per week. Some weeks it is 30-40 hours per week. Sometimes I had to stretch to work for 10 hours at a time. Such days are rare but they happen sometimes. This pattern has been like this in all my jobs from the beginning (2003). The days off per year in my current job is just like any other company in India. Apart from 104 weekends and 10 government holida…
" Some weeks it is 5-10 hours per week"
That's a pretty important data point! There are exceptions but I'd say very, very few people doing 200k+ in SV are working less than 40 hours per week, much less ever working 10 hours per week.
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
My current employer pays in rupees. I don't have a Masters degree. I cannot share which university to keep my privacy. But I am not from IIT, NIT, or any top state college. Basically I am not from any Tier 1 university or college. My university must be Tier 2 or Tier 3.
What is secret of your high salary. Can you please point out what thing helped to you get high salary?
Is it really that high? I know people of my experience level who are earning even more. :-)
I have no secret. I am decent at my work. Like to keep learning new tech and non-tech stuff. So I think the interviews go well and I get the good paying jobs. Not the algorithm puzzles type of interviews. I suck at those too.
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#158SF 30 year old Indian guy, first year of first job out of grad school
251k = 145k salary + 40k bonus (30 signing and 10 end of year) + 66k (RSU per year)
This was possible due to unique nature of the role, grad school and internship that got converted into a return offer.
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#159I am a brown male working in India. The salaries are rounded to the nearest 100000 INR. USD values are rounded to the nearest 1000 USD. These are salaries per year . Need to emphasize this because when you see numbers like 3000 USD you may think this is per month. No it is indeed 3000 USD per year. When there are stocks involved, only the stocks that vest per year is included as part of the yearly salary. 2003 - 0 YO…
Something significant happened between years 10 and 12. You managed to double your pay.
May I ask what it was?
Incidentally, I'm at exactly the same experience as you and I'll just say I make a lot less.
Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer
#160I'm actually surprised that as a 'Principal Architect' he was only making $208,000 a year. Considering that entry-level positions at large companies which can have cash compensation of around $150,000+, it seems he may have been 'underpaid'. Of course $208,000 is nothing to scoff at, and money is hardly the most important thing when it comes to life. Just interesting to see that a reasonably large Bay-area company wo…
In the US, maybe. In other countries like the UK, a principal architect is probably not getting half that. I would guess from a quick google that an architect in the UK is on around £50k to £70k. Which is $63k to $90k. I'm a senior software engineer with around 10years experience. I'm on £38k ($48k) plus a very small bonus, maybe £2 to £3k if I'm lucky. Last job was a mid-level engineer on £28k. I've seen junior deve…
I really can't understand why they stay in the UK then, to be honest. We seem to have better salaries and generally lower cost of living across the sea...
I have no affiliation with this company but here's a recent example, quoted at 95k so you could presumably push higher: