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Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

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Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#171

Post by FmrAMZN_TA »

eclipxe wrote: post #163
dsmithatx wrote: post #32

Amazon keeps asking me to interview and everyone tells me it's a terrible place to work. After seeing this compensation via equity I'm thinking it might be worth it. Anyone work at Amazon and loves it or think it's really worth it?

I love it. You either love it or hate it. Read the leadership principles. If you align with what they're saying, you'll enjoy it. If you don't like them, you won't like Amazon.

I disagree. There are many leadership principles which are contradictory either in part or in whole (e.g. Dive Deep vs. Bias for Action; Insist on the Highest Standards vs. Invent and Simplify). You can squint and see how these would be the same, but often they're just used as arrows in a quiver to knock someone down and/or put someone on a PIP (performance improvement plan).

Example I witnessed during people review (obviously anonymized):

A: I think X is one of the best members of the team, he took a bunch of customer requirements and put out something super fast that addressed some customer needs. (Invent and Simplify, Bias for Action)

B: I disagree. His product didn't think about scenarios a, b and c [ed: these would be things that caused the product to slip a year, and would leave customers in pain during that time] and he did not investigate g, h and i [which would have taken 3 months to figure out, still with customers in pain]. I think he needs to be put on a PIP. (Dive Deep; Insist on the highest standards)

Yes, I'm highly biased here - this person was on my team, and I endorsed his plan, as did person B, until we got into People Review. One of the most brutal and subtle things about the entire process is the fact that you're consistently asked for negative feedback about EVERYONE... even if you don't have it.

I moved from that group (AWS) to new businesses shortly thereafter.

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#172

Post by ryandrake »

MacsHeadroom wrote: post #146
cornstalks wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read the chart again. It says the median starting salary is $110,000. $172,000 is the median total annual compensation, which includes bonuses (and stock typically won't vest during the first year, which means total compensation for the first year is actually closer to $123,000).

>which means total compensation for the first year is actually closer to $123,000 No, $172,000 is the median for year 1. Even $200k+ total comp at year 1 is typical for Google in the bay. The significant increases in bonus pay for higher levels reflect stock vesting for year 2/3/4/5 employees. Edit: "Google" in the bay

This "fact" keeps getting repeated here. While it may be typical for Google, it is in no way typical for "the bay". Median salary is around $110K for sw developers, and I highly doubt people are getting 100% of their salary in RSUs and bonuses their first year.

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#173

Post by dogma1138 »

phaemon wrote: post #119
dogma1138 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance in the us is also cheaper in paying 2300 a year for private insurance (AXA) so I won't have to deal with the NHS on every silly issue.

No it's not. Public healthcare spending in the US is higher, per capita, than spending on the NHS. And how the buggery are you managing to spend £2300 a year on health insurance in the UK? That's crazy expensive. Ok, it's less than people in the US pay, but it's still mad for UK.

2300 isn't that expensive BUPA would cost you nearly double also please don't compare the public healthcare spending it has nothing to do with the actual prices you end up paying.

The health care expenditure in the US is the biggest in the world but that's including all the prices that insurance companies pay for treatment and services. If the US stops charging 3000$ for an MRI scan it's expenditure will go down drastically (an MRI costs about 300$ in most European countries) but it might not have any affect on what the individual ends up paying.

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#174

Post by dogma1138 »

njs12345 wrote: post #151
dogma1138 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance in the us is also cheaper in paying 2300 a year for private insurance (AXA) so I won't have to deal with the NHS on every silly issue.

As a counterpoint to this post, I have free private insurance with work and never bother using it because the NHS works so well for day to day things.

NHS is good when you are bleeding and need to go to the emergency room. Preventative medicine and specialist care is horrible under NHS at least in inner London, why would I want to wait 6 weeks to see an orthopedist?

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#175

Post by MacsHeadroom »

ryandrake wrote: post #172
MacsHeadroom wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>which means total compensation for the first year is actually closer to $123,000 No, $172,000 is the median for year 1. Even $200k+ total comp at year 1 is typical for Google in the bay. The significant increases in bonus pay for higher levels reflect stock vesting for year 2/3/4/5 employees. Edit: "Google" in the bay

This "fact" keeps getting repeated here. While it may be typical for Google, it is in no way typical for "the bay". Median salary is around $110K for sw developers, and I highly doubt people are getting 100% of their salary in RSUs and bonuses their first year.

Typical for _Google_ in the bay, is what I meant.

At any rate, I've received more than my fair share of $200k+ 1st year total comp offers for _start ups_ in SF for positions that only wanted 2-3 years experience. So, I wouldn't be so surprised.

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#176

Post by ucha »

FmrAMZN_TA wrote: post #133

I won't go on about the work quality at Amazon, there are plenty of other places to read about that. It _is_ important to note that the average retention at Amazon (even for excellent people) is ~50% for 1 year, and ~20% or lower for the 2nd year. Therefore, these comparisons should really take that into account. Amazon MAY look higher than Microsoft (for example) but because you only see 20% of your total vest the f…

Do you have any source to back up those numbers (50% and 20%)? They're very unexpected to say the least...

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#177

Post by namelezz »

Why does MS pay their engineers less than other tech companies when most of their services are not free? It's like getting paid at tight budget startups. Despite of the reported salary here, I admire the engineers there. Is it because MS has great work culture and excellent benefits?

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#178

Post by JayJee »

chatmasta wrote: post #69
totalrobe wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iPhone itself may be a small part (depending on your budget) but wireless plan costs also vary widely. I know that UK/EU plans are substantially cheaper than the US where many pay $150+ per month for a couple lines.

Wireless prices in the USA are higher than any other country I've been to, developed or not. Nevermind the absurd contracts. In Taiwan, for example, I got a 3G phone plan for $40 month-to-month, unlimited data, and consistently ~20mbps download speeds. In developing countries like Thailand or Central America, I can get a 3G card for 60 days and 1-2GB for less than $10. Speeds obviously aren't as good as Taiwan, but t…

LOL come to Canada. Our wireless prices are 4x worse than USA

Re: Open Source Project – View 689 Salaries Posted on Hacker News, Share Yours

#180

Post by timoth »

binarymax wrote: post #137
trelltron wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe, but on the flip side, I finished Uni with about £20k debt, in the most benign from that debt can take, and working in software I immediately earned more than that per year. I also never had to care about medical bills (still don't) because of the NHS. Just want to point out that there is a good reason for the higher taxes.

Not to mention the higher level of vacation time. Starting allocation in the UK is about 25 days plus 11 bank holidays. In the USA its typically 10 days plus 9 public holidays.

The legal minimum in the UK which just about everyone is entitled to is 28 days paid holiday assuming a full time job [1]. That can include bank holidays which are 8 per year for the vast majority of the population (1 or 2 more for Scotland and Northen Ireland I think).

For example, my first job was 25 days + 8 days of bank holidays and then you could earn up to 5 extra days if you stayed with the company long enough. Other jobs were all 22 + 8.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/entitlement

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