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How to avoid the software salary ceiling

thinkfaster.co

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Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#21

Post by dudul »

mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #8
dudul wrote: post #2

"Many people reach senior software engineer, and then they get stuck. They’ll still be a “senior” level developer 5 or 10 years later. For many, getting stuck is just fine. They like coding, and they don’t want to manage people, and the money is pretty good." I have a problem with this part. Basically, being a developer and not making it to a managing position is "getting stuck". I strongly disagree with that. Develo…

I think he means stuck financially, not career wise since they have chosen to stay as a developer. His answer to how to move ahead financially is to specialize. So maybe that is the general advice is to find something to specialize in or you are just seen as a commodity by management. If you are a commodity (e.g. general web developer with X years) then you may not get higher rates.

I agree with the general idea. You can remain a "simple" developer and still ask for more money if you specialize and bring significant value.

I disagree with the idea that moving to a management position means that you get "unstuck", especially financially. To me, becoming a manager is pivoting or branching out, not specializing. And as I stated, a manager should not necessarily make more money than the people they manage.

Do all NFL coaches make more money than their players?

I guess this is what bothers me the most. This idea that a manager should make more money than the developers. Salaries are in function of demand/supply and the value that you bring to the table, if it's easier to find a manager than a developer then the developer should make more money.

Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#24

Post by atemerev »

If financial side is so important, why not specialize in fintech / quant software development?

No special education (except for the general interest in finance and some math — easier than in computer graphics) is needed, and salaries are quite attractive.

The downside is zero work-life balance and huge stress levels, but everything has its price.

Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#25

Post by ben336 »

dudul wrote: post #21
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he means stuck financially, not career wise since they have chosen to stay as a developer. His answer to how to move ahead financially is to specialize. So maybe that is the general advice is to find something to specialize in or you are just seen as a commodity by management. If you are a commodity (e.g. general web developer with X years) then you may not get higher rates.

I agree with the general idea. You can remain a "simple" developer and still ask for more money if you specialize and bring significant value. I disagree with the idea that moving to a management position means that you get "unstuck", especially financially. To me, becoming a manager is pivoting or branching out, not specializing. And as I stated, a manager should not necessarily make more money than the people they…

> And as I stated, a manager should not necessarily make more money than the people they manage.

"Should not" is very different than "does not". In reality, managers almost always make more

Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#26

Post by mpeg »

heynk wrote: post #13
jblok wrote: post #5

What other specialisms aside from WebGL/graphics, and QA, as mentioned, might be open to a standard web developer?

Security. Also 'growth hacking'; I'm not sure if that will actually up your salary, but knowing "everything" about SEO, analytics, a/b testing, email marketing, blah blah can definitely specialize you within an org. EDIT: Employers also hire for 'tech stack' specialization, even though it's usually not necessary. For example, I'm only really recruited because I have demonstrate-able Rails expertise. In reality, I've…

"Growth hacking" definitely increases your salary, but it's really in consulting where you can leverage your marketing skillset to get a much higher rate (obligatory patio11 blog reference)

Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#27

Post by frozenport »

We should have a discussion about default SQL connectivity limits and the problems with using persistent connections.

There seems to be a ripe opportunity to make something similar to Amazon RDS, except with automatic scaling. The current version of RDS presents the user with different instance sizes and doesn't automatically scale during high CPU loads.

Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#28

Post by bhilburn »

svisser wrote: post #3

"I worked at Google so treat me differently" shows up several times in this article.

The author definitely stressed this a few times in the article.

To a new employer, the fact that he "made it through a Google interview" honestly doesn't mean much. Even Google interviews are wildly variable, and more importantly it doesn't in any way indicate that the candidate is a good match for whatever job he/she is interviewing for.

Talking about products and designs he had worked on in the past, at a technical level, though, is crucially important, and the author also pointed out they failed to do that (or at least I think he did?)

Anyway, getting a job at "one of the big employers" honestly doesn't mean much - there are plenty of people that get rejected that probably deserved a hire, and plenty of of people that get hired that aren't up to par. What matters more is what the candidate did while he was there.

It's sort of funny that he points out how broken interviewing & hiring is, but then also says that because he got hired by Google, he should be treated differently.

Still a really interesting article, though, and I think his points about specializing are quite valid. Reminds me of this post, which is worth the read: http://alexgivesup.com/2013/12/23/i-got-fired-last-week-that...

Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#29

Post by ecesena »

Nice writeup. I think that the final message to be specialized is great, and I'd underline that this should come after you proved that you master the "general knowledge".

This is clearly true for the author, he can specialize on 3d graphics after 3y web+mobile dev at Google and 3y in a startup, but the assumption that one could start specializing in 3d graphics from 0 imo is wrong.

All great painters were highly specialized, but all of them mastered the "general skills" in painting before taking their art to another level.

Re: How to avoid the software salary ceiling

#30

Post by machinshin_ »

dudul wrote: post #21
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he means stuck financially, not career wise since they have chosen to stay as a developer. His answer to how to move ahead financially is to specialize. So maybe that is the general advice is to find something to specialize in or you are just seen as a commodity by management. If you are a commodity (e.g. general web developer with X years) then you may not get higher rates.

I agree with the general idea. You can remain a "simple" developer and still ask for more money if you specialize and bring significant value. I disagree with the idea that moving to a management position means that you get "unstuck", especially financially. To me, becoming a manager is pivoting or branching out, not specializing. And as I stated, a manager should not necessarily make more money than the people they…

> Do all NFL coaches make more money than their players?

on median, yah they do. you're thinking of the BIG winners who get 10/15mil or more a year (+ endorsements), but most football (and baseball) players don't make nearly that much. most NFL coaches are in the 2-3 mil range, w/ some much higher (10-15mil)

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