6k/year 5yrs experience... please add a 0-10k category? haha
Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
201–210 of 245 posts
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#202I chose less than 60K because my coding is a side business. I run a successful IT business as the main course.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#203If 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.
Interesting. When doing hiring, I've always mentally divided developers into different categories than you've been suggesting: - 65k (entry-level) - under 100k (intermediate, or junior with a lot of promise) - 100-125 - most of my hires have been in this range - mid-level, talented, solid programmers - 150k+ - 'lead' / superstar level. It's very rare to find candidates that meet this level. Beyond 150-200k range, mos…
I'm amazed at what people in the US earn. Seems like the Netherlands is a developing country after all.
I'm rather certain that my employer rates me in at least what you describe as the "under 100k" range, but I earn 40k euros per year.
Do you guys all go on holidays to Latin America 3x per year? And have six broadscreen TVs? And villas with seaside views?
Or is a 1 liter bottle of coke just also 10$ in the US?
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#204Comparing salaries can be useful, but how about also comapring quality of life at work, at home?, work for someone else?, are you happy earning that amount?
So obviously higher is not better in some cases.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#205FFS, I'm getting paid £15k. I asked for £25k and was laughed out of the office.
How long have you been working and what part of the UK? You can get paid a lot more if you move to London.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#206I was living in Virginia for most of the period from 2000 to 2008. I had salary jobs and I had contractor jobs. I preferred contractor jobs, since they pay better (and I thought I could get by without health insurance -- always a dicey gamble). I slowly got better as a programmer during the years I was there. During the first few gigs I got, in 2000, I was a true novice, and trying to prove myself. I would charge a l…
I worked independently for years and health insurance can be really expensive. I eventually discovered the health savings account (HSA) / high-deductible combo. You can find packages that you pay about $300/month for which buys you access to group pricing (so you get the $30 Advil if you go the the hospital, not the rack rate $800 Advil) of which you pay all of up to a high deductible. In the end your exposure to medical bills for an emergency end up the same as or lower than what you'd be paying for low deductible coverage - e.g. $3600 / yr for premiums plus a 5K deductible puts you in the same monthly range you'd be paying for an HMO, but only if you use all the care. Email is in my profile if you want more details.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting. When doing hiring, I've always mentally divided developers into different categories than you've been suggesting: - 65k (entry-level) - under 100k (intermediate, or junior with a lot of promise) - 100-125 - most of my hires have been in this range - mid-level, talented, solid programmers - 150k+ - 'lead' / superstar level. It's very rare to find candidates that meet this level. Beyond 150-200k range, mos…
I'm amazed at what people in the US earn. Seems like the Netherlands is a developing country after all. I'm rather certain that my employer rates me in at least what you describe as the "under 100k" range, but I earn 40k euros per year. Do you guys all go on holidays to Latin America 3x per year? And have six broadscreen TVs? And villas with seaside views? Or is a 1 liter bottle of coke just also 10$ in the US?
[deleted]
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#208I'm on my first real job. I had no idea what to ask for and what I am really worth. I wasn't really desperate for a job but I only asked for something now seems too low (feels way too low after this thread). I screwed up in salary negotiation (Actually I didn't even negotiate.) Anyway what matters right now is I love the job and it's pretty much what I'd be doing even if I was on my own. There are times that economy…
One thing to always remember, in any negotiation (house, car, pair of socks on the market in Casablanca): always be ready to walk away. Once you've committed to the deal before the other guy has, you've lost. If you commit to the job prematurely because you're afraid nobody else will hire you, you've lost.
Apart from that:
- Always ask for more. It's never enough. - Don't let yourself be compared with others (co-workers). Make sure you have a story on why you're different from everybody else. The naive strategy, that most hiring managers nonetheless use, is to compare people with each other and say 'I can't pay you more than the others'. - The other guy dreads the discussion just as much as you do. Exploit that. Drag it out over a couple of days - make him lay awake at night for having to have another talk about the money. He'll be willing to give in if the discussion is uncomfortable for him. - Get the other guy to commit to hiring you before the discussion is over. This is turning the table on my first paragraph. Once he's decided he will hire you, he will go the extra mile to pay what you're asking (or at least closer to what you're asking - if they pay you what you're asking, you asked too little and have left money on the table).
All that said, I've held the same job for 10 years, so I may be talking out of my ass. I have hired people in those 10 years though, and rather successfully 'coached' others in salary negotiations, and I know a few head hunters who I discuss this with every now and then (privately - for example my brother in law is one). So I think I do know some basics.
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#209Are those pre-tax salaries ?
Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cars might be cheaper here, and gas certainly is, but we use a lot more of both than Europeans because we tend to be spread out a lot more. That's another factor raising our cost of living, which drives up the salaries we demand. I swear I'm not picking on you but I see this line all the time when US-EU gas price comparisons are made and I just can't buy it from a logical POV. So I thought I'd get all anal and play w…
Our cars are probably less efficient on average too, with all the SUVs. You've got miles/year and $/gallon, but not miles/gallon. You need all three to compare. I'd be interested in what you come up with. For what it's worth, my commute is one mile and I drive a Mini, so I can't use the commute cost to justify my own salary...
US is quite easy to find; http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_stat... -> let's say 33 mpg for passenger cars (depends a bit on which vehicle classes you count). EU data is harder; Eurostat doesn't seem to track it (haven't searched very far - I'll ask my friends at the DG Transport if I don't forgot if they track it). http://www.greencarcongress.com/2004/11/average_fuel_co.html seems to suggest 43 mpg, but I don't see where they get their data from (the linked report is MIA). So US cars, in aggregate, use 30% more fuel. Which, intuitively, seems to be about right.
Taking into account gas prices, that still confirms that US citizens don't spend more than Europeans on gas, in absolute numbers, even given their different preference in cars, radically different urban development patterns and fuel purchasing power vis a vis the rest of the world.