My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer • Hacker News Board

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#381

Post by thrawaysarayly » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:18 PM UTC

Living in London just after Uni for 5 year, moved abroad.

2012 - £28k - Software engineer (grad, Software house)

2013 - £35k - Software Engineer (startup)

2015 - £42k - Software Engineer (startup)

2016 - £60k - Software Engineer (startup)

2018 - $66k - Software Engineer. (startup; remote work) Paying around 20% in taxes, but I live in a very low cost area(Central Europe) and my gf has a flat. I have a good quality lifestyle. Unlimited holidays (usually 30 days a year), I work 35h a week, own a new mercedes and can save $25k a year.

2019 - $130k - Software Engineer. (large startup; remote work; 40h/week) (I haven't accepted the offer yet). I have reached the maximum salary that I could get if you normalise for purchasing parity. It's impossible for me to find another job which allow me to save up $70k/year working 40h/week in a low stress environment.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#382

Post by sunaurus » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:23 PM UTC

ponyous wrote: post #235

sunaurus wrote: post #141

I 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.…

Seems like it's more important to change titles than company according to your history. To be honest I'm a bit offended you consider yourself senior with 2 years of experience.

To be fair, I actually have around 7 years of experience total, not just the 3 I've worked full-time. It's just that most of those years I was working as a freelancer. My first employer initially thought that the freelance work didn't make me worthy of being more than a junior, and back then, I didn't really know enough about working at a company to disagree.

In those 7 years, I've built up and shipped quite a few products, so I definitely feel like I can say I have more than 2 years of useful experience. But don't feel too offended, I don't really consider myself to be senior - it's just a title that my employers offer me. I definitely know I still have a long way to go before I'm a good developer.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#383

Post by gettalo » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:25 PM UTC

dmarucco wrote: post #211

gettalo wrote: post #162

HN could have anonymous, expiring accounts. Italy. I am 30 now. 2012 €500/mo, €1000/mo after 6 months "body rental" 2013 €25k + car associate consultant in IT company 2014 €30k + car consultant in same IT company 2015 €37k IT business analyst in large manufacturing company 2016 €40k same 2017 €42k same 2018 €42k same

Care to explain why you would like to have "anonymous" accounts? I'm also from Italy and I know that for us, as italians, salary is a taboo that must be overcome. In which position you are currently?

In threads such as this one, everyone creates a new, throwaway account, possibly with a password that will never be reused. It looks like a waste to me. There could be the possibility of logging in as “guests” with temporary account in order to post anonymously.

I work as an IT business analyst / Project Manager in a large Italian company.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#384

Post by phyller » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:26 PM UTC

pavlov wrote: post #221

phyller wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It boggles my mind that salaries can be so much lower in parts of Europe, while expenses are about the same as the US. Of course if you are living in New York City or San Francisco area expenses are higher, but most places they are not.

Even the big companies do this. My employer is a FANG and I'm based in London. Rents are nearly as expensive as in San Francisco... But if I moved to Silicon Valley, I'd get 40% more base pay for the same work. The only justification for this policy is something called "cost of labor" — in other words: "We've agreed with other tech companies that nobody's going to raise salaries locally."

I think the best of all possibilities is move to silicon valley, get a high paying job, earn the confidence of those around you with good work and communication skills, then go remote and fight to keep the same salary. Then live wherever you want.

This can be done, people are doing it.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#385

Post by anonymousJim12 » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:26 PM UTC

White male, middling state university CS, Software Engineer track, US east coast HCOL cities. Never more than a straight 40h/wk.

    2006-2009 - small co                                  - 40k -> 50k
    2009      - took a year off to travel                 - 0k
    2009-2011 - small co                                  - 65k -> 80k
    2011-2012 - stereotypical startup                     - 100k
    2012      - Tried to start a software co              - 0k
    2013-2018 - non-unicorn medium co                     - 105k -> 175k

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#386

Post by throwawayacct92 » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:27 PM UTC

Throwaway account. Mid-30s male born in Eastern Europe, working in the USA.

Washington DC area:

2005-2009 - ~ $25K (grad school; part-time research assistant, code monkey, and sysadmin)

2010-2011 - 0 (bad things happened)

2012 - $56K (software developer, remote contractor for a Canadian company)

2013-2016 - $74-82K (software developer, contractor at a government facility)

2017 - $90K (software developer, contractor at a government facility)

NYC

2018 - $150K salary, $275K incl. stock and bonus (software engineer, FAANG)

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#387

Post by acconrad » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:28 PM UTC

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that Nick Zakas is an acclaimed author in the JavaScript world. He probably makes a decent amount more from speaking and conferences, but it's still surprising to me that in spite of having multiple books under his belt that was all he was making considering how much of a value add it is just to have his name for whatever company he was working for.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#388

Post by woogiewonka » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:28 PM UTC

hdsrtrthrth wrote: post #29

cheez wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you had a new startup every year?

Sorry, i should have been clearer. There were 2 distinct startups i founded during that time. One at the start of 2012, which died mid-2012, and the other started mid-2012 and I worked on all the way through till 2018. I should also mention, this was in Canada. And yeah, I didn't keep the PW to my previous burner account. Not used to posting anom info :-(

I'm curious, was this pay from raised money or did you actually generate revenue to cover your pay?

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#389

Post by swalsh » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:30 PM UTC

acconrad wrote: post #387

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that Nick Zakas is an acclaimed author in the JavaScript world. He probably makes a decent amount more from speaking and conferences, but it's still surprising to me that in spite of having multiple books under his belt that was all he was making considering how much of a value add it is just to have his name for whatever company he was working for.

"considering how much of a value add, it is just to have his name for whatever company he was working for."

Unless he's working for a javascript tool builder, why does his name add any extra value to the company?

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#390

Post by SimonPStevens » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:32 PM UTC

I'm always shocked by the difference in pay in the tech industry between US and UK.

For similar career path, my pay has consistently been significantly behind this based on a pure currency conversion.

And also I'm sure our living expenses are higher. Most hardware I buy seems to be priced the same or very similar in $ and £ so effectively charging a premium to UK buyers.

Am I comparing wrong, or are US tech works really so well played?