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Tech compensation in 2021

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Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#381

Post by jdavis703 »

throwaway2016a wrote: post #354
thaumasiotes wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> even with 20 years of experience and I can't even get a FAANG interview (let alone pass it) If you want one, I've never had the impression that getting an interview was the hard part. I participated in Google Code Jam maybe 9 years ago, passed either 0 or 1 rounds (there's a "qualification round" which I definitely passed, and later a "round 1" which I have a feeling I probably didn't pass), and every so often they…

I have been told I have an excellent resume by Google recruiters and gotten a recommendation from a manager I worked with in the past there and still not gotten an interview. With that said, I think it is because at the time the Boston office was mostly specialists and I'm a generalist. I'm also not from a top 10 school in a city filled with top-10 schools which didn't help, I'm sure. But that was years ago. Maybe I'…

I applied about 6 years ago to work at HQ. I went to community college and a bottom-tier state school and got an interview. Sounds like you just may not have been a match with the available jobs.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#382

Post by tubby12345 »

mobiledev2014 wrote: post #300
tubby12345 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>every time I see an article like this, I think I am doing something "very wrong" there's a comment like this in every single thread like this. and the recommendation is always the same: grind LC for however long you need in order to be comfortable solving hard problems cleanly in 35-45 minutes and then collect your pay bump. the fact that the 1. data 2. complaint 3. recommendation crop up with 100% perfect regularit…

•Boston area •7 yoe •Staff level •Full remote •Co is SF-based •$250 total comp I expect a promotion and ~20% increase next cycle. Interview was no leet code (I’m terrible at it!) - my strategy was to interview at public companies with levels on levels.fyi but not FAANG

7 yoe at FAANG is double that and they're all permanent remote now (except Apple). Diminishing returns n all regarding TC but you didn't hack the system or anything with that strategy.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#383

Post by jdavis703 »

throwaway2016a wrote: post #262
eegg7 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best thing I did for my career was leave Boston for an entry level FANG job on the West Coast 10 years ago. I currently make more than 10x what I was making in Boston. But it has been a grind no doubt. And probably some luck.

I had the chance to do that in 2009 and my wife (then fiancé) and I decided to stay close to family. I often wonder if that was a mistake...

I did the opposite of you and question if I made a mistake. I’m not sad about it. Just thinking through the “what ifs” after being gone so long. It’s natural. But if you’re happy today, why change?

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#385

Post by Hermitian909 »

theshadowknows wrote: post #223

I’m wondering if I’m just not worth as much money or if I’m not paid as much because I don’t work in California or both, lol. I work for an enormous company. I’ve got about 8 or so years experience. As of right now I’m a sr architect and I work on enterprise-level systems - either designing or enhancing existing processes and platforms. I don’t really code much these days, though I do write a lot of sql, build lots o…

COL is part of this, but I think the things to consider are that software engineers are worth more based on the scale of our work, and network effects can drive up our market price. I believe the scale argument is self-evident, so I'll expand on the network effects:

By being in the bay area you meet a lot of software engineers and provide value to companies you work at by referring good software engineers. This ends up being worth a lot of money to companies (more than they pay in bonuses).

By being an engineer in the bay area it's also harder to be retained. Engineers here are pretty transparent about compensation and working conditions. If someone I know is working 50 hours a week or being underpaid, I make sure they have referrals to good companies as soon as they want them and they get a good job.

Speaking to engineers who've moved here from other markets, that kind of culture and network just doesn't exist in most other areas.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#386

Post by [deleted] »

loeg wrote: post #283
fhrow4484 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One reason discussing those numbers is hard is the variable compensation section: RSUs. An E4/L4 (the level right below senior) easily makes 400k right now depending on which company they joined. Their typical offer was 160k base and let's day 82k RSU (325k over 4y). With the usual (~15% of base) bonus, that's 160 * 1.15+82=266. But now let's assume they joined 2 years ago, so they got refresher of stocks that are ro…

Sure. A somewhat good TC maximization strategy for a desirable IC is to join a company, wait a year to see how the stock does; if it went up a lot, ride out the four-year grant. If it's down, switch employers. > That's ignoring extra (~10% of base) for on-call compensation. What FAANG companies do this? I haven't heard of it. > There's a company in FAANG known for their frugality famous for not offering refresh "beca…

[deleted]

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#387

Post by ramraj07 »

franciscop wrote: post #359
eminence32 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like a lot of HN readers are continually playing the "maximize salary" game and use like articles like this one to figure out how well they're doing. If you want to play that game, then good luck, have fun. I understand the desire. But it's not for everyone. Are you able to live comfortably on $175k per year? Do you enjoy what you do and the people that you work with? If so, I don't think there should be any…

Everything else being the same, it's better to make 300k than 175k/year. And not everything is the same, normally in those better paid jobs you have better Engineers, a lot of challenging problems, many nice perks, etc. What you don't normally have is flexibility to negotiate special conditions e.g. 4day work week. Also you don't get highly ethical companies, just average ones at that (and it might actually be better…

You might have better engineers in FAAnG but it’s not given that you love your work. Many of my colleagues in those places are bored out of their minds because of how silly or numbing the work is. Part of the reason why I’ve not tried the transition yet.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#388

Post by Jensson »

throwaway2016a wrote: post #366
Jensson wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your point is exactly my point, leet code is not relevant to the type of position I'd be looking for. But the jobs you'd get with leetcode would pay twice your current expected liquid compensation at least (assuming 0 stock growth) for your experience level. If you don't want those then fine, but then you can't complain about threads like this either. Google has jobs in Boston, I bet there are many other tech compa…

I'm not complaining, if you read my posts am saying the article is not representative of a majority of software engineers' experience. Using my career as an example. I even explicitly say that in the very comment you are replying to. Not everyone works for FAANG. Also, leet code is not relevant because the questions asked at that level are typically not algorithms. I passed the leet code stage in my career 10 years a…

> leet code is not relevant because the questions asked at that level are typically not algorithms

Top companies still ask algorithms at these levels and fail people at these levels if they don't perform at least as well as juniors. If you are L6 at Google you are looking at liquid compensation around $500k a year, and they still require mostly leetcode questions. Of course you wont get considered for those positions without a ton of experience, but to get them you have to do your algorithm homework.

> should get paid less

Not should, will. I didn't make any claims to what things should look like, I am talking about what the market looks like now. Your ability to do algorithms is more important for your compensation than your ability as an architect or as a leader except for extreme cases where you start to get into higher management positions at big companies.

Edit: And if you are great at algorithms as you say, but doesn't leverage that skill to get higher pay then that has the same effect on your compensation as not knowing algorithms. It is simple. So your insistence on only looking for jobs that doesn't test algorithms is probably the reason your salary didn't balloon as you'd expect.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#389

Post by bittercynic »

I work as a "tech" guy at a school, and earn WAY less than what anyone in this thread would probably consider a liveable wage, but have good health and retirement benefits.

Earning a modest, but reasonable living and having some stability is not an entirely bad way to go.

Re: Tech compensation in 2021

#390

Post by ramraj07 »

Osiris wrote: post #217
ggregoire wrote: post #21

> Chris can expect to make $300k at a non-FAANG company, but nearly double that if they’re willing to compromise on that “no-FAANG” stance Ok but aren't the expectations for a Staff+ way higher at FAANG than at non-FAANG? Or we assume Chris already got the offer from FAANG for a Staff+ role and so it's just a personal choice? Those articles and discussions about salary always assume everybody is able to work at FAANG…

I'm a Staff engineer are a small company with about 15 years of experience in Denver. As a full time employee I've never made over $160K base. As a contractor I've made over $250k (but with about $40k of that going to taxes and benefits virtually paid by an employer.) I have a feeling I'm underpaid but I'm also very happy with where I work and the team I work with and I'm not currently willing to sacrifice that for a…

Happiness should always be a factor, but I will argue that sanity permitting you should always test out new waters. Perhaps you might be satisfied at retirement with what you’ve got, but if you can forge new paths without sacrificing the clearly important parts of your life (sanity and family) then I believe that you owe it to yourself to do so. Not every half a mill job is fun but there are fun ones from what I hear.
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