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My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

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Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#671

Post by anonnybonny »

Indian guy - currently a freelancer

2002 - First job about 3000$ a year

2005 - Started freelaicing - about 8000$ a year

2018 - About 42000$ a year before taxes

I get paid in INR, even though I contract for a small company in the US, so the inflation eats away the growth - on the other hand, I work from home, and it takes maybe 3 to 4 hours a day (at most) to complete my tasks.

Some weeks go by with hardly anything to do but minor bug fixes and UI tweaks. Great employers, autonomy, interesting work.

In terms of purchasing power I feel very blessed that I make more than an average US citizen, while living in a country where things cost 1/5 compared to the US.

People of my caliber and experience make about 3 times more than me in regular 9 to 7 tech jobs. Very few remain "coders" after more than 10 years in the industry.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#673

Post by radzina »

fyfy18 wrote: post #228
LandR wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, maybe. In other countries like the UK, a principal architect is probably not getting half that. I would guess from a quick google that an architect in the UK is on around £50k to £70k. Which is $63k to $90k. I'm a senior software engineer with around 10years experience. I'm on £38k ($48k) plus a very small bonus, maybe £2 to £3k if I'm lucky. Last job was a mid-level engineer on £28k. I've seen junior deve…

Depends of course where you are, but it sounds like you are getting underpaid. In London a senior engineer will get at least £60k (depending on what 'senior' means and how many currently hot languages you list on your CV). I know people in obscure parts of the country, with next to no tech scene, who aren't far off that. The real money in the UK is in contracting though, or go to the dark side and work in finance.

What's wrong with working in finance in London? (I'm genuinely curious)

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#675

Post by Drazul »

Living in Spain (per year):

2013-2015: 7.200€ - 9.600€ (Internship, never full time, around 30 hours per week. Company A)

2015 graduated on computer science

2015: 18.000€ (working on a research group on the university. Company B)

2016: 25.000€ - 29.000€ (My salary was increased on september. Company C)

2017: 29.000€ (Company C)

2018: 29.000€ (Company C)

I move to Germany on October:

2018: 70.000€ (Company D)

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#676

Post by fractal_rose »

I'm a front-end Dev based in FL who works 100% remote. Mostly HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and liquid. Usually nothing too crazy. Mostly making custom hand-coded brochure type sites for a smaller but growing company. Started at $60k and increased to $65k after a year. I've only been coding for about 3 years. No formal education. All self-taught after discovering a passion for code. After 2 years with my current company, I'll be looking to branch out to find something more challenging (full-stack) with higher pay but I think so far where I am at is a decent place to start considering I got here without a cs degree.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#677

Post by theriddlr »

qubax wrote: post #327
gigatexal wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2018 - Salary for me an expat in Germany at a fintech startup: 53k Euros a year. No signing bonus. No options. Experience: 5 years as a DBA the rest a sad self taught programmer with 6 months of prior startup experience shipping microservices in C# and Python. Startup in logistics 2018 6 months: 48k euros. Previous: DBA in Portland Oregon in 2013 to 2017 - 60k to 70k then as an EDW dev 78k USD.

Jesus that's horrible. I made much more than that straight out of college. But it was in NYC where cost of living is high and taxes destroy you. The saddest part is that your salary didn't increase much in 5 years? Going from $60k to $70k to 53k euros over 5 years is pretty much tracking inflation. Over 5 years, my salary increased by more than double your entire salary. You should ask for a raise from time to time o…

This is in Europe with free healthcare, unemployment benefits, rent control. In effect he is better off in Germany despite the 'low' salary. You won't be bankrupt if you fall sick and you won't be let go without notice and severance pay.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#678

Post by theriddlr »

ta-uk-salary wrote: post #532
mirsadm wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a senior software engineer and am earning £70k in Edinburgh. You may be getting underpaid depending on where you are.

I'm a mid level engineer earning £45k in Bristol, not including additional benefits and perks. To get that I moved from a small company to a very big software employer in the UK. I've found that UK salaries have a massive range but it's pretty much the big companies paying the top end ones, and then all the rest paying the lower ones. I have many friends with the same years of experience as myself, and similar tech s…

I have 4 years experience and earn £ 45k as an AI dev in a small business who sponsored my work visa. Secured 3 job offers in the same magnitude in diverse roles during my job search spree earlier this year. DevOps, Python data consultancy and this one. I have recruiters bugging me every day because of my polyglot experience but those roles won't sponsor my visa.

On QoL, I have a 2 bedroom flat in a nice area within a 15 min walk of tech employers. This is equivalent to owning prime real-estate in San Fransisco.

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#679

Post by markwusinich »

Graduated College 1992 Information Systems Drexel University All jobs in around Philadelphia (except 95-97) 1992 - 24k 1994 - 32k 1995 - 33k (but in Wyoming) 1997 - 80k 1999 - 95k 2000 - 84k 2003 - 110k 2006 - 150k (contracting) 2010 - 115k (converted to salary) 2012 - 155k (back to contacting) 2013 - 110k (back to salary) 2018 - 120k (same job, small increases)

Re: My somewhat complete salary history as a software engineer

#680

Post by JunkyFish »

throwaway33441 wrote: post #650
lurker123 wrote: post #644

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting that it's similar (lower if adjusted for inflation) level of compensation since 2002. Do you feel that your specialty is plateauing in terms of pay? What would it take for another compensation increase?

gross comp in 2002 adjusted for inflation would be ~$285K, vs this year @ ~$340K, but big difference is net — as a consultant, health & life insurance, travel to global conferences (an indulgence of mine), employer taxes and 401K/SEP IRA are considerable. I priced out a comparable open market family healthcare plan before taking the role I'm in now (large but youngish tech company you'd recognize) and it was shocking…

what do you do? I mean what exactly is your Job sir?
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