I've always wanted to try working at a company like SpaceX but I hear it can be a bit tough. Is the pay do-able? If you're in the industry, would you rather be working in a regular tech company like google or Facebook?
Can't speak about SpaceX. Due to the nature of domain reliability and safety is utmost important so expect hell lot of resistance to new ideas and changes if you want to be the creative kind of tech guy!
Your starting pay will always be higher at a software (type) company like google , microsoft, Facebook, amazon, yahoo, Verizon or one of the support companies that partner with them. Microsoft for example will start you off at 120k with a signing bonus. google maybe a little higher , but the competition is fierce and you may have 5-10 interviews. If I were you I would co concentrate on your education and skillset ... BS, masters, some certs, multiple languages and a deep understanding of the industry you want to be in.
I used to work for SpaceX, and I can tell you from personal experience the work load is brutal. And the pay is not as great as software companies. The pay isn’t the worst, but you can definitely get more working for a company like Microsoft or Google.
Comp in software looks a lot more like other tech unicorns except these companies have a chance of actually going public someday. I'm a bit over 300k TC but stock component is not very liquid. Still this is probably 2x what swe in other aerospace companies can get (would love to be corrected on this). Work is hard but hours in software are fine. I mean I can and do leave at a reasonable time everyday (leave at 6pm and come in around 10am, I don't work on weekends). Culture is closer to tech, though the technical problems have more in common with aerospace. It's not a bad place to be for a couple years. But tech companies have a better long term career outlook
Darkarchron. Good to know software has it good.
Still a ton of people are leaving around vesting. The market for good software engineers is too attractive these days. There are still some mega koolaid drinkers working every weekend, but managers seem to care more about protecting weekends and evenings because they'd be fucked if just 3-4 of the right people left who can't be replaced by a bunch of new grads
Not worth it.