5 year fullstack engineer, CS undergrad from big ten. Done everything from front end, back end, databases and dev ops. Non-fang experience. Living in midwest. 42k right out of college 72k second job 100k third job 115k fourth job Then I see people here with 300-400k. With the same amount of experience. I hate leetcode so I never attempted to join a fang. Does fang really make that big of a difference?
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these salaries only exist in silicon valley and a few other big city hubs. 115k a year in the Midwest is a better life. you probably have a nicer house, your children can play outside, you don't sit in 6 lanes of traffic 90 minutes a day, you don't have homeless shitting on your car, and you feel at home in your community and at work. enjoy what you have.
Would you consider Chicago a big city hub? I don't know if Im just not looking at the right place, but I really can't find salaries like those anywhere here.
No. “big city hub” != “tech hub” And for the record, if you’re good and can get hired, you can make 250 now in a tech hub. No one will care (and isn’t even allowed to ask) what you make now.
There’s a lot of stuff that you don’t hear about FAANG as well-people on performance plans,people having health problems because of the stress,failed relationships because of the stress etc.This doesn’t happen at all the big ones but happens a lot in different teams. My advice -as long as your happy with what you earn,have a good relationship and good colleagues to work with(and reasonably Satisfied with your work) you have the best job in the word. Obviously doesn’t hurt to interview with FAANG but always know that there will be some potential drawbacks
Yup you are correct. You are lowballed and you should start leetcoding. You could get 300k with that YOe
How do you get 300k with a few YoE?
Leetcode to FAANG
Ignorance is bliss
So true, I would have been happy if I didn't join blind
I agree reading posts here make me feel stressed. I didn’t like these at first but now I am addicted to these. I think it is better to know what is out there than being blind...
I guess that's why employers don't like people talking about salaries. They can't low ball otherwise.
Do you plan on moving to Bay Area or Seattle or similar tech hub? You could probably get a nice boost coming out here for a couple years, get a/couple big tech company on the resume and go back with the experience and some ‘California money’. If you plan it well you could get a decent little chunk of money and have a more attractive resume. But yes, $120k-$150k in the Midwest (I.e. like Ohio, not Chicago) is worth $350k in Cali
I call BS cost of living factor isn’t 2x. Keep telling yourself that to justify lower TC. Once basic needs are met (~60k for a single person) the rest goes straight to bank/brokerage account. OP - I know it sucks to know you’re underpaid but you have taken the red pill now by joining blind. It will show you the truth
Have you lived in the Midwest? I have. For most of my life, in a very low cost of living area. Things like iPad are pretty expensive since it’s the same price everywhere in the states. But renting a 1500 sqft place was $500/mo, half that with a roommate. Things like milk and bread are 60% the cost here. Similar experience for utilities (especially water), restaurants and entertainment. For SF you have a lot of stuff that adds up fast. First and foremost is the dreaded real estate / mortgage / rent. Easily 5x higher and this is the most expensive piece! Add up all the 10%-40% increases for the necessities. But then you have all the “EXTRAS” that the rural areas don’t have at all. Parking fees, bridge tolls, higher taxes, public transit, child care is almost 2x alone. In summary - it most certainly 100% guaranteed is at LEAST 2x to live in and around the Bay Area compared to some small towns in the Midwest. So YOU keep telling yourself that to justify the cost of the bay. If OP is in a smaller Midwest town, 6 figures is above average for 10YOE senior SWE.
FAANG really does make a difference. The industry is as bi-modal as law.
Programming salaries are an anomaly. PhD in nanotechnology making 160k, don’t touch some of these young is coding apps that serve no practical value
I could be biased as a SWE but it depends on the practicality of what one builds. Your generalization is not correct
It means the programming positions bring more value to the company. If their nanobuzzwordology would benefit a few billion people, the nanotech pros will become the most paid folks.
Doing well*
Hahahahaha.