I’m a business major in LA but it feels like that compensation ladder takes way too long to climb. I’ve self taught SQL, Python, and am currently working on JS thru Freecodecamp and going to learn React thru Udemy. what would be a reasonable starting wage to expect upon finishing those. I wouldnt start applying until having 2-3 respectable projects. Also would it be reasonable to expect a bootcamp to boost my starting salary by enough to justify the cost? Codesmith claims 100k median within 6 months but id honestly be happy with 80. Thanks
Buck fiddy
Are you willing to relocate or you’re asking about salary in LA?
Ideally LA, but I’d be willing to move to Colorado, Seattle, or Boston.
You’ll have a way easier time getting a job as a self taught in the Bay Area. Then it will be easy to work your way up......also u should start doing a lot of leetcode. “Knowing” Python is way different than the interviews and engineering in an enterprise
It depends on where you get hired. Many companies a realistic entry level salary might be $70k or so. If you target top companies like. Google you’re probably looking at $160k TC or so in LA. Some companies in tech strictly require degrees, I’d say most don’t. I’m a self-taught dev myself working for Google, have offers from many top tech companies with no degree whatsoever—so don’t ever limit your aspirations just because you don’t have a piece of paper with “CS” on it. Lots of salaries are on levels.fyi so you can check their entry level data, but otherwise you can typically get a decent estimate on something like Glassdoor
Thanks, that’s very reassuring. It feels very intimidating knowing I’m going up against people with CS degrees from UC’s and better. It’s good to know there are actually people who have done what I hope to. Would there be any path or resources you’d recommend to learn what it takes to get where you’re at now? Any recommended types of projects that really stand out? Also, would you say SWE would be the role to look for when I’m ready? Or should I start at junior level?
Cracking the Coding Interview and LeetCode are staple resources. Experience and practice really helps. (e.g. I programmed personal projects a lot growing up) I recommend the CS Dojo YouTube channel. He had a lot of good advice including what finally got me a call after applying to Google several times—go on LinkedIn, search eg “Google tech recruiter” and add some of the people that come up. Wait a few days and send them an intro message. In my case I did the above after applying online already, and before I sent an intro message one of the recruiters reached out with “hey I found your resume, would you like to set up a call”
A lot of it depends on: - How good those projects are and how much knowledge you have. - What tier company you apply for. - Google Vs. small non-tech company - overall cs knowledge 60-80 is definitely attainable. 80-100 if it’s a larger company and you can show a depth of knowledge. 100+ if you’re a rockstar and have been spending 8hrs a day seriously studying. The above is for salary.
It's a lot about knowing your value, field, ability, and where to look. What side of dev are you looking at? (Web, applications, games, hardware?) What is your ability? (Did you learn from a bootcamp, or have you been programming on your own for some time?) I would say you should aim for $70-100 in LA, same in SEA, $100-140 in bay area, but it is hard to give realistic numbers without knowing the above. Source: Self-taught dev with only an AS in Mechanical Engineering.
Probably looking for front end web apps. I feel learning backend would be better once I have my foot in the door. I’d think it’d be better to know one thing very well than to know two things decently. I’ve learned most of what I know from udemy and freecodecamp. I’m considering a boot camp because of the median salary they report their grads earn, but I’m uneasy leaving my 50k job to be out of work for potentially 9 months (3 months of boot camp + 6 of job searching potentially). I’ve honestly yet to work on any significant projects with JS, that’s something I’m planning on doing in the next couple months once I start the react Udemy course.
I wouldn’t accept anything under 100k for starting salary in LA. Bootcamp isn’t worth it imo unless you can’t study without structure.
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~200K total would be a good start assuming you pass all the interview hoops here.
Dude...first programming job with zero enterprise programming experience or relevant degree and they'll get 200k off the bat? GTFO.