YoE: ~4 I've been interviewing around for SWE gigs in Chicago, and there seems to be a fairly consistent upper bound for mid level SWEs at or around 140k TC. I obviously want to maximize my TC, and at least get 160k+ but I'm wondering if I should settle for the latest offer I got: 130k base, 10k bonus, remote half the time. I'm just ramping up my LeetCoding now, but if I do want to stay in Chicago, how much of a difference is it going to make? I'm getting calls from recruiters every week, but they are all pretty consistently in the low 100k region. What kind of offers are other folks getting in Chicago? I know everyone's going to tell me to target the financial firms, but I'm not hugely interested in C++ latency stuff. What other companies can offer something in the 150-200k (or above) range?
120k in Chicago is above average for a mid level swe. Only companies that offer more than that would be trading companies or you need try for a different position or move to consulting.
Took the words from my mouth.
Idk if this would change your mind about trading but in the larger firms (Citadel, DRW, IMC, Optiver) there are plenty of non C++ dev roles. Iād just check job listings.
I'm in Chicago and the numbers I've been consistently seeing have been between 120k-140k for senior roles. $120k for mid level is definitely above average.
Chicago firms feel 125k is too high for almost all positions. Think u got a good offer
A couple years back Braintree offered me 140k base and 35k bonus for a senior role. Citadel can definitely breach 200k.
Google has a Chicago office
Come hang with the cool kids š. Although remote 50% of the time is a pretty sweet deal that we can't match