I graduated back in 2007 before the 2008 Financial crisis and at that time Computer Science is no where hot compare to now. I was a top student in high school and I can select any major I want but decided to go for Business as it was really "hot" back then to work for a bank. After graduated from U of Chicago, I got foot in the door at an investment bank, Lehman Brothers, just to lose my job less than 2 years later when the company went belly up. Banking changed drastically after the Financial crisis and I ended up with with several positions in many firms untill finally be at the Risk Department. The job is extremely boring, the pay is just enough to be comfortable but no where close to what my friends are making in Tech. With no technical skills, I am desperately sitting on the sideline looking at other people having great career and comp like a disable person watching people running on the street. I knew I want to go back and learn but at 34 and making 140K, I am just stuck as I have family to feed and the risk of starting again is too high. I went into depression, I know I want to change my career but it seems impossible. Then suddenly I got laid off and with so much time and nothing to lose I started to invest heavily on learning. Within a few months, I can build a fully functional website on my own. I could not believe that it is so easy to code, it is just like learning a new language and I can speak 6 languages (I came to US at 13 and could not speak English back then). Then I discovered machine learning and AI, I read several books, joined many forums, attended online classes, it was eye opening to me. Things I feel like in science fiction earlier like Neuro network I can actually understand now and even know how to apply it in real life, I am like a kid just discovered computer games! After 9 months of learning, I joined a small local firm as an entry level developer at 36K salary. Things just got better from there as I gained more experience and excel in my job. On this Wednesday morning just before thanksgiving I accepted a new position as Senior Software Engineer at a big Tech company, the offer I selected: 520k TC WFH permanently (Other offers are 280K in Seattle, 350K WFH, 410K in Bay area but WFH now till Feb, 380K in NYC). Life is great, never give up!
Awesome! Congrats! I'm from business background and been working as a data scientist but lately got really interested in SWE. Used Python mostly for DS but been learning Python for programming lately. Would you mind sharing some resources/project ideas?
I was thinking of doing DS as well but realize competition is higher with lower up side potential. Being a SWE in Machine learning is a better option but still limited, being a full stack SWE is the best. I read programming books like Cracking coding interview, elements of design patterns, The pragmatic programming, do about 300 medium and hard leetcode qns, attend online classes for foundation in CS like Operation systems, Computer architecture, Data struct & algo, software engineer, attended a free bootcamp (non profit one) and read a lot of stuff online
What do you think about Python as a programming language. Is it practical to think I would be able to land on a decent job sticking only to Python?
How many years of experience did you have at the small tech firm before getting a senior offer? Thanks for posting btw.
close to 4 in SWE, not all in small tech firms, after a year in small one I got into amazon
This is amazing and inspirational - congrats! You shared some resources you used to become a SWE. Can you share ALL resources you used specifically? And in what order you tackled those for becoming a SWE? I am looking for an efficient “plan” to set myself up for something very similar. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Congrats 🎊🎈🍾 how’s the breakdown for tc?
200 base, 15% bonus, 190k rsu, 100K signon
Sorry to break the bad news but your tc is 277. The sign on is not included in tc, and rsu are divided by vesting period which is usually 4 years. Tc is what you get every year