4 ms·

The tech world doesn't revolve around Silicon Valley, as much as they'd like you to believe. There is TONS of opportunities in this world. Start your own compan

The tech world doesn't revolve around Silicon Valley, as much as they'd like you to believe. There is TONS of opportunities in this world. Start your own company if you aren't happy with any of them. Thirty-nine is not the end of the road.

pc86 10y ago
Given the completely asinine cost of living, most tech jobs in other parts of the US will net you more money in the bank at the end of the month.
- overcast 10y ago
  Agreed, and the reason I am sitting here in Upstate New York, making way more(cost of living) adjusted than I would there. Though it can be argued you're paying the experience tax working for big names there. But it doesn't interest me.
  - ryandrake 10y ago
    I've worked both in and out of Silicon Valley and you can't beat SV in terms of "opportunity risk". Most places outside of the area are one-horse towns when it comes to tech: If you lose your job there's nothing else there, you're picking up your family and moving to another city at least, maybe another state. I lived on the east coast for years, and I'd happily move back in a heartbeat, but I'd be a nervous wreck every time it looked like another downturn was coming and I might have to scramble to find another job.
    - overcast 10y ago
      That's just crazy talk, there are PLENTY of companies to work for. If you're talking about big tech companies sure, but for every big tech company, there are zillions of other companies that require big tech people. I work for a company that is complete unrelated to my field. I get paid well, I travel the world to their ninety offices, and my house is only a five minute commute.
    - itchyouch 10y ago
      The northeast, NY/NJ/PA/DE/DC/MD area has a vibrant economy aplenty. Within a 3 hour radius, there's virtually an unlimited amount of jobs across a ton of industries. The places that scare me are places like Chicago & Atlanta. Outside of Chicago, there's virtually nothing. Outside of Atlanta, it's the same, which usually means moving across the country for something.
- morgante 10y ago
  This is a ridiculous trope which keeps getting trotted out. You can easily live in SV for under $100k/year. You can earn >$200k as an engineer in SV (and in few other places). SV is almost certainly going to leave you with more money in your pocket than working at the average tech job.
  - ryandrake 10y ago
    The ">$200K/yr engineer" is also a ridiculous trope. I'm sure there are a handful of outlier engineers at top companies making that, but the median base Software Engineer salary in the Bay Area is anywhere from $100k to $105k depending on your source (+ maybe a few K in equity depending on the company).
    - superuser2 10y ago
      $110k is an opening offer to a new grad these days. A few years in, you'd be at least $140-$150k. These are not outlier rockstars; they are standard pay bands at big tech companies. (And to be clear I'm talking salary, stock would be a few tens of thousands on top of that). I'm not sure how attainable $200k is, but $105k for a mid-career adult is quite low. Perhaps that is the case at actual startups, definitely not the big ones or unicorns.
      - ryandrake 10y ago
        Unfortunately the publicly-available reports that exist on Bay Area Software Engineer salaries disagree with you. I don't claim to be an expert on this--just someone who can search Google. $111,885 average [1] $110,554 average [2] $103,000 average [3] I know this is HN, where everyone makes $150K and has $1M in savings and a supermodel girlfriend, but in the real world I think things are a little different. 1: http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-facebook-dont-pay-the-highest-engineer-salary/ http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-facebook-dont-pay-the-... 2: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-software-engineer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,13_IM759_KO14,31.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-software-en... 3: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer/Salary/a5e48575/San-Francisco-CA http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer/Sa...

pc86 10y ago

Given the completely asinine cost of living, most tech jobs in other parts of the US will net you more money in the bank at the end of the month.

overcast 10y ago
Agreed, and the reason I am sitting here in Upstate New York, making way more(cost of living) adjusted than I would there. Though it can be argued you're paying the experience tax working for big names there. But it doesn't interest me.
- ryandrake 10y ago
  I've worked both in and out of Silicon Valley and you can't beat SV in terms of "opportunity risk". Most places outside of the area are one-horse towns when it comes to tech: If you lose your job there's nothing else there, you're picking up your family and moving to another city at least, maybe another state. I lived on the east coast for years, and I'd happily move back in a heartbeat, but I'd be a nervous wreck every time it looked like another downturn was coming and I might have to scramble to find another job.
  - overcast 10y ago
    That's just crazy talk, there are PLENTY of companies to work for. If you're talking about big tech companies sure, but for every big tech company, there are zillions of other companies that require big tech people. I work for a company that is complete unrelated to my field. I get paid well, I travel the world to their ninety offices, and my house is only a five minute commute.
  - itchyouch 10y ago
    The northeast, NY/NJ/PA/DE/DC/MD area has a vibrant economy aplenty. Within a 3 hour radius, there's virtually an unlimited amount of jobs across a ton of industries. The places that scare me are places like Chicago & Atlanta. Outside of Chicago, there's virtually nothing. Outside of Atlanta, it's the same, which usually means moving across the country for something.
morgante 10y ago
This is a ridiculous trope which keeps getting trotted out. You can easily live in SV for under $100k/year. You can earn >$200k as an engineer in SV (and in few other places). SV is almost certainly going to leave you with more money in your pocket than working at the average tech job.
- ryandrake 10y ago
  The ">$200K/yr engineer" is also a ridiculous trope. I'm sure there are a handful of outlier engineers at top companies making that, but the median base Software Engineer salary in the Bay Area is anywhere from $100k to $105k depending on your source (+ maybe a few K in equity depending on the company).
  - superuser2 10y ago
    $110k is an opening offer to a new grad these days. A few years in, you'd be at least $140-$150k. These are not outlier rockstars; they are standard pay bands at big tech companies. (And to be clear I'm talking salary, stock would be a few tens of thousands on top of that). I'm not sure how attainable $200k is, but $105k for a mid-career adult is quite low. Perhaps that is the case at actual startups, definitely not the big ones or unicorns.
    - ryandrake 10y ago
      Unfortunately the publicly-available reports that exist on Bay Area Software Engineer salaries disagree with you. I don't claim to be an expert on this--just someone who can search Google. $111,885 average [1] $110,554 average [2] $103,000 average [3] I know this is HN, where everyone makes $150K and has $1M in savings and a supermodel girlfriend, but in the real world I think things are a little different. 1: http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-facebook-dont-pay-the-highest-engineer-salary/ http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-google-facebook-dont-pay-the-... 2: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-software-engineer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,13_IM759_KO14,31.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/san-francisco-software-en... 3: http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer/Salary/a5e48575/San-Francisco-CA http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer/Sa...