3 ms·

Many developers with 10+ years of experience are married. Once you get to 15+ or 20+ most are married with children. An entry or mid-level salary does not cut

Many developers with 10+ years of experience are married. Once you get to 15+ or 20+ most are married with children. An entry or mid-level salary does not cut it. There are mortgages to pay, braces to buy, schooling fees, nannies, the works. I know hundreds of people in these categories. They go work on Wall Street or other industries where those with 10+yrs experience get paid commensurate to their experience. I guarantee if tech jobs paid market wages for higher experience there would be no shortage.

vostok 10y ago
My experience is that many tech jobs on Wall Street no longer pay more than tech jobs at tech companies. I probably know more developers who have capped out at high 100s or 200s at banks than I do at Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc.
- TuringNYC 10y ago
  Your experience is correct that "...many tech jobs on Wall Street..." but many non-tech trading/quant/exec jobs on Wall Street certainly pay far more. Those are reasonable places experienced tech talent go because many quant/analyst positions use the same skillsets as the tech world. Also, the market salary in SF/SV will generally need to be higher. The cost of living is outrageous even compared to NYC.
  - vostok 10y ago
    > many non-tech trading/quant/exec jobs on Wall Street certainly pay far more And many do not. I actually came from the trading side and there are a lot of VPs [1] who cap out at lower total comp levels than you would think [2]. There are absolutely tech roles that pay mid 6 figures or more, in NY, SF/SV, and elsewhere. It's not harder to get those roles than it is to become a VP. Yes, there are traders who made 8 or 9 figure bonuses, but these are outliers akin to successful VC-backed startup founders. > The cost of living is outrageous even compared to NYC. I think this is debatable, but it's irrelevant so I won't indulge. [1] VP is the first role where there's no "up or out". You can stay as a VP and not be promoted without being implicitly or explicitly told to leave. [2] I know a quant trading VP who is extremely unlikely to ever make more than $300k and they have never made more than that over a career that spans more than a decade. This is fairly typical.

vostok 10y ago

My experience is that many tech jobs on Wall Street no longer pay more than tech jobs at tech companies. I probably know more developers who have capped out at high 100s or 200s at banks than I do at Google, Facebook, Netflix, etc.

TuringNYC 10y ago
Your experience is correct that "...many tech jobs on Wall Street..." but many non-tech trading/quant/exec jobs on Wall Street certainly pay far more. Those are reasonable places experienced tech talent go because many quant/analyst positions use the same skillsets as the tech world. Also, the market salary in SF/SV will generally need to be higher. The cost of living is outrageous even compared to NYC.
- vostok 10y ago
  > many non-tech trading/quant/exec jobs on Wall Street certainly pay far more And many do not. I actually came from the trading side and there are a lot of VPs [1] who cap out at lower total comp levels than you would think [2]. There are absolutely tech roles that pay mid 6 figures or more, in NY, SF/SV, and elsewhere. It's not harder to get those roles than it is to become a VP. Yes, there are traders who made 8 or 9 figure bonuses, but these are outliers akin to successful VC-backed startup founders. > The cost of living is outrageous even compared to NYC. I think this is debatable, but it's irrelevant so I won't indulge. [1] VP is the first role where there's no "up or out". You can stay as a VP and not be promoted without being implicitly or explicitly told to leave. [2] I know a quant trading VP who is extremely unlikely to ever make more than $300k and they have never made more than that over a career that spans more than a decade. This is fairly typical.