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Genuinely happy to hear that it worked so well for you. I think what you may be overlooking is that the vast majority of SEs don’t have the experience or talent

by pm90 9y ago

Genuinely happy to hear that it worked so well for you. I think what you may be overlooking is that the vast majority of SEs don’t have the experience or talent to be at your technical proficiency ( trying not to sound classist here, just stating facts).

CydeWeys 9y ago
The way income/CoL works, though, the majority of SWEs will still do better in a tech hub where the highest salaries can be found, for SWEs of all skill levels. There's plenty of "mediocre" SWEs (I hate writing this, it feels judgmental) still pulling six figures in the Bay Area; in Boise they might only be making half of that. As long as you're good enough to be employed, it makes sense to go to one of the tech hubs, where the salaries are the highest. I made the mistake of not doing that for the first seven years of my career and definitely regret it.
- pm90 9y ago
  This is absolutely true. Working in good teams has the great benefit that even a mediocre person's productivity and skills go up if they're curious and open-minded enough to learn. And working in SV means that hopefully you have a better chance of working with high-performance and highly-functional teams. I guess what I wonder is that even after getting all the benefits of working in the bay, whether everyone can reach the productivity/skill level that commands compensation that makes up for living in a high CoL Metro area. I do not believe that is the case, but I may be wrong.
  - CydeWeys 9y ago
    Excellent point, and very true. I wasn't a great SWE when I first graduated. I've always been smart, but I wasn't learning great development practices at my previous companies. None of them even had a great culture of code reviews, testing, or continuous integration. I've become a much stronger developer now that I am at a top tier company working with very smart people who have very high standards; in a way it's allowed me to reach my potential.

by pm90 9y ago

CydeWeys 9y ago

The way income/CoL works, though, the majority of SWEs will still do better in a tech hub where the highest salaries can be found, for SWEs of all skill levels. There's plenty of "mediocre" SWEs (I hate writing this, it feels judgmental) still pulling six figures in the Bay Area; in Boise they might only be making half of that. As long as you're good enough to be employed, it makes sense to go to one of the tech hubs, where the salaries are the highest. I made the mistake of not doing that for the first seven years of my career and definitely regret it.

pm90 9y ago
This is absolutely true. Working in good teams has the great benefit that even a mediocre person's productivity and skills go up if they're curious and open-minded enough to learn. And working in SV means that hopefully you have a better chance of working with high-performance and highly-functional teams. I guess what I wonder is that even after getting all the benefits of working in the bay, whether everyone can reach the productivity/skill level that commands compensation that makes up for living in a high CoL Metro area. I do not believe that is the case, but I may be wrong.
- CydeWeys 9y ago
  Excellent point, and very true. I wasn't a great SWE when I first graduated. I've always been smart, but I wasn't learning great development practices at my previous companies. None of them even had a great culture of code reviews, testing, or continuous integration. I've become a much stronger developer now that I am at a top tier company working with very smart people who have very high standards; in a way it's allowed me to reach my potential.