4 ms·

Anybody willing to pay me 200k+? I'm a python expert. I know golang. I can do fullstack work but my preference is for the backend. I'm basically a polyglot, wil

Anybody willing to pay me 200k+? I'm a python expert. I know golang. I can do fullstack work but my preference is for the backend. I'm basically a polyglot, willing to do anything from scala, haskell, python, lisp, you name it. I have good fundamentals, and extensive experience diving into and navigating large/old codebases.

toomuchtodo 8y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19055166 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19055166
dmode 8y ago
If you have 5+years, 200k+ with equity is a definite possibility
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
mattnewton 8y ago
I have 5 years experience and make >200k in total comp at Google at their Mountain View campus. Google was also not the highest number offer when I was interviewing 2 years ago either (but it was the more interesting role + benefits). You should interview :)
- crimsonalucard 8y ago
  Well, google is different right? They hire the cream of the crop. They don't only hire for experience. They also hire for innate, inborn intelligence. I might get in, but I have to work hard to pass that interview. I'm talking about 200k on average.
  - mattnewton 8y ago
    Idk where you got the idea that being a Google engineer is innate haha, man the marketing and hype around the role is incredible. The “secret” is Google tries to hire smart hardworking people, not divinely ordained superhumans. My advice would be to study hard for the interview and let them figure out whether or not you pass the bar. At the very least it will be good practice for othe interviews and you might be accepted and find a role you really like!
    - mixmastamyk 8y ago
      The modern tech interview selects for luck and quick response under pressure as major decision factors that project the appearance of innate intelligence. "The only winning move is not to play."
      - sershe 8y ago
        Yes, that way you get to feel good about yourself.
    - crimsonalucard 8y ago
      So I agreed with you until I talked to Gayle Lackman. There's a thread on quora somewhere where I asked her the question whether or not there exists engineers with a lot of experience who are not smart enough to ever work at google no matter how much they study? Her answer was yes. She went on to elaborate that google hires and targets CS knowledge along with Innate General Intelligence. Straight from the horses mouth as she was part of the hiring committee. I would source this thread unfortunately I can't find it anymore. If you don't believe me you can always direct a question towards Gayle on Quora as she's an active user. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. I think in the higher echelons of google, they are actually trying to hire for higher IQ. What actually happens is different. The filters actually allow people who study to slip through the cracks despite how much they try. In general though, the overall group that gets hired at google is still generally smarter than a typical programmer working for a much less famous company. Also as with every job, performance on the interview is highly uncorrelated from performance on the job, unless google has the big data numbers to prove otherwise.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
akhilcacharya 8y ago
Go interview as an Amazon L5/L6 (You'll probably need some competing offers), Google T3/T5, Facebook E3/E5 and pass it. Easy as that.
vkou 8y ago
1. Spend a few weeks practicing the whiteboard interview format. Seriously practicing it. Get a friend to grill you for an hour over the weekend. Next weekend, get a different friend to do the same. Repeat until you can solve whiteboard bullshit problems in your sleep. 2. Interview at FANG. 3. If you get a junior-level offer, you're looking at 160-180k total comp. If you get an engineer-level offer, you're looking at 190-240k. If you get a senior-level offer, you're looking at 240-300k. These numbers will increase if you perform well for 12 months.
throwaway68479 8y ago
This might be an unpopular opinion here, but I would change how you pitch/market yourself. First, if a candidate talks about programming languages a lot (especially if they're talking about Lisp and Haskell), that can be a sign that they're going to be unhappy working within the confines my team's Java/C++/whatever codebase, and that they're going to complain a lot and try to rewrite things in other languages. That's not a dealbreaker, but it's not a great first impression. Second, bragging about how many languages you know also codes as "junior engineer" or "recent graduate", even though the rest of your post makes it sound like that's probably not the case. Most teams are looking for someone who has demonstrated that they are really productive in at least one language, so focus your sales pitch on that. Again, this is just a first impression issue. Finally, I probably wouldn't claim myself as "expert" on anything, unless I was a top 10 committer to the project or I was specifically trying to bill myself as a consultant on that specific technology. Seeing "expert" sets off people's BS alarm bells, and they'll evaluate everything else you say with a more skeptical eye. It can also get you in trouble in interviews. Point #7 on this blog post explains it better than I could: https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/09/ten-tips-for-slightly-less-awful-resume.html https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/09/ten-tips-for-slight... Anyway, please read this as constructive advice rather than someone on the internet trying to tear you down. I'll echo what the other comments have said - practice coding interviews, apply to the big tech companies that have a presence in your area, and don't get discouraged if you don't get an offer right away. The big companies are full of people who had to interview 2-3 times to get an offer.
- xyzzyz 8y ago
  All of this advice is spot on. I recommend not even mentioning a language in your resume, just explain what you worked on. If they ask if you can program in X, the answer is "of course I can program in X", because of course you can, languages are easy to learn. If they ask if you worked with technology Y, you say "yes" or if that's not true, you say that "I worked with similar technology Z, and I looked at Y and it seemed easy enough to learn in a few days". You want to position yourself as a person that will do anything that needs to be done, and if it requires learning something new, you'll learn that quickly, as you've already done many times before. Just don't lie, as it can easily poison the well. Some companies are looking for e.g. Rails developer, and they might reject you if you're not Rails developer, or they don't realize that you are. This is fine, these companies almost never pay $250k+ anyway. Companies that do are looking for people who can do anything they ask them to, not just some simple well-specified tasks.

toomuchtodo 8y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19055166 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19055166

dmode 8y ago

If you have 5+years, 200k+ with equity is a definite possibility

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

mattnewton 8y ago

I have 5 years experience and make >200k in total comp at Google at their Mountain View campus. Google was also not the highest number offer when I was interviewing 2 years ago either (but it was the more interesting role + benefits). You should interview :)

crimsonalucard 8y ago
Well, google is different right? They hire the cream of the crop. They don't only hire for experience. They also hire for innate, inborn intelligence. I might get in, but I have to work hard to pass that interview. I'm talking about 200k on average.
- mattnewton 8y ago
  Idk where you got the idea that being a Google engineer is innate haha, man the marketing and hype around the role is incredible. The “secret” is Google tries to hire smart hardworking people, not divinely ordained superhumans. My advice would be to study hard for the interview and let them figure out whether or not you pass the bar. At the very least it will be good practice for othe interviews and you might be accepted and find a role you really like!
  - mixmastamyk 8y ago
    The modern tech interview selects for luck and quick response under pressure as major decision factors that project the appearance of innate intelligence. "The only winning move is not to play."
    - sershe 8y ago
      Yes, that way you get to feel good about yourself.
  - crimsonalucard 8y ago
    So I agreed with you until I talked to Gayle Lackman. There's a thread on quora somewhere where I asked her the question whether or not there exists engineers with a lot of experience who are not smart enough to ever work at google no matter how much they study? Her answer was yes. She went on to elaborate that google hires and targets CS knowledge along with Innate General Intelligence. Straight from the horses mouth as she was part of the hiring committee. I would source this thread unfortunately I can't find it anymore. If you don't believe me you can always direct a question towards Gayle on Quora as she's an active user. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. I think in the higher echelons of google, they are actually trying to hire for higher IQ. What actually happens is different. The filters actually allow people who study to slip through the cracks despite how much they try. In general though, the overall group that gets hired at google is still generally smarter than a typical programmer working for a much less famous company. Also as with every job, performance on the interview is highly uncorrelated from performance on the job, unless google has the big data numbers to prove otherwise.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

akhilcacharya 8y ago

Go interview as an Amazon L5/L6 (You'll probably need some competing offers), Google T3/T5, Facebook E3/E5 and pass it. Easy as that.

vkou 8y ago

1. Spend a few weeks practicing the whiteboard interview format. Seriously practicing it. Get a friend to grill you for an hour over the weekend. Next weekend, get a different friend to do the same. Repeat until you can solve whiteboard bullshit problems in your sleep. 2. Interview at FANG. 3. If you get a junior-level offer, you're looking at 160-180k total comp. If you get an engineer-level offer, you're looking at 190-240k. If you get a senior-level offer, you're looking at 240-300k. These numbers will increase if you perform well for 12 months.

throwaway68479 8y ago

This might be an unpopular opinion here, but I would change how you pitch/market yourself. First, if a candidate talks about programming languages a lot (especially if they're talking about Lisp and Haskell), that can be a sign that they're going to be unhappy working within the confines my team's Java/C++/whatever codebase, and that they're going to complain a lot and try to rewrite things in other languages. That's not a dealbreaker, but it's not a great first impression. Second, bragging about how many languages you know also codes as "junior engineer" or "recent graduate", even though the rest of your post makes it sound like that's probably not the case. Most teams are looking for someone who has demonstrated that they are really productive in at least one language, so focus your sales pitch on that. Again, this is just a first impression issue. Finally, I probably wouldn't claim myself as "expert" on anything, unless I was a top 10 committer to the project or I was specifically trying to bill myself as a consultant on that specific technology. Seeing "expert" sets off people's BS alarm bells, and they'll evaluate everything else you say with a more skeptical eye. It can also get you in trouble in interviews. Point #7 on this blog post explains it better than I could: https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/09/ten-tips-for-slightly-less-awful-resume.html https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/09/ten-tips-for-slight... Anyway, please read this as constructive advice rather than someone on the internet trying to tear you down. I'll echo what the other comments have said - practice coding interviews, apply to the big tech companies that have a presence in your area, and don't get discouraged if you don't get an offer right away. The big companies are full of people who had to interview 2-3 times to get an offer.

xyzzyz 8y ago
All of this advice is spot on. I recommend not even mentioning a language in your resume, just explain what you worked on. If they ask if you can program in X, the answer is "of course I can program in X", because of course you can, languages are easy to learn. If they ask if you worked with technology Y, you say "yes" or if that's not true, you say that "I worked with similar technology Z, and I looked at Y and it seemed easy enough to learn in a few days". You want to position yourself as a person that will do anything that needs to be done, and if it requires learning something new, you'll learn that quickly, as you've already done many times before. Just don't lie, as it can easily poison the well. Some companies are looking for e.g. Rails developer, and they might reject you if you're not Rails developer, or they don't realize that you are. This is fine, these companies almost never pay $250k+ anyway. Companies that do are looking for people who can do anything they ask them to, not just some simple well-specified tasks.