9 ms·

I'm a Data Scientist and It's Not My Passion

102 points by sk0g 8y ago

minimaxir 8y ago
Link to original post: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/six-figure-paycheck-data-scientist-nyc https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/six-figure-paycheck-data-sc... (Edit: URL fixed) The real question is that $125k as a Senior Data Analyst in NYC seems low. > I have this creative side, which comes in handy when thinking through challenging problems, but there is only so much creativity that I can use when in data analysis. This I disagree with; in data analysis/science, there's more than way to highlight/analyze a problem, and more than one way to solve it. In my experience, the best solutions are often the craziest.
- sk0g 8y ago
  Apologies, not entirely clear that the post is taken from somewhere/ how to get to the original post. Don't think I can update the URL the submission points to :|
- sct202 8y ago
  It might depend on what they're doing. A data analyst could be doing math heavy ML/AI or more report design/generation type tasks.
  - minimaxir 8y ago
    That's true; I parsed the job title as Senior Data Scientist before rechecking.
- kosei 8y ago
  Really? $125k doesn't seem low to me based on experience. Also, just looked on Payscale and it says Senior Data Analyst (with 6 years experience) salary range was $63-113k.
  - slap_shot 8y ago
    I run a SaaS analytics product company in NYC. I help refer data analysts and data scientists to my customers. Sharp analysts can command $140k base with about 3 years of experience right now.
    - onlyrealcuzzo 8y ago
      Just because they can, doesn't mean it's average or to be expected. I think a lot of people on here (and Blind) constantly say everyone is underpaid. It might be trying to help educate people they can be paid more. But it's usually framed in a way most people find insulting. Only 5% of laborers in cities like LA and NYC make over $200k a year. That number is a bit higher in The Bay. Only about 12-15% of people make over $125k. Again, it's nice to know that you can do better. But it's also nice to give yourself a pat on the back sometimes. $125k is decidedly NOT bad by any standards.
      - Amfy 8y ago
        Thank you so, so much for pointing this out. I am so tired of basically everybody believing they are under-paid by making $120k+ It puts out the wrong expectations. Most people under-estimate, what kind of life they can live with $60-80k anyways.
        pedrosorio 8y ago
        Some people underestimate the options and freedom (including being ready for the effects of recession/ageism in the industry) that living on $60k with a $200k salary can provide.
        jdavis703 8y ago
        How do you pay for $200k level taxes on a $60k salary? I make low six figures and pay an effective tax rate of about 35%. You’d only have about $5k left over for living expenses for the year...
- paxys 8y ago
  > I am now working at a tech startup This would explain the salary
  - asaph 8y ago
    Is there an equity component in addition to the base salary?
    - evancox100 8y ago
      Yes, from the interview on the topic of compensation negotiations: "My current company couldn't give me more in signing bonus but gave me more in equity."
    - ilikehurdles 8y ago
      Yes, it’s 4500 stock options worth $0 each. Pretty generous. Other startups of that size are lucky to get you 1500 stock options at $0 each.
      - TuringNYC 8y ago
        It really doesnt matter whether the startup gives you 4500, 1500, or 45000, or a million. You are being given the numerator without knowing the denominator, so it is all worth zero until you get to see the Cap Table. Most startups wont let you see the Cap Table. Even if you saw the Cap Table, there is still a lot of uncertainty, tons of illiquidity, and a long horizon. Options are nice, but they are not cash and do not belong in the same conversation as salary.
        lostcolony 8y ago
        I feel like you didn't actually read/understand his comment. He stated they were worth $0, implying that it doesn't matter how many they give; they're still worth $0. It was cheekily pointing out how worthless stock options in a pre-IPO startup are.
        8y ago
- sctb 8y ago
  Thanks, we've updated the link from https://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-data-scientist-making-125k-203431776.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-data-scientist-making-125k....
- hhs 8y ago
  Interesting view, I'm curious about what you mean when you write, "In my experience, the best solutions are often the craziest." Do you mean having unique mindsets/strategies in approaching problems? Can you explain more about "craziest" types of solutions?
  - minimaxir 8y ago
    Yes. One thing I dislike about data science/data analysis MOOCs is that they imply that there is a best way / one way to solve a given problem with a given dataset. The real world is much more messy (data cleaning, data pipelining, data normalization, etc.), and on the statistics side, solutions to problems often come from the weirdest places (in my case, it's often where there's a hole in the data).
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 8y ago
  >"I analyze data on a day-to-day basis, which means building dashboards or writing code to summarize various datasets. I usually partner up with teams across the company to solve different problems. That sometimes means defining metrics, creating visualizations to see changes over time, or making sense of the large datasets that we have." Sounds like mostly dashboarding, data viz, and simple analysis, so I actually thought it was kinda high. Perfect for senior maybe.
- rm999 8y ago
  >in data analysis/science, there's more than way to highlight/analyze a problem, and more than one way to solve it. In my experience, the best solutions are often the craziest. I strongly disagree. I have hired, mentored, and/or managed 20+ data scientists and analysts over my career; in my experience the ones who come up with "crazy"/creative solutions are often the least effective in the long run. This is especially true on the product analytics side, where there are 5 ways to shoot yourself in the foot in non-obvious and subtle ways. The best analysts I've worked with follow fairly regimented best practices around the way they analyze problems and present solutions. By its very nature, non-standard solutions are more error-prone and harder to explain, which breaks institutional trust in the analyst. That said, there is plenty of room for analysts to grow into more creative fields like machine learning or product management, but I don't think the person being interviewed falls in one of these categories.
  - minimaxir 8y ago
    To clarify, simpler/standard solutions are better, no disagreement there. But real world data is not very polite.
kosei 8y ago
Title seems pretty click baity. She acknowledges that her side passions (creative/design/art) may not be what will pay the bills and that she is happy in the role for now.
samstave 8y ago
So I left my 'typical' role type for a massive paycut due to being done with working in SF and Silicon Valley for something I am passionate about. I turned down a job at $180,000 and took a job at $52,000. (previous to that I was making $228,000 - as a consultant) Because I have literally no passion for what I used to do, the ageism, cut-throat bullshit in silicon valley has quite a toll. Housing is retarded. Transportation in the bay area is horrific, and the quality of life-work-balance is terrible. I know that I am going to make a heck-ton of a lot more money soon.. but I am pretty much done trying to work in startups in SF/SV. Thats a job for 20-somethings. EDIT: Since people asked. I joined as director of tech for a cannabis startup that has a lot of licenses and has a valuation in hundreds of millions. It is all bootstrapped from the founders, and has zero debt nor investors (thus the low pay) And I am building out MRP/ERP/OPs/Sales-ops/data for them. Further, We are building something amazing on the vape-pen production market. (the valuation is based on investors who have been trying to buy into the company... and keep getting turned down)
- tozeur 8y ago
  So what’s next for you?
- bdcravens 8y ago
  There's a lot of jobs outside of that bubble that pay well. I won't disclose my numbers, but I have no reasons to go elsewhere, I'm 42, I'm able to work with the languages and tools I want, and I live in Houston and work from home pretty much whenever I want.
  - rootusrootus 8y ago
    Totally agree. I live in Portland and the attitude is much more relaxed, but I make well above the typical SV salary. I get to choose my technologies, work from home when I want, my company has no interest in anyone working more than 40 hours a week, etc. I'm sure I could make a bit more with the right job at the right company in SV, but the quality of life here is so good that I won't even consider it.
jorblumesea 8y ago
Idk if real world engineering is often about passion. Who is passionate about legacy code, constantly changing design requirements and live site issues/on call? I love to build things but at the end of the day it's more of a job than it is a passion project.
- vermasque 8y ago
  Yeah, this seems like a more realistic perspective for most people. Find something you can like with tolerable downsides.
- mcsonka 8y ago
  ️
- realbarack 8y ago
  Passion is a tricky thing because even great jobs require some combination of cool, interesting things and wading through shit. A job that you're passionate about doesn't mean one that's shit-free--it just means that you get enough fulfillment out of the good parts that you're happy to tolerate the stench.
- dasil003 8y ago
  Yeah, passion is overused recruiter-speak. Sure it's nice for cheerleading if everyone feels passionate about their job, but it's really just short-hand for being engaged and focused which is orthogonal to passion. There is however something which I believe software engineers need: an innate desire to understand how things work, and a tenacity to debug them when they don't. If you don't have this internal drive, then you'll never get over the hump of the vast background knowledge you need to be a productive programmer in any interesting job.
remind_me_again 8y ago
I don't know, sounds too much ego to write on something that is not exceptional. Making $125K in our field (developer/programmer/analyst/devOps/architect/data scientist/full stack developer/...) is not a big deal.
dlphn___xyz 8y ago
are proper DS jobs only available in certain cities? I’m curious how many people relocated to get into the field.
sheeshkebab 8y ago
I often wonder how/why professional developers got into this profession - and basically came to conclusion that it’s not for everyone (basically solving puzzles all day long in front of monitor), and most folks move out from it (into management or wherever) after about 10 years. Especially those that got into it for money. Personally I got into it by accident - and couldn’t believe that I get paid to basically continuing playing games that I was into as teenager and solving various puzzles all day long.... I was doing it for free before, and frankly would still be if not for all the money bull shit all around us.
hyperbovine 8y ago
I find the last two paragraphs on this web page to be hilariously juxtaposed: > "Slow down and enjoy the moment. It's not worth stressing about how to become a partner in ten years or make money as quickly as possible. Set an attainable goal (something you can achieve in six months or a year) and work towards that." > Are you a woman under 35 with a six-figure salary ($100,000+) and want to tell your story? Submit it here.
baron816 8y ago
The media's constant reporting on college debt and low paying majors has actually had a large impact on what the next generation is studying. https://qz.com/1370922/the-2008-financial-crisis-completely-changed-what-majors-students-choose/ https://qz.com/1370922/the-2008-financial-crisis-completely-... The humanities and social sciences have fallen off a cliff, heath care and STEM has soared. I'm skeptical that this is a good thing.
- pawelmurias 8y ago
  Less bullshit majors seems like a very good thing.
  - meesles 8y ago
    Science gives us answers. Culture gives us meaning.
    - luckylion 8y ago
      That implies that culture comes from universities, and I don't think that's true. They may be first among those describing culture, but they aren't creating it. And recently, I feel a lot of them tried to force change, leaving their role of scientist and becoming backseat politicians. They don't run for office but still try to make the rules.
    - zeppelin101 8y ago
      Yes, but should people take on substantial debt to get a 'meaningful' degree that will not provide a real ROI? Studying fluffy majors is only logical for 1%ers, basically, because you don't really have to work for a living and you can get set up with some prestigious non-profit through connections. For everyone else, they should probably get cultured on their own, without paying tens of thousands of dollars.
      - exelius 8y ago
        Money is not the only thing in the world, or even the most important. It’s a means to an end.
paulpauper 8y ago
There's not much content to work with here. Her success runs counter to the prevailing media narrative that young people are always broke and struggling. Yes, many are, but many are not, especially in STEM fields. The short-term inconvenience in exchange for making a lot of money (especially if one keeps expenses low) makes it worthwhile in the long-run by being able to retire sooner. 10 years in a high-paying job that is not one's passion beats 40+ years n a low-paying job and never having enough to retire. Her parents paying for most of her college helped a lot, but so does a high IQ to get a good paying job as she did.
chasedehan 8y ago
The misnomer. Title of post says “data scientist” but then says “sr data analyst” in the first paragraph.
- weirdkid 8y ago
  "Scientist". "Architect". "Engineer". Even "Developer". Bah! All borrowed titles that try to make what we do sound more important to those who really do those things. Coder. Programmer. You're either encoding logic or data into something a computer program can use. Even if all you do is draw fancy diagrams. Off-topic whining. Downvote to oblivion.
ataturk 8y ago
A small dose of reality: $125K is only "good" pay these days and that's only if you aren't living in the Bay Area, NYC, or Chicago. The reality is that half or more of that disappears in taxes--state and federal, Social Security, and every little fee and tax you pay on everything else you do. It gets whittled down a lot and most people aren't even realizing how bad off we are as workers as compared to how things were in say, 1965. Before the end of the gold standard, before the massive inflation and before liberalism spread like a disease from sea to shining sea, a waitress, yes a waitress, could own a house in most cities. But what is so bad is what is said in the comments--only about 15% of Americans even make six figures these days. We're a nation in deep denial about our future as things stand. Btw, my CEO made over $21,000,000 last year. I make about .6% of his pay. He flies in private jets and gets to live the life we all want. He is really nothing special, though. Not a genius or anything, just a player. The ultra wealthy have conned us good.
momirlan 8y ago
You need to ask for a pay rise. $125,000 is nothing these days. A regular developer makes that much.
- NotSammyHagar 8y ago
  I thought devs make more than data scientists? It's my experience that devs are in much shorter supply related to the demand, and their (comp or) value is usually higher.
  - notbob 8y ago
    Long story short: both titles are too broad to be useful.
peterwwillis 8y ago
If you can make $125k in your 20s, work that soul killing job for 10 years and put as much away as you can. Then at least you have the start of a nest egg by the time you reach retirement. If you do it backwards and save when you're older, it's 10x harder. Do your passion when you actually have a passion. Until then, work to live, and save save save. (But don't forget to travel)
- lilsoso 8y ago
  That is sound advice for a limited amount of time, as you said ten years. The risk is that before you know it you find yourself with a "fully-funded" retirement account, a stable career, and your vitality gone with your life now behind you. The trick is hard to pull off.
effnorwood 8y ago
Quit

102 points by sk0g 8y ago

Link to original post: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/six-figure-paycheck-data-scientist-nyc https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/six-figure-paycheck-data-sc... (Edit: URL fixed) The real question is that $125k as a Senior Data Analyst in NYC seems low. > I have this creative side, which comes in handy when thinking through challenging problems, but there is only so much creativity that I can use when in data analysis. This I disagree with; in data analysis/science, there's more than way to highlight/analyze a problem, and more than one way to solve it. In my experience, the best solutions are often the craziest.

sk0g 8y ago
Apologies, not entirely clear that the post is taken from somewhere/ how to get to the original post. Don't think I can update the URL the submission points to :|
sct202 8y ago
It might depend on what they're doing. A data analyst could be doing math heavy ML/AI or more report design/generation type tasks.
- minimaxir 8y ago
  That's true; I parsed the job title as Senior Data Scientist before rechecking.
kosei 8y ago
Really? $125k doesn't seem low to me based on experience. Also, just looked on Payscale and it says Senior Data Analyst (with 6 years experience) salary range was $63-113k.
- slap_shot 8y ago
  I run a SaaS analytics product company in NYC. I help refer data analysts and data scientists to my customers. Sharp analysts can command $140k base with about 3 years of experience right now.
  - onlyrealcuzzo 8y ago
    Just because they can, doesn't mean it's average or to be expected. I think a lot of people on here (and Blind) constantly say everyone is underpaid. It might be trying to help educate people they can be paid more. But it's usually framed in a way most people find insulting. Only 5% of laborers in cities like LA and NYC make over $200k a year. That number is a bit higher in The Bay. Only about 12-15% of people make over $125k. Again, it's nice to know that you can do better. But it's also nice to give yourself a pat on the back sometimes. $125k is decidedly NOT bad by any standards.
    - Amfy 8y ago
      Thank you so, so much for pointing this out. I am so tired of basically everybody believing they are under-paid by making $120k+ It puts out the wrong expectations. Most people under-estimate, what kind of life they can live with $60-80k anyways.
      - pedrosorio 8y ago
        Some people underestimate the options and freedom (including being ready for the effects of recession/ageism in the industry) that living on $60k with a $200k salary can provide.
        jdavis703 8y ago
        How do you pay for $200k level taxes on a $60k salary? I make low six figures and pay an effective tax rate of about 35%. You’d only have about $5k left over for living expenses for the year...
paxys 8y ago
> I am now working at a tech startup This would explain the salary
- asaph 8y ago
  Is there an equity component in addition to the base salary?
  - evancox100 8y ago
    Yes, from the interview on the topic of compensation negotiations: "My current company couldn't give me more in signing bonus but gave me more in equity."
  - ilikehurdles 8y ago
    Yes, it’s 4500 stock options worth $0 each. Pretty generous. Other startups of that size are lucky to get you 1500 stock options at $0 each.
    - TuringNYC 8y ago
      It really doesnt matter whether the startup gives you 4500, 1500, or 45000, or a million. You are being given the numerator without knowing the denominator, so it is all worth zero until you get to see the Cap Table. Most startups wont let you see the Cap Table. Even if you saw the Cap Table, there is still a lot of uncertainty, tons of illiquidity, and a long horizon. Options are nice, but they are not cash and do not belong in the same conversation as salary.
      - lostcolony 8y ago
        I feel like you didn't actually read/understand his comment. He stated they were worth $0, implying that it doesn't matter how many they give; they're still worth $0. It was cheekily pointing out how worthless stock options in a pre-IPO startup are.
        8y ago
sctb 8y ago
Thanks, we've updated the link from https://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-data-scientist-making-125k-203431776.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/im-data-scientist-making-125k....
hhs 8y ago
Interesting view, I'm curious about what you mean when you write, "In my experience, the best solutions are often the craziest." Do you mean having unique mindsets/strategies in approaching problems? Can you explain more about "craziest" types of solutions?
- minimaxir 8y ago
  Yes. One thing I dislike about data science/data analysis MOOCs is that they imply that there is a best way / one way to solve a given problem with a given dataset. The real world is much more messy (data cleaning, data pipelining, data normalization, etc.), and on the statistics side, solutions to problems often come from the weirdest places (in my case, it's often where there's a hole in the data).
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
6gvONxR4sf7o 8y ago
>"I analyze data on a day-to-day basis, which means building dashboards or writing code to summarize various datasets. I usually partner up with teams across the company to solve different problems. That sometimes means defining metrics, creating visualizations to see changes over time, or making sense of the large datasets that we have." Sounds like mostly dashboarding, data viz, and simple analysis, so I actually thought it was kinda high. Perfect for senior maybe.
rm999 8y ago
>in data analysis/science, there's more than way to highlight/analyze a problem, and more than one way to solve it. In my experience, the best solutions are often the craziest. I strongly disagree. I have hired, mentored, and/or managed 20+ data scientists and analysts over my career; in my experience the ones who come up with "crazy"/creative solutions are often the least effective in the long run. This is especially true on the product analytics side, where there are 5 ways to shoot yourself in the foot in non-obvious and subtle ways. The best analysts I've worked with follow fairly regimented best practices around the way they analyze problems and present solutions. By its very nature, non-standard solutions are more error-prone and harder to explain, which breaks institutional trust in the analyst. That said, there is plenty of room for analysts to grow into more creative fields like machine learning or product management, but I don't think the person being interviewed falls in one of these categories.
- minimaxir 8y ago
  To clarify, simpler/standard solutions are better, no disagreement there. But real world data is not very polite.

kosei 8y ago

Title seems pretty click baity. She acknowledges that her side passions (creative/design/art) may not be what will pay the bills and that she is happy in the role for now.

samstave 8y ago

So I left my 'typical' role type for a massive paycut due to being done with working in SF and Silicon Valley for something I am passionate about. I turned down a job at $180,000 and took a job at $52,000. (previous to that I was making $228,000 - as a consultant) Because I have literally no passion for what I used to do, the ageism, cut-throat bullshit in silicon valley has quite a toll. Housing is retarded. Transportation in the bay area is horrific, and the quality of life-work-balance is terrible. I know that I am going to make a heck-ton of a lot more money soon.. but I am pretty much done trying to work in startups in SF/SV. Thats a job for 20-somethings. EDIT: Since people asked. I joined as director of tech for a cannabis startup that has a lot of licenses and has a valuation in hundreds of millions. It is all bootstrapped from the founders, and has zero debt nor investors (thus the low pay) And I am building out MRP/ERP/OPs/Sales-ops/data for them. Further, We are building something amazing on the vape-pen production market. (the valuation is based on investors who have been trying to buy into the company... and keep getting turned down)

tozeur 8y ago
So what’s next for you?
bdcravens 8y ago
There's a lot of jobs outside of that bubble that pay well. I won't disclose my numbers, but I have no reasons to go elsewhere, I'm 42, I'm able to work with the languages and tools I want, and I live in Houston and work from home pretty much whenever I want.
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  Totally agree. I live in Portland and the attitude is much more relaxed, but I make well above the typical SV salary. I get to choose my technologies, work from home when I want, my company has no interest in anyone working more than 40 hours a week, etc. I'm sure I could make a bit more with the right job at the right company in SV, but the quality of life here is so good that I won't even consider it.

jorblumesea 8y ago

Idk if real world engineering is often about passion. Who is passionate about legacy code, constantly changing design requirements and live site issues/on call? I love to build things but at the end of the day it's more of a job than it is a passion project.

vermasque 8y ago
Yeah, this seems like a more realistic perspective for most people. Find something you can like with tolerable downsides.
mcsonka 8y ago
️
realbarack 8y ago
Passion is a tricky thing because even great jobs require some combination of cool, interesting things and wading through shit. A job that you're passionate about doesn't mean one that's shit-free--it just means that you get enough fulfillment out of the good parts that you're happy to tolerate the stench.
dasil003 8y ago
Yeah, passion is overused recruiter-speak. Sure it's nice for cheerleading if everyone feels passionate about their job, but it's really just short-hand for being engaged and focused which is orthogonal to passion. There is however something which I believe software engineers need: an innate desire to understand how things work, and a tenacity to debug them when they don't. If you don't have this internal drive, then you'll never get over the hump of the vast background knowledge you need to be a productive programmer in any interesting job.

remind_me_again 8y ago

I don't know, sounds too much ego to write on something that is not exceptional. Making $125K in our field (developer/programmer/analyst/devOps/architect/data scientist/full stack developer/...) is not a big deal.

dlphn___xyz 8y ago

are proper DS jobs only available in certain cities? I’m curious how many people relocated to get into the field.

sheeshkebab 8y ago

I often wonder how/why professional developers got into this profession - and basically came to conclusion that it’s not for everyone (basically solving puzzles all day long in front of monitor), and most folks move out from it (into management or wherever) after about 10 years. Especially those that got into it for money. Personally I got into it by accident - and couldn’t believe that I get paid to basically continuing playing games that I was into as teenager and solving various puzzles all day long.... I was doing it for free before, and frankly would still be if not for all the money bull shit all around us.

hyperbovine 8y ago

I find the last two paragraphs on this web page to be hilariously juxtaposed: > "Slow down and enjoy the moment. It's not worth stressing about how to become a partner in ten years or make money as quickly as possible. Set an attainable goal (something you can achieve in six months or a year) and work towards that." > Are you a woman under 35 with a six-figure salary ($100,000+) and want to tell your story? Submit it here.

baron816 8y ago

The media's constant reporting on college debt and low paying majors has actually had a large impact on what the next generation is studying. https://qz.com/1370922/the-2008-financial-crisis-completely-changed-what-majors-students-choose/ https://qz.com/1370922/the-2008-financial-crisis-completely-... The humanities and social sciences have fallen off a cliff, heath care and STEM has soared. I'm skeptical that this is a good thing.

pawelmurias 8y ago
Less bullshit majors seems like a very good thing.
- meesles 8y ago
  Science gives us answers. Culture gives us meaning.
  - luckylion 8y ago
    That implies that culture comes from universities, and I don't think that's true. They may be first among those describing culture, but they aren't creating it. And recently, I feel a lot of them tried to force change, leaving their role of scientist and becoming backseat politicians. They don't run for office but still try to make the rules.
  - zeppelin101 8y ago
    Yes, but should people take on substantial debt to get a 'meaningful' degree that will not provide a real ROI? Studying fluffy majors is only logical for 1%ers, basically, because you don't really have to work for a living and you can get set up with some prestigious non-profit through connections. For everyone else, they should probably get cultured on their own, without paying tens of thousands of dollars.
    - exelius 8y ago
      Money is not the only thing in the world, or even the most important. It’s a means to an end.

paulpauper 8y ago

There's not much content to work with here. Her success runs counter to the prevailing media narrative that young people are always broke and struggling. Yes, many are, but many are not, especially in STEM fields. The short-term inconvenience in exchange for making a lot of money (especially if one keeps expenses low) makes it worthwhile in the long-run by being able to retire sooner. 10 years in a high-paying job that is not one's passion beats 40+ years n a low-paying job and never having enough to retire. Her parents paying for most of her college helped a lot, but so does a high IQ to get a good paying job as she did.

chasedehan 8y ago

The misnomer. Title of post says “data scientist” but then says “sr data analyst” in the first paragraph.

weirdkid 8y ago
"Scientist". "Architect". "Engineer". Even "Developer". Bah! All borrowed titles that try to make what we do sound more important to those who really do those things. Coder. Programmer. You're either encoding logic or data into something a computer program can use. Even if all you do is draw fancy diagrams. Off-topic whining. Downvote to oblivion.

ataturk 8y ago

A small dose of reality: $125K is only "good" pay these days and that's only if you aren't living in the Bay Area, NYC, or Chicago. The reality is that half or more of that disappears in taxes--state and federal, Social Security, and every little fee and tax you pay on everything else you do. It gets whittled down a lot and most people aren't even realizing how bad off we are as workers as compared to how things were in say, 1965. Before the end of the gold standard, before the massive inflation and before liberalism spread like a disease from sea to shining sea, a waitress, yes a waitress, could own a house in most cities. But what is so bad is what is said in the comments--only about 15% of Americans even make six figures these days. We're a nation in deep denial about our future as things stand. Btw, my CEO made over $21,000,000 last year. I make about .6% of his pay. He flies in private jets and gets to live the life we all want. He is really nothing special, though. Not a genius or anything, just a player. The ultra wealthy have conned us good.

momirlan 8y ago

You need to ask for a pay rise. $125,000 is nothing these days. A regular developer makes that much.

NotSammyHagar 8y ago
I thought devs make more than data scientists? It's my experience that devs are in much shorter supply related to the demand, and their (comp or) value is usually higher.
- notbob 8y ago
  Long story short: both titles are too broad to be useful.

peterwwillis 8y ago

If you can make $125k in your 20s, work that soul killing job for 10 years and put as much away as you can. Then at least you have the start of a nest egg by the time you reach retirement. If you do it backwards and save when you're older, it's 10x harder. Do your passion when you actually have a passion. Until then, work to live, and save save save. (But don't forget to travel)

lilsoso 8y ago
That is sound advice for a limited amount of time, as you said ten years. The risk is that before you know it you find yourself with a "fully-funded" retirement account, a stable career, and your vitality gone with your life now behind you. The trick is hard to pull off.

effnorwood 8y ago

Quit