5 ms·

Yes, I did exactly this. Stayed a dev, moved to the west coast, got a big pay bump, job stability, and benefits. There are plenty of 40+ devs here. So much of t

Yes, I did exactly this. Stayed a dev, moved to the west coast, got a big pay bump, job stability, and benefits. There are plenty of 40+ devs here. So much of the work at big companies is learning their huge custom domain, don't worry about any particular tech. Only regret is that I absolutely under leveled myself (msft L64), and after a couple years getting dragged through a couple of reorgs, I still feel like promotion is a ways off. Most of my peer group is 10 years younger, and most ICs of my age group are at least two levels up. So wait for an opportunity at the level you think you should be. Don't let imposter syndrome talk you out of it or think you can make it up after you join. But even still, I'm doing way better now than I was back in Michigan working for startups, even accounting for cost of living. Also note the most challenging change for me was getting used to how little control of anything you have is. I really miss being able to basically decide my design and implement it against public well-known technologies. Now so much of it is calling around, trying to figure out how other teams are doing things, coordinating with them, ensuring backward compatibility with a million old things, blah blah blah, it's much slower and less interesting. But, still worth it....I guess. (second-guessing myself now?)

derwiki 7y ago
Did you "declare" a target level when you applied?
- daxfohl 7y ago
  You don't, not directly. At least at msft. But you can figure out what level you think you should be based on your experience, and then work backwards to determine what base salary to ask for, and the levels are fairly tightly coupled to that. And don't let imposter syndrome weaken your resolve on that salary if you're coming from somewhere with way lower baselines. You don't need to be a super hero at any level short of "partner" level. You'll just end up with a lower leveled job than you should.
o-__-o 7y ago
>it's much slower and less interesting. But, still worth it....I guess. (second-guessing myself now?) My experience at msft in a nutshell. They pay very well and their name brings prestige, don't forget that when you second guess yourself!

derwiki 7y ago

Did you "declare" a target level when you applied?

daxfohl 7y ago
You don't, not directly. At least at msft. But you can figure out what level you think you should be based on your experience, and then work backwards to determine what base salary to ask for, and the levels are fairly tightly coupled to that. And don't let imposter syndrome weaken your resolve on that salary if you're coming from somewhere with way lower baselines. You don't need to be a super hero at any level short of "partner" level. You'll just end up with a lower leveled job than you should.

o-__-o 7y ago

>it's much slower and less interesting. But, still worth it....I guess. (second-guessing myself now?) My experience at msft in a nutshell. They pay very well and their name brings prestige, don't forget that when you second guess yourself!