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> But it had 3 principals and 5 sde3s in a time when the whole company had <100 principals. I can only imagine what principal / SDE3s that deliver products as
by MuffinFlavored 6y ago
> But it had 3 principals and 5 sde3s in a time when the whole company had <100 principals.
I can only imagine what principal / SDE3s that deliver products as big as DynamoDB got paid in bonuses/salary. Total comp had to be $500k-$1m+, no?
- b34r 6y agoThat’s not how software development works
- b34r 6y agoNot sure why I was downvoted, it’s absolutely true. SDE is not a meritocracy.
- mdoms 6y agoIf you're concerned about your downvotes perhaps you can give us your theory of how it works.
- VRay 6y agoCompensation is decided by a hierarchy of managers, with each manager giving his subordinates a budget to compensate his subordinate managers, trickling down layer-by-layer to the peons. If your manager's manager's manager is awesome at self-promotion, you'll make more money. The End
- lord_braleigh 6y ago^ This guy reads the Dictator's Handbook.
- hemdawgz 6y agounfortunately, self-promotion matters a lot, sometimes. Shitty or competitive places will require it.
- cerberusss 6y agoYou're downvoted because you post a shallow dismissal. Look it up in the guidelines, link at the bottom of the page.
- jasonpeacock 6y agoNope. There's no bonuses at Amazon (at PE/SDE levels at least), and there are compensation bands for each level. A top-ranked SDE3 that delivered DynamoDB should have similar compensation as a top-ranked SDE3 working on internal tools.
- SubuSS 6y agoI prefer not to discuss compensation - so will answer this indirectly. Few SDE3s definitely make principal salaries, Principals make millions and so on. I remember there was an ex amazon guy putting up the top end numbers on twitter which seemed more along these lines. It sadly comes down to your managers and VP decisions. FWIW it is kind of a future investment IMO. You come out with a ton of knowledge and contacts that your future jobs can definitely be highly rewardd if that's what you're going for. Some find joy in the company of like minded peers instead of chasing the gold, everyone unto their own!
- ben0x539 6y ago> I prefer not to discuss compensation Why not?
- SubuSS 6y agoI guess I have old school compunctions against discussing it, probably comes from generations of folks not talking about it and considering it impolite. I also have seen how people react when they realize there might be a huge pay variation for same titles - it's not good for anyone. I avoid conflict as much as possible nowadays, so it makes me more reticent. I pretty much redirect direct questions even from family because of that. None other than me and my wife knows how much I make - that's the max comfort level I'd ever get to I suppose.
- ben0x539 6y agoI'm not trying to convince you to reveal what you make, but I don't think "it's not good for anyone" is right. It might cause a bunch of conflict and I can definitely see wanting to avoid that, but that doesn't mean the outcome isn't ultimately beneficial...