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> Over here, there seems to be much more emphasis (and trust) on your resume, and the hiring process is more focused on fit. If you have the basics down, most c

> Over here, there seems to be much more emphasis (and trust) on your resume, and the hiring process is more focused on fit. If you have the basics down, most can be thought - but it's pretty difficult to teach culture. That's probably because OP makes triple to quadruple your total compensation at minimum as an L5 ML Engineer at Google. https://www.levels.fyi/ https://www.levels.fyi/ Total: $356,119

TrackerFF 6y ago
Obviously the salaries are quite different, but at the same time - you're pretty much walking around in golden shackles, no? I can't imagine those salaries being relevant, other than a handful of places in the US. And for the price of a small 2-bedroom apartment in the SF-area, you can pretty much buy a mansion where I live. Then you have things like healthcare, school costs, daycare / cost of raising a child, etc. etc.
- lowiqengineer 6y ago
  Cost of healthcare is minimal at Google. And yeah, you can easily afford a mansion if you want to commute long enough. 300k to 500k is enough for nice housing - unfortunately, as someone making $150k at 24 I’ll never have this American dream.
  - abnercoimbre 6y ago
    This is a rather damning statement and it saddens me that wealth keeps concentrating in such small pockets of America. I'm in Seattle but I have engineer friends in Florida making your salary and they definitely have nice houses.
    - lowiqengineer 6y ago
      I live in the northeast - even if I get promoted it’s unlikely I’ll break 200k. Down payment for a house around here is like 150k or more :/
- marcinzm 6y ago
  The US is a large place, you can save money for a decade in one location and then use that $1-2 million you built up to move somewhere cheap, buy a mansion and not give much a shit for the next 40 years. Taxes are also generally lower so you keep more. Healthcare costs don't matter since your employer pays for that and gives you good health insurance. School/child only matters later, and you can either move away by then or get promoted to making $600k+. edit: Two engineers together can make $700k+ which is $450+k after taxes per year. After one year and reasonable spending that's enough for a down payment on a house in the Bay Area. Every single year you get enough to pay for 1.5 kid's worth of college education at a top private school. Very few costs actually matter in comparison at that point.
  - lowiqengineer 6y ago
    I grew up with a dad working for 70-120k and a mom at home. I can’t even imagine how nice the lifestyles of Bay Area kids are.
    - gcheong 6y ago
      Housing prices and the cost of any good school beyond a select few good public ones pretty much brings the lifestyle down to the same level. My friends with kids and solid incomes live comfortably but not extravagantly considering one lay-off can take your income from comfortable to 0 at a moment’s notice.
    - bradlys 6y ago
      Judging by the Palo Alto train tracks - it might not be as bright as you might be imagining.
    - marcinzm 6y ago
      As I see it, beyond a certain level money and things don't make you much happier. They just give you a different set of things to feel the same level of happiness about. edit: This is as someone who has experienced household lifestyles going from <$40k/year to >$250k/year.
- PragmaticPulp 6y ago
  Not really. Many people earn those salaries for 5-10 years and then move literally wherever they want to raise families. It’s not hard to save a million or more on those salaries before you turn 30. That’s a lot of freedom.

TrackerFF 6y ago

Obviously the salaries are quite different, but at the same time - you're pretty much walking around in golden shackles, no? I can't imagine those salaries being relevant, other than a handful of places in the US. And for the price of a small 2-bedroom apartment in the SF-area, you can pretty much buy a mansion where I live. Then you have things like healthcare, school costs, daycare / cost of raising a child, etc. etc.

lowiqengineer 6y ago
Cost of healthcare is minimal at Google. And yeah, you can easily afford a mansion if you want to commute long enough. 300k to 500k is enough for nice housing - unfortunately, as someone making $150k at 24 I’ll never have this American dream.
- abnercoimbre 6y ago
  This is a rather damning statement and it saddens me that wealth keeps concentrating in such small pockets of America. I'm in Seattle but I have engineer friends in Florida making your salary and they definitely have nice houses.
  - lowiqengineer 6y ago
    I live in the northeast - even if I get promoted it’s unlikely I’ll break 200k. Down payment for a house around here is like 150k or more :/
marcinzm 6y ago
The US is a large place, you can save money for a decade in one location and then use that $1-2 million you built up to move somewhere cheap, buy a mansion and not give much a shit for the next 40 years. Taxes are also generally lower so you keep more. Healthcare costs don't matter since your employer pays for that and gives you good health insurance. School/child only matters later, and you can either move away by then or get promoted to making $600k+. edit: Two engineers together can make $700k+ which is $450+k after taxes per year. After one year and reasonable spending that's enough for a down payment on a house in the Bay Area. Every single year you get enough to pay for 1.5 kid's worth of college education at a top private school. Very few costs actually matter in comparison at that point.
- lowiqengineer 6y ago
  I grew up with a dad working for 70-120k and a mom at home. I can’t even imagine how nice the lifestyles of Bay Area kids are.
  - gcheong 6y ago
    Housing prices and the cost of any good school beyond a select few good public ones pretty much brings the lifestyle down to the same level. My friends with kids and solid incomes live comfortably but not extravagantly considering one lay-off can take your income from comfortable to 0 at a moment’s notice.
  - bradlys 6y ago
    Judging by the Palo Alto train tracks - it might not be as bright as you might be imagining.
  - marcinzm 6y ago
    As I see it, beyond a certain level money and things don't make you much happier. They just give you a different set of things to feel the same level of happiness about. edit: This is as someone who has experienced household lifestyles going from <$40k/year to >$250k/year.
PragmaticPulp 6y ago
Not really. Many people earn those salaries for 5-10 years and then move literally wherever they want to raise families. It’s not hard to save a million or more on those salaries before you turn 30. That’s a lot of freedom.