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Man, every time I think I’ve finally caught up to the market rate, I find out I’m behind again I’m a senior FAANG coder making 350k TC, and it looks like I sho
by VRay 5y ago
Man, every time I think I’ve finally caught up to the market rate, I find out I’m behind again
I’m a senior FAANG coder making 350k TC, and it looks like I should be able to net 400-600k at this level if I go to Apple or Google. Hoo boy, looks like it’s leetcode time again…
- websap 5y ago500K is the new 350K in 2021.
- VRay 5y agoI wish I could get a company to just give me 15 weeks of paid vacation instead.. alas
- aynyc 5y agoDing! That’s what I want!
- quickthrower2 5y agoEasy. Quit, take 15 weeks, start a new job.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- lotsofpulp 5y agoWork for 15 years, save and invest $5M plus, and then one you have F you money, work according to your terms.
- vincentmarle 5y ago> I should be able to net 400-600k at this level if I go to Apple or Google. Hoo boy, looks like it’s leetcode time again I hate studying leetcode just for these interviews, but with these numbers it seems foolish to not put myself through hell...
- m_ke 5y agoYeah I know a lot of FAANG people getting 500-600K packages. Makes it hard to even think about startups.
- websap 5y agoDepends on your definition of Startup, late stage companies like Stripe and Databricks are definitely matching/beating these offers. Mid-stage companies like Convoy are also going very high, but there is an upside with those companies. Don't know much about early stage, but a few of my acquaintances are moving from FAANG companies to early stage companies to play the lottery.
- m_ke 5y agoI'm a founder taking a significant pay cut and worked at early stage startups before that. Had a few hot new ML startups try to recruit me and their offers are nowhere near what my friends at FAANG are making. Last time I was looking for work 8 years ago the gap was nowhere near this large.
- websap 5y agoNot sure about founders, but if you're looking to hire top talent you need to pay them, give them the promise of meaningful equity. Software engineering is one of those professions where you don't work a 9 - 5 job. I'm constantly thinking about problems at work, while i do mundane tasks like cleaning my apartment, or doing the dishes.
- loeg 5y ago350k TC sounds not bad to me if you're E5 at Facebook or L6 at Amazon. It goes up another 150-200k at the next level (E6/L6 at Facebook/Google, L7 at Amazon, or ICT5 at Apple).
- lostmsu 5y agoLast year I was offered almost 500k TC from Facebook for E5 in Seattle. Google did not bother to match at the same level. I guess Google is not drowning in money anymore (in comparison).
- fhrow4484 5y agoOne reason discussing those numbers is hard is the variable compensation section: RSUs. An E4/L4 (the level right below senior) easily makes 400k right now depending on which company they joined. Their typical offer was 160k base and let's day 82k RSU (325k over 4y). With the usual (~15% of base) bonus, that's 160 * 1.15+82=266. But now let's assume they joined 2 years ago, so they got refresher of stocks that are roughly 20k per year extra (80k vesting over 4y), 266+20+20=306k. Here's the catch though, the 82k/y from the in-hire grant are now worth 160k/y: it's {stock price today} * 1/4 * 325k / {stock price at join date} , and look at FB, GOOG, AMZN etc trajectories. Same for the refresher, the oldest one is probably worth around 40k/y, and most recent one probably worth 30k/y, So this year exact TC could be (bumping base with 2 usual raises to 170): 170 * 1.15+160+40+30 = 425k. That's ignoring extra (~10% of base) for on-call compensation. That E4 doesn't need promo to E5. The math can be repeated for E3 or E5, the higher the stock number was, the higher the effect. That's the effect of stock compensation and alignment of employee compensation with company performance. Of course if those share prices go down, so does the TC. There's a company in FAANG known for their frugality famous for not offering refresh "because the stock price is doing so well", but even without the refresher, someone's initial stock award from 2-3 years ago is worth a lot more today. Some companies are starting bad trend these days due to them offering only 1 year vesting stock awards, instead of typical 4 years (smaller on-hire awards but bigger refresh), where an employee cannot benefit from the compounding effect of stock growth anymore. The employee can "hodl" their vested shares, but the vested shares are usually less, since ~1/3 is removed to pay for the tax the vesting represented.
- chiefofgxbxl 5y ago> looks like it’s leetcode time Haven't searched for a job in a few years, but would consider based on TC. Are all these good-paying software jobs behind the "leetcode firewall", even for non-FAANG? I guess my willingness to practice on leetcode would be partly driven by potential TC reward, but I really would like to be judged on the merits of the development I've already done for previous companies instead of having to memorize solutions to esoteric problems I'm never going to have to solve on the job.
- nostrademons 5y agoInterview problems that are stripped down versions of real problems faced on the job are gaining popularity. All of Stripe, Coinbase, and Google gave me interview questions that were recognizably related to their business when I interviewed with them last year. I've always tried to give interviews distilled from my actual job when I interview candidates at Google, but it's hard in a 45-minute block. Some companies are moving toward fewer longer interviews for that reason.
- loeg 5y agoLeetcode will only cover the easiest part (IMO) of the interview. For senior roles, expect to spend half or more of the interview on “system design” and “behavioral” interviewing.
- jfcllotr 5y agoThis ^. I’m surprised most people don’t realize this. After a certain level, leetcode is 30% of your interviews. Your level is decided by system design and behavioral, which IMO you’ll do naturally better at with experience
- Jensson 5y agoYour level is mostly determined by years of experience and level of previous positions. Your level might get down adjusted if you perform badly on these interviews, but it wont get adjusted up if you perform well. And passing these interviews is trivial if you actually did your job and didn't waste your years of experience, so the limiting factor is still mostly leetcode and years of experience. (Although experience at better companies is valued higher)
- bialpio 5y agoIs your TC number including the stock appreciation from the time of award to the time it vested? Because if it doesn't (and I think that's how we should talk about TC), it looks to be pretty good to me.
- bruce343434 5y agoAsk yourself this: what are you missing out on right now? A number? What will you do with all that money? When is it enough?
- nodejs_rulez_1 5y agoA good question for CEOs, board members and investors to answer, perhaps? They should be pursuing passion, not money!
- tourist2d 5y agoWhat are you missing out on right now? Money. What will you do with all that money? Retire comfortably. When is it enough? When I can retire. Why not change jobs to earn 30% more for the same amount of work? You're essentially speeding up your retirement every time you increase your total compensation.