8 ms·

Ask HN: Remote salary headroom? (non US based)

Hey folks, Curious to see what folks are earning if they are working remotely and not located in the US or Canada. Totally fine if you're working for a company located in either of those countries though as long as you don't reside there. I'm asking because as an engineer in the EU I've been consistently hitting a limit of around $200k whilst working for US companies and haven't managed to break through that yet.

throw28896423 5y ago
About 800 (eight hundred, not a typo) dollars / month. "Exec" at the company. Company charges around 1,800 dollars/day for my work to clients. Overseeing the company, the whole product lifecycle, hiring, sales, operations, architecture, copywriting. No equity.
helltoheaven 5y ago
I work at US based company and I earn $900k. Remote work has been a boon to me.
- jstx1 5y ago
  Oh look, someone who makes more than 10 times what I make. All the talk about 10x developers turns out to be true after all.
  - atatatat 5y ago
    They probably have 4-7 different roles with 3-6 different companies.
  - whycombinatore 5y ago
    That's your perspective. From my vantage point they are a 50x developer :)
- sbacic 5y ago
  Out of curiosity, what do you do? Which tech stack? What does your employer do?
  - aynyc 5y ago
    Two remote positions in two different time zones.
    - kervansaray 5y ago
      Do they know this? Are you a service provider?
- throwaway000981 5y ago
  Where do you reside?
- giantg2 5y ago
  Can you shed some light on how you got to that level of compensation?
- romanhn 5y ago
  For the folks incredulous at this number, senior staff level (IC7) and higher at top tier tech companies can get there, especially with stock appreciation. Stock/RSUs would comprise the majority of the compensation.
  - throwaway000981 5y ago
    Those ranges exist but as far as I know they are unheard of unless physically located in the US and if remote, likely having worked in their offices prior.
Sanguinaire 5y ago
£100k base, about £175k all-in. Developer-adjacent role. Realistically I can only think of 5 companies globally which would pay this much while also being interested in my niche skillset.
blaydator 5y ago
What is profile ? What do you do / specialize in ? For how long ?
- throwaway000981 5y ago
  Just under 15 years experience, mixture of senior/lead IC work and the last 5 years in management too.
giantg2 5y ago
$200k is a lot for most positions in the US. The median for a US dev is about $105k. I'm not surprised if you're not seeing positions higher than that.
- randomopining 5y ago
  You think so? Do non-FAANG senior software engineers not get 200k+bonus? Seems to be bimodal. Good senior devs get 180-200k and then FAANG get 300k+.
  - giantg2 5y ago
    I think that's highly location dependent. Your numbers might be right for a few locations like Silicon Valley, N. VA, NYC, etc. But the majority of locations seem much lower - basically half. I don't see a national median from the BLS for seniors, but I see other numbers saying $115k-130k median for seniors (glassdoor, indeed, payscale, etc). This is consistent with what I see. Most of the senior dev positions in my area (Philly region) are between $100k and $150k, with $100k-120k being the most common. I even see some senior level jobs with a lower end of the range around $85k (my company has that as a senior dev minimum, with a max of $150k). I see a few for $200k-ish, but for principle/director/etc level dev. These are very uncommon in my area.
    - randomopining 5y ago
      What's a common/upper mid-level salary in the Philly area? Just curious, seems like you have a good beat on it.
      - giantg2 5y ago
        I'm a midlevel dev. I think my company range for the level is about $75k-110k. It seems to be consistent with others in the area. There could be higher ones, but I don't see many mid level postings, especially with salary info. The vast majority are senior postings. Glassdoor says $85k is pretty average/common for a mid level in my area with 5+ years experience and a masters.
48cfu 5y ago
Can someone suggested how I can find remote opportunity for a robotics+software engineer position with a salary of at least $150k while being based in Europe?
- ddorian43 5y ago
  In all the normal channels. Filter by USA and be prepared to work EST hours for a bigger list of comapnies.
inertiatic 5y ago
Working for a UK company here, although remotely from another country, making around $90k as a lead engineer in a somewhat specialized field. Seeing as salaries are constantly rising due to WFH being so common, and with anecdotal data from this thread, I'm feeling I might be underpaid (closing in on 10 years of experience on top of CS diploma and an MSc). So my side question is, how do you target high paying positions without having to go through a LC type interview in a FAANG company? Recruiters who reach out to me on Linkedin avoid the salary question usually.
- wikibob 5y ago
  You hit leetcode until you can do mediums in 20 minutes.
  - mettamage 5y ago
    This. It’s less bad than you think. learning styles: - text - videos - tutor - with random person from the web (eg pramp) - with a buddy (And all include practicing problems) Pick the learning style you like most. It isn’t so bad.
    - inertiatic 5y ago
      I can realistically do most mediums quite quickly, missing an edge case here and there without a test-fix loop like LC provides. On LC and in Python I find most of the medium problems trivial. This is not my problem. My problem is I find these interviews dehumanizing, and they reflect on how the work is afterwards. I like my work, and I like working with people who like their work and are there because they're good at doing what the work is, not because they could do what most second year undergrads could easily do. I've been historically targeting positions related to certain field, and I'd want to be hired because of what knowledge and experience I've built up. Still, my feeling is worsened by how long these interview processes take (multiple sessions of the same thing basically), and how you can fail arbitrarily because of slight mistakes. Which means, even if you know you'll pass 80% (quite good) of your LC medium focused interviews, if you take 5 of them in a row, you have a 32% of not failing one. It's a numbers game, obviously, but that doesn't mean the human playing it doesn't experience feelings of stress and frustration.
realpharma 5y ago
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throw28896423 5y ago

About 800 (eight hundred, not a typo) dollars / month. "Exec" at the company. Company charges around 1,800 dollars/day for my work to clients. Overseeing the company, the whole product lifecycle, hiring, sales, operations, architecture, copywriting. No equity.

helltoheaven 5y ago

I work at US based company and I earn $900k. Remote work has been a boon to me.

jstx1 5y ago
Oh look, someone who makes more than 10 times what I make. All the talk about 10x developers turns out to be true after all.
- atatatat 5y ago
  They probably have 4-7 different roles with 3-6 different companies.
- whycombinatore 5y ago
  That's your perspective. From my vantage point they are a 50x developer :)
sbacic 5y ago
Out of curiosity, what do you do? Which tech stack? What does your employer do?
- aynyc 5y ago
  Two remote positions in two different time zones.
  - kervansaray 5y ago
    Do they know this? Are you a service provider?
throwaway000981 5y ago
Where do you reside?
giantg2 5y ago
Can you shed some light on how you got to that level of compensation?
romanhn 5y ago
For the folks incredulous at this number, senior staff level (IC7) and higher at top tier tech companies can get there, especially with stock appreciation. Stock/RSUs would comprise the majority of the compensation.
- throwaway000981 5y ago
  Those ranges exist but as far as I know they are unheard of unless physically located in the US and if remote, likely having worked in their offices prior.

Sanguinaire 5y ago

£100k base, about £175k all-in. Developer-adjacent role. Realistically I can only think of 5 companies globally which would pay this much while also being interested in my niche skillset.

blaydator 5y ago

What is profile ? What do you do / specialize in ? For how long ?

throwaway000981 5y ago
Just under 15 years experience, mixture of senior/lead IC work and the last 5 years in management too.

giantg2 5y ago

$200k is a lot for most positions in the US. The median for a US dev is about $105k. I'm not surprised if you're not seeing positions higher than that.

randomopining 5y ago
You think so? Do non-FAANG senior software engineers not get 200k+bonus? Seems to be bimodal. Good senior devs get 180-200k and then FAANG get 300k+.
- giantg2 5y ago
  I think that's highly location dependent. Your numbers might be right for a few locations like Silicon Valley, N. VA, NYC, etc. But the majority of locations seem much lower - basically half. I don't see a national median from the BLS for seniors, but I see other numbers saying $115k-130k median for seniors (glassdoor, indeed, payscale, etc). This is consistent with what I see. Most of the senior dev positions in my area (Philly region) are between $100k and $150k, with $100k-120k being the most common. I even see some senior level jobs with a lower end of the range around $85k (my company has that as a senior dev minimum, with a max of $150k). I see a few for $200k-ish, but for principle/director/etc level dev. These are very uncommon in my area.
  - randomopining 5y ago
    What's a common/upper mid-level salary in the Philly area? Just curious, seems like you have a good beat on it.
    - giantg2 5y ago
      I'm a midlevel dev. I think my company range for the level is about $75k-110k. It seems to be consistent with others in the area. There could be higher ones, but I don't see many mid level postings, especially with salary info. The vast majority are senior postings. Glassdoor says $85k is pretty average/common for a mid level in my area with 5+ years experience and a masters.

48cfu 5y ago

Can someone suggested how I can find remote opportunity for a robotics+software engineer position with a salary of at least $150k while being based in Europe?

ddorian43 5y ago
In all the normal channels. Filter by USA and be prepared to work EST hours for a bigger list of comapnies.

inertiatic 5y ago

Working for a UK company here, although remotely from another country, making around $90k as a lead engineer in a somewhat specialized field. Seeing as salaries are constantly rising due to WFH being so common, and with anecdotal data from this thread, I'm feeling I might be underpaid (closing in on 10 years of experience on top of CS diploma and an MSc). So my side question is, how do you target high paying positions without having to go through a LC type interview in a FAANG company? Recruiters who reach out to me on Linkedin avoid the salary question usually.

wikibob 5y ago
You hit leetcode until you can do mediums in 20 minutes.
- mettamage 5y ago
  This. It’s less bad than you think. learning styles: - text - videos - tutor - with random person from the web (eg pramp) - with a buddy (And all include practicing problems) Pick the learning style you like most. It isn’t so bad.
  - inertiatic 5y ago
    I can realistically do most mediums quite quickly, missing an edge case here and there without a test-fix loop like LC provides. On LC and in Python I find most of the medium problems trivial. This is not my problem. My problem is I find these interviews dehumanizing, and they reflect on how the work is afterwards. I like my work, and I like working with people who like their work and are there because they're good at doing what the work is, not because they could do what most second year undergrads could easily do. I've been historically targeting positions related to certain field, and I'd want to be hired because of what knowledge and experience I've built up. Still, my feeling is worsened by how long these interview processes take (multiple sessions of the same thing basically), and how you can fail arbitrarily because of slight mistakes. Which means, even if you know you'll pass 80% (quite good) of your LC medium focused interviews, if you take 5 of them in a row, you have a 32% of not failing one. It's a numbers game, obviously, but that doesn't mean the human playing it doesn't experience feelings of stress and frustration.

realpharma 5y ago

*If you were looking for the most reliable and secure place to buy… prescription medicines, prescription drugs, wholesale prescriptions, overseas pharmacies, Viagra overseas, steroid pharmaceuticals, foreign mail-order pharmaceuticals, discount pharmacy overseas, hydrocodone, Percocet, Oxycodone, Tramadol, Morphine, Oxycontin, Lortab, Adderall, Xanax, xanax Ksalol, Ketamine, Opana, Fentanyl. Roxicodone, Norco, Diluadid, Subutex, Suboxone, Valium, Wockhardt, Wock, Cough Syrup, Actavis safe and discreet online without prescription and 100% guaranteed delivery, then worry no more YourMeds247 has got you covered. Fast, safe and super discreet international deliveries of medications on only the best prices online ” Also sell....Meth MDMA LSD MDA Weed Heroin Cocaine WhatsApp Only: +1(325) 261-0302 Canada/USA Text/Call: (210) 404-4507 Wickr ID: medsfan Email ID (oxydrhere@gmail.com)