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> I doubt you are making a quarter of what you would make at Amazon. Even I as a standard CRUD developer working in Atlanta was making about 2/3rds of what mid

> I doubt you are making a quarter of what you would make at Amazon. Even I as a standard CRUD developer working in Atlanta was making about 2/3rds of what mid level developers make at AWS and maybe half of what senior developers make. I don't think you know my current job or my level of seniority. 1) I am a sufficiently well-known developer that, while you wouldn't recognize my name, I am a major draw when I give presentations by name recognition in my field, and people have asked me for e.g. autographs before. You would have heard of the project I am best known for, even if not who built it. 2) I am not a "standard CRUD developer working in Atlanta." I work for a non-profit. It's engaging, meaningful, and impactful work, and it pays my bills. My last job offer from tech was at double my current level of compensation, and that wasn't a FAANG, but a late-stage startup. I know peer salaries at FAANG, and a quarter is a pretty good estimate. I know people at FAANG making 10x, but I'd need to get very lucky to get that (a job lining up with my unique background). It might be 2x if my background completely wasn't taken into account (which it wouldn't be, for many roles).

ldjkfkdsjnv 3y ago
People significantly underestimate how much FAANG pays, especially for very experienced developers.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  I’m not underestimating anything at all. I know how much the average developer gets paid at Amazon in particular. There was an “anonymous” internal Slack channel called #pay-equity. Wheee you could use post your compensation via A workflow (?)
  - ldjkfkdsjnv 3y ago
    Good people are getting 600-900k at amazon. Lead developers on major products like S3 are getting even more. There are tiers to amazon comp that doesnt get spoken about.
    - scarface_74 3y ago
      And people are also winning the lottery. Both are irrelevant to the conversation. What do you think the chances of a random person on HN is going to interview at Amazon and make $900K? $450K? Heck even $350K without a lot of stock appreciation in their RSUs who has never worked at any large tech company?
      - frognumber 3y ago
        > a random person on HN You make a lot of assumptions about whom your talking to.
        scarface_74 3y ago
        Unless one of the foremost experts in AI (the subject of the post) is grinding away at a non profit making one fourth of the average comp at Amazon (which is nowhere near what you say it is), he isn’t going to be getting an offer of $900K a year at Amazon
        frognumber 3y ago
        "Grinding away" or "having the time of his life?" Life is short. If you are spending half of your waking hours in a job, it might as well be fun, meaningful, and helping the world. If it pays the bills, and it's what you'd be doing if you were independently wealthy anyways, why not skip the "independently wealthy" step if someone is glad to pay you to do it? That saves a few years of your life. I am doing _exactly_ what I'd be doing with my life if I had a few million dollars in the bank and could spend my life however I liked. Indeed, having a sponsor opens doors and provides support for it. And the BATNA, if my employer were to ask me to do something I don't want to do, is to become independently wealthy at a FAANG. As a footnote, seven-figure salaries at FAANG are common for world-class experts in many fields (not just in AI, although that's where they're the most common).
        scarface_74 3y ago

ldjkfkdsjnv 3y ago

People significantly underestimate how much FAANG pays, especially for very experienced developers.

scarface_74 3y ago
I’m not underestimating anything at all. I know how much the average developer gets paid at Amazon in particular. There was an “anonymous” internal Slack channel called #pay-equity. Wheee you could use post your compensation via A workflow (?)
- ldjkfkdsjnv 3y ago
  Good people are getting 600-900k at amazon. Lead developers on major products like S3 are getting even more. There are tiers to amazon comp that doesnt get spoken about.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    And people are also winning the lottery. Both are irrelevant to the conversation. What do you think the chances of a random person on HN is going to interview at Amazon and make $900K? $450K? Heck even $350K without a lot of stock appreciation in their RSUs who has never worked at any large tech company?
    - frognumber 3y ago
      > a random person on HN You make a lot of assumptions about whom your talking to.
      - scarface_74 3y ago
        Unless one of the foremost experts in AI (the subject of the post) is grinding away at a non profit making one fourth of the average comp at Amazon (which is nowhere near what you say it is), he isn’t going to be getting an offer of $900K a year at Amazon
        frognumber 3y ago
        "Grinding away" or "having the time of his life?" Life is short. If you are spending half of your waking hours in a job, it might as well be fun, meaningful, and helping the world. If it pays the bills, and it's what you'd be doing if you were independently wealthy anyways, why not skip the "independently wealthy" step if someone is glad to pay you to do it? That saves a few years of your life. I am doing _exactly_ what I'd be doing with my life if I had a few million dollars in the bank and could spend my life however I liked. Indeed, having a sponsor opens doors and provides support for it. And the BATNA, if my employer were to ask me to do something I don't want to do, is to become independently wealthy at a FAANG. As a footnote, seven-figure salaries at FAANG are common for world-class experts in many fields (not just in AI, although that's where they're the most common).
        scarface_74 3y ago