6 ms·
Seriously? Why wouldn't they move somewhere else then? They LIKE living in DC?
by SomeCallMeTim 14y ago
Seriously? Why wouldn't they move somewhere else then? They LIKE living in DC?
- vbtemp 14y agoNo, he's not serious. Actual salaries are double-to-triple what he's saying.
- tocomment 14y agoWow, where would you find triple? I've never heard of a developer making 180K in DC.
- doktrin 14y ago$180k+ isn't inconceivable, but it's certainly approaching a salary range typically reserved for Architects and team leads (in my experience). It's fully realistic for non-management senior engineers to earn up to $150k, however.
- rdl 14y agoWe really should be talking about total compensation, not just cash salary. $180-250k isn't unreasonable cash+%+bonus for a sales engineer or consultant who puts in huge hours, or for a senior developer with bonus/stock/etc. I think a lot of people at Google end up hitting $180-200k based on total compensation once they're at the 5-10 year of experience tiers.
- vbtemp 14y agoRight, 180K for any developer is high (hence the double-to-triple estimate). Not inconceivable for an architect or manager though in certain companies, which is a possible career path for any developer.
- dsolomon 14y agoYes, I am serious. Welcome to the world of being a contractor working for the government.
- vbtemp 14y agoThen I'm sorry to say it but you got absolutely shafted, and may want to consider looking somewhere else...
- doktrin 14y agoI think part of the disconnect here is due to the fact that the development community in the DC area is really quite broad. On the one hand you have startups & companies with Bay Area caliber talent, including more high profile ventures such as OPower and Living Social. On the other end of the spectrum are budget web-dev PHP shops that maintain web pages for government agencies. Nonetheless, I've never heard of salaries as low as those you're quoting - and they're most certainly not the norm.
- vbtemp 14y agoGood point, but remember that between hot-shot startups (e.g., livingsocial as the poster-child) and budget PHP gov't website shops are the contractors that design a lot of aerospace guidance and control software for NASA, the Navy, etc... Also NSA is a huge employer, and a lot of contractors for the NSA and NASA (among many other agencies) have extremely technical and high-level software and hardware engineering positions.
- doktrin 14y agoFully agreed. I in no way wanted meant to paint Living Social & startups as being the end-all of DC talent. In fact, the challenges several of the local contracting shops work with are in many ways more interesting than those of the area's startups. While I've never worked for a contractor, in my experience their salaries are quite competitive - although they may be strict about degree requirements both for better and worse.
- dsolomon 14y agoSadly I am serious. It helps to explain our 150%+ turnover rate at 34 months into a 60 month contract, but high turnover is good for profits.