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In a software company, or a product company where the product has software in (like a car), where to developers sit? I know at many engineering majors, enginee
by shubb 12y ago
In a software company, or a product company where the product has software in (like a car), where to developers sit?
I know at many engineering majors, engineers are seen as a cost - if you can do the same work with less engineers, then you make more money.
Does that mean that only pre-sales engineers and consultants billed to a customer are 'front office'?
It seems to me that the way to earn an unusually large amount of money is to get/stay hired for your name, and not as a commodity.
Name brand ex professor researchers at Google and Microsoft, consultants that the company knows customers know from speaking engagements, and engineers famous throughout a large company as being highly capable, earn a lot of money. You can see how much an engineer costs on salary.com. How much would you pay to hire Paul Graham?
- rayiner 12y agoDepends on the software company. And also the problem domain. In a software company that does a lot of customized work, engineers are closer to the front. If the company only incidentally produces software, you're closer to the back. Obviously these are gross generalizations. I worked with some guys who did highly specialized embedded software development through a small consultancy. These weren't famous or highly pedigreed guys, just good at their niche. Given their billing rates, they probably made double what they would have doing similar work at a device company.