I use to work in the bay area. But note $200k was double income, not just me alone, and excluded bonuses because they are unpredictable. There was a time when we were dinks (double income no kids). I’m in software engineering field. Despite what others may think, I found this profession to be quite lucrative if you know how to play your cards rights. There’s a lot about of concern about outsourcing, but frankly I think a lot of it is overexaggerated. The key is you have to pick what you are either good at, either enjoy doing and possibly both, and distinguish your skills and abilities from someone that can replace you from india or china. My wife is pretty much in the same field. Also, the sector you work in matters significantly. A software engineer in the IT space versus in R&D don’t necessarily see the same comps for example.
The predictions of the Software Engineering moving forward is that there will be a shortage in the U.S. Namely, there aren’t that many good ones left and we aren’t growing enough of them here. And not all work can be reasonably outsourced. It’s no longer cheap to employ someone from Bangalore, and retaining top talent from Bangalore is equally challenging because folks there hop from one company to another.
I have to warn you though. If you choose this path….You have about 7 years left to develop your skills into either a technical manager/director OR a software architect. 7 years from now, if you’re still stuck doing strict implementation (IE programemr with no power to influence technical decisions), your career will be shortly replaced by younger versions of you. Also, you have to always keep refreshing your knowledge every year. If you don’t keep up, you will quickly become obsolete. The other challenge you will have is that if you end up working at a big bureacratic company and you need to make sure you take care of your career and not expect the company to take care of you..Namely, you must make sure staying 5+years glued to a CO doesn’t pigeon hole you into a obsolete role that is only useful at your current company. Companies love to pigeonhole you..You will find out that 7 years passes fast and you moved nowhere. I’ve worked about 11 years so far in the field because I enjoy it. But I’ve moved companies about 5 times, mainly just to keep up with the opportunities. Some would argue that I lack commitment. But I can prove that my skills are more current then most folks that stay glued to a position 5+years. And usually, the niches I fill are where a company’s skills are lacking. You have to capitalize on this. You have to figure out where the software trends are going, and develop a solid foundation in that area to make yourself “needed”. If you’re stuck in a role and aren’t improving, when you get axed you’re going to take a hit at the next company.
Lastly, your career will probably go into steady decline as you get closer to 40ies. So by the time your 38ish, you should be thinking about plan B. IE like building a tech company. I’m hoping in about 5 years that things go as planned so that I have enough to do just that. Because I really don’t think I can continue doing this for another 20+ years. This is also we’re not spending too much these days. Everything goes into make our dollars work.
