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Myriad.
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December 7, 2015 at 3:00 PM #792237December 7, 2015 at 3:58 PM #792242
Anonymous
GuestIf you make 175K+ salary you should be able to afford a very nice and comfortable lifestyle. If you can’t, then you are a financial moron.
December 7, 2015 at 4:12 PM #792243
CoronitaParticipant[quote=deadzone]Still waiting for an example of Engineer making 175K in San Diego.
Nobody claimed 175K (or 200K) salary in California is “rich”. But if you don’t think someone with that salary is very well off you are delusional.[/quote]
Well..if you must know. I could tell you specially what my comp package was at Intuit …8 years ago….but then if I were to do that, your next request would be to post picture of the pay stub…. And I didn’t say salary, I said total comp package. Intuit consistently pays out a 20% cash bonus, at leat they did when I was there for reasonably good performers.
No, I didn’t manage anyone. Though I was project lead many many times and still hands on.That’s comparable to a staff engineer with many years or senior staff engineer at Qualcomm, well at least before the layoffs. And among the wireless companies, its about the same give or take slight bumps when you cross over to a competitor because they want you (again before all the Qualcomm meltdowns)
So nothing special really. Plenty of people make what you say can’t be made here. Just go figure out how many staff and senior staff engineers there are at Qualcomm.Why do I get the feeling a bunch of people are going to apply to Intuit now???
December 7, 2015 at 4:55 PM #792252GuestOnce again, I’m asking if anybody here currently makes 175K base salary for a corporate engineering position in a purely technical role (i.e. no management or supervisory responsibility).
I’m not suggesting this is impossible, but I do believe that is an uncommonly high salary for San Diego at least. I would be interested in a tangible example of this if there is anybody on this board. I do not need to see your pay stub, I will believe you.
December 7, 2015 at 4:56 PM #792253GuestBy the way, “Staff Engineers” generally manage people, projects, or both.
December 7, 2015 at 5:17 PM #792255CoronitaParticipant[quote=deadzone]By the way, “Staff Engineers” generally manage people, projects, or both.[/quote]
Not true. At least not at Intuit and Qualcomm. At Qualcomm the role is split that’s why you have staff engineer/manager title. At Intuit, staff engineers are not managers, that’s what project managers are for. They might be project lead, but it still requires hands on. I agree that if one only stay at software engineer level, it might limit comps. But then it depends on the company. Some companies dont distinguish between senior and staff and just calls everyone senior. In that case, comps are usually based on historical comp you have. And companies might ask you to take a pay cut, but that depends on how badly one needs the job or how badly wants to work at the employer. There’s really nothing special about being project lead. It just means one knows what he/she is doing, which frankly, one should be able to do it provided one has been working around 10years, earlier if he/she is good. And if one isnt operating in a capacity to lead technical projects at some point in their career, that’s part of the problem of why one’s opportunities might be limited.
The title doesn’t matter, its what you can contribute with minimal instructions. You might lead a project at point X, you might play a supporting role for a project lead at point Y. Your pay does not yoyo up and down whether you are currently leading a project or not. I am not project lead all the time, but it doesn’t mean I don’t take the project in a certain direction. And I am paid the same whether I have the title at an instance of time or not. I might leave if I am not project lead and I don’t get along with the lead or if the project is headed down a direction I don’t agree with and I can’t influence it a certain way. It depends on how bad I think that path is. But rarely do I just sit there as a code monkey and just code in a way people tell me to code. In fact, people dobt tell me how to code, they tell me here’s the problem, go solve it, we’ll review your solution to make sure its not totally fcvked up.
December 7, 2015 at 5:54 PM #792258CoronitaParticipant[quote=deadzone]Once again, I’m asking if anybody here currently makes 175K base salary for a corporate engineering position in a purely technical role (i.e. no management or supervisory responsibility).
I’m not suggesting this is impossible, but I do believe that is an uncommonly high salary for San Diego at least. I would be interested in a tangible example of this if there is anybody on this board. I do not need to see your pay stub, I will believe you.[/quote]
You do realize that part of your comp negotiation is the total package, including stock and projected bonus. Its how it works both here and in the bay area. And I simply used the lower end of that comp package as something obtainable 8years ago. You can speculate what sort of deviation from that has happened 8years from now with increased experience.
Of course if you happen to pick a startup or company that just had a bad year, that depends. Which brings me back to the original thing I said. You should never consider your total comp stable, and expect your comp will always be at peak as it can go up and down based on many factors.And salarywise, $175k base salary is roughly where a principal or senior principal is with about 2-3 years into that position , also doesn’t necessarily require managing people and also requires being hands on. Again, many examples at Qualcomm.
December 7, 2015 at 6:06 PM #792259bobby
Participant[quote=kev374]It’s just frustrating, I have looked at node.js, mongoDB, Express.js etc. and all that stuff is WAAAAY easier than what I am breaking my head here doing. I think some of those guys are making $150k+ so i’m thinking perhaps MEAN stack can up my salary? I’m just tired of making $125-130k as I think I should be making way more given how complex all this crap is…
btw, $130k is not enough. Everyone and his dog is making that these days. Even the guy here that barely knows how to markup a HTML document is getting $100k! WTF??
And at my last company…there was an INTERN, she barely knew WTF she was doing and she was paid $95k and did I mention she was an Intern??[/quote]
not to sound antagonistic. You are an engineer. Look at this problem without an emotional viewpoint.
if your x-company is paying an intern who “barely knew” anything $95K, or nearly as much as you make, to an objective observer:1.she’s a daughter of the CEO, COO, VP, managing director (it’s not what you know, it’s who you know)
2. she’s a superstar and they want to recruit her (ie your assessment of her is wrong)
3. your skill is just a little more than hers, hence your slightly higher pay (see first line of my post)
4. you don’t know how to negotiate your salary despite being a much superior coderonly in the 4th scenario that you can ask for a big raise.
alternatively, if you can’t beat them, join them. Learn a new skill/code and make the money you think you should.December 7, 2015 at 8:27 PM #792261mixxalot
Participantsales engineering pays the big bucks! Software engineers who can also sell solutions make the real cash in tech business. When I switched from being a DBA to a sales DBA kinda guy my income tripled!
December 7, 2015 at 8:52 PM #792262exsdgal
ParticipantMost times two people with similar background and position in the same company will not have the exact salary. The reason is the perceived value of the individual. Surest way to improve the base pay is to have a personal ‘campaigner’ within the organization, and individually making oneself indispensable within the company. ie. creating value for the company’s bottom line, learning the pain points of the company and providing solutions ‘even when it is not part of the job description’. At least these are the take aways IMO for anyone making huge salary jumps within a company.
Kev, I don’t know what your objectives are. If you do find a higher paying job what’s next when the peer salary bracket increases? For there is always a bigger fish in the pond. Yes node.js, express etal is not necessarily difficult to learn, but to consistently command higher pay one needs a broad experience in multiple disciplines – server app, client app, responsive design, database, aws/cloud management, high availability server maintenance, trouble shooting, data analysis to list the basics.
The only way to get out of the salary doldrums is to figure out the objectives, pick a path and jump right at it 🙂 However imo to foolproof future salary bracket, is to pick an up and coming area (not yet trendy) to build the experience. For example the ruby/node.js, ios/android guys (and gals) making high figures today typically started when the sdk’s and platforms were in version 0.x.
In my 20 odd years of work experience the W2 high salaried folks fall into two camps – 1) riding the trend wave 2) working on mind-numbing monotonous projects. Nothing wrong with either camps, and to be successful in either camp comes down to one’s personality.
Someone asked about 175 base salary. Yes it is possible in non managerial engineer positions in some SR companies. The number sounds great on paper, but in reality the monthly take home is roughly 8-ishK after deductions. Comfortable but not extraordinary for a single income family.
Kev, not sure if this helps at all. If the intention is to just make more money why not consider supplementing income? e.g. few days ago I received a udemy top courses list where a guy talks about making 100K a year drop shipping eBay goods, and emulating Tim Ferriss lifestyle.
December 7, 2015 at 9:13 PM #792265yuhtey
Participantthere are some technical positions that do pay over $200k per year with executive comp perks, but you will be one of only a very small few of the only people at the entire regional portion of the company who pull this off. and, you are brilliant – that is a requirement. you can be a goofball, but necessarily brilliant. you must not be an ego maniac. you have to possess a minimally acceptable social skill set. no ADHD or mild autism. a gentleman, and an effective negotiator.
still, you would be heavily involved in the business side of the operation. working on strategy, growth, solutions, being a fixer, etc. i do not mean a technology director, but more of a technology fellow. tech directors are basically business directors. they are bored to death.
December 7, 2015 at 9:49 PM #792264CoronitaParticipant[quote=exsdgal]Most times two people with similar background and position in the same company will not have the exact salary. The reason is the perceived value of the individual. Surest way to improve the base pay is to have a personal ‘campaigner’ within the organization, and individually making oneself indispensable within the company. ie. creating value for the company’s bottom line, learning the pain points of the company and providing solutions ‘even when it is not part of the job description’. At least these are the take aways IMO for anyone making huge salary jumps within a company.
Kev, I don’t know what your objectives are. If you do find a higher paying job what’s next when the peer salary bracket increases? For there is always a bigger fish in the pond. Yes node.js, express etal is not necessarily difficult to learn, but to consistently command higher pay one needs a broad experience in multiple disciplines – server app, client app, responsive design, database, aws/cloud management, high availability server maintenance, trouble shooting, data analysis to list the basics.
The only way to get out of the salary doldrums is to figure out the objectives, pick a path and jump right at it 🙂 However imo to foolproof future salary bracket, is to pick an up and coming area (not yet trendy) to build the experience. For example the ruby/node.js, ios/android guys (and gals) making high figures today typically started when the sdk’s and platforms were in version 0.x.
In my 20 odd years of work experience the W2 high salaried folks fall into two camps – 1) riding the trend wave 2) working on mind-numbing monotonous projects. Nothing wrong with either camps, and to be successful in either camp comes down to one’s personality.
Someone asked about 175 base salary. Yes it is possible in non managerial engineer positions in some SR companies. The number sounds great on paper, but in reality the monthly take home is roughly 8-ishK after deductions. Comfortable but not extraordinary for a single income family.
Kev, not sure if this helps at all. If the intention is to just make more money why not consider supplementing income? e.g. few days ago I received a udemy top courses list where a guy talks about making 100K a year drop shipping eBay goods, and emulating Tim Ferriss lifestyle.[/quote]
Thank you.. Exactly…. Glad I’m not the only one saying this…
And mixxalot, regarding sales engineering. Yes, if you’re in sales, you make a heck of lot more. But let’s be frank, not everyone is cut out for sales. You sound like you are.. Most people aren’t. So again, it’s based on what you are good at and what you enjoy doing. The bulk of your earnings is in commissions, so either you are good at it (and make a lot in commission), your you suck at it (and you get fired)…
[quote]
Someone asked about 175 base salary. Yes it is possible in non managerial engineer positions in some SR companies. The number sounds great on paper, but in reality the monthly take home is roughly 8-ishK after deductions. Comfortable but not extraordinary for a single income family.
[/quote]Lol How the are you even doing that? Hypothetically, if one is maxxing out retirement contributions (half being pre tax in a traditional 401k because of the match, half being AFTER tax in a Roth 401l)… and maxing out on a ESPP (which is 15% AFTER tax)…. and claiming 5 as an exemption on fed and state, and contributing to a flex spending medical which is about $200/month (granted, it’s pre tax), $300/month for flex spending/dependent care. ….
Hypothetically, one would be lucky to see $5500/month. Granted, most of this is hypothetically would be retirement deferral and investment (via ESPP) which isn’t spending, the retirement amount is not touchable for a long time , the ESPP would not be sellable for 6 months until vested, and the flex spending would reduce one’s normal medical/dependent care expenses by allowing one to use that money pretax. But of that that $5500/month net, hypothetically, $3000/month goes to mortgage+insurance+property tax on the primary, $1000/month goes to living expenses, the remaining $1500/month goes to a vanguard index fund, part of which goes to a kid’s education fund.
For the first 8 months, the net of such a hypothetical W2 pretty much just pays the bills. Starting the 8th month, the net ends up being more because the 401k/Roth 401k’s are maxed out, the social security tax is maxed out, SDI is maxed out.
Not that this is really a problem to have, nor would one be complaining. It’s just those that think this gives one a license to live lavishly is really mistaken.
The payouts, hypothetically have always been the cash bonus and RSU stock grants.
That’s why I’m so surprised so many of you are still so fixated on how much one can theoretically make on a W2 paycheck. Looks great looking at the gross amount. Looking at the net amount, it looks gross after taxes (pun intended).
December 7, 2015 at 10:10 PM #792268GuestFLU, your math is way off if you think W2 take home pay is only $5500/month on 175K salary. I think you are off by a factor of two. Take home pay every 2-week pay period would be about that.
And anyone with that take home pay would be able to lead a VERY nice lifestyle.
December 7, 2015 at 10:14 PM #792269an
Participant[quote=deadzone]Once again, I’m asking if anybody here currently makes 175K base salary for a corporate engineering position in a purely technical role (i.e. no management or supervisory responsibility).
I’m not suggesting this is impossible, but I do believe that is an uncommonly high salary for San Diego at least. I would be interested in a tangible example of this if there is anybody on this board. I do not need to see your pay stub, I will believe you.[/quote]
No one will tell you how much they’re getting paid. But I did give you plenty of data points.December 7, 2015 at 10:42 PM #792271CoronitaParticipant[quote=deadzone]FLU, your math is way off if you think W2 take home pay is only $5500/month on 175K salary. I think you are off by a factor of two. Take home pay every 2-week pay period would be about that.
And anyone with that take home pay would be able to lead a VERY nice lifestyle.[/quote]
No it’s not, at least not for the first 6-8 months. Want proof? Again, the key point is after all your deductions (including some that is really to your benefit, though you won’t have access to it for some time…)
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