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A comment on Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding. Parent comment

Re:Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding by svachalek on Monday April 24, 2017 @05:36PM (#14188554)
3-5X? What country is this? Typically in Silicon Valley there's a rapid rise in the first 5-7 years and then it gets pretty flat (say, 1.1X or 1.2X not 2-3X) unless you're actually taking on a bigger role (and thus getting paid for those responsibilities rather than "experience" per se).

When you look at it from a company cost perspective, the ratios get even smaller. The fixed costs (desk, power, healthcare, etc) are pretty much the same no matter the experience level of the engineer.

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Re:Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding by cyrux004 on Monday April 24, 2017 @06:03PM (#14188799)
At Microsoft, annual compensation for entry level hire is around 130k (W2 box #2) where as for the principal engineer that figure is atleast 350k
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Re:Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding by notacoward on Monday April 24, 2017 @06:58PM (#14189210)
So less than 3x compared to entry level, probably less than 2x compared to someone with 5-7 years.
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Re:Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding by aanm1988 on Monday April 24, 2017 @07:37PM (#14189455)
Principal isn't a level most people reach, and has better salary.
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Re:Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding by psyc on Monday April 24, 2017 @09:10PM (#14189976)
Jesus. When I started in '06, my total comp was 82k. My last year, 2010, my total comp was $115k. I managed to be both too late and too early to that party.
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Re:Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding by drchickensalad on Monday April 24, 2017 @08:15PM (#14189693)
Principal is not normal.
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Re:Software Developers after 40, 50 and 60 Who're Still Coding by ryandrake on Tuesday April 25, 2017 @12:30AM (#14190777)
Exactly. I actually left software development after about 15 years. I think my salary progression was pretty typical:

First 5 years = ridiculous year over year growth, including getting raises without having to change jobs!

Next 5 years = slow growth, generally have to change jobs in order to get a raise.

Next 5 years = flatline, cost of living increases only, IF THAT.

I don't know any other professional field that plateaus this quickly.

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