Google level (L3/4/5 etc) * 100k is a very realistic expectation for TC. At L7 or above double that number too.

Source: recent offers and friends who recently got offers

Yeah, not really - L3 and L4 are entry level roles, for folks just out of college. No FAANG is paying a newb college grad $400k/yr. Either your friends didn’t understand the comp plan and how equity is paid out, or they were BSing you.

nope, just cash + RSU / yr.

e.g. Amazon was giving out SDE II (google L4 equivlant) @ 400k (first year no RSU but cash bonus paid out monthly) about 2 months ago.

re L3 level, if you have a master's or 1+ yr exp, while you're still at the entry level, you are considered "industrial hire" and 300 is very attainable

in my current company for new hires (again justed to google's leveling) we have L5 550+ and L6 650+ (200~300 cash + RSU , not pre-IPO bs)

In my earlier years I used to doubt those "ridiculous" numbers until I simply asked for more. There are plenty of companies out there, many medium-big sized non-FAANG companies pay just as well.

In a bull market it’s pretty easy to clear the 3xx/4xx in a single year in those levels at competitive companies. I know many folks who have done so.

> pretty easy

It's not "easy" to achieve this, but it might be possible. One doesn't just wake up and decide to go work at a FAANG and get a >90% percentile salary from them for the level.

Amazon was hiring 5-6 years ago at $160+150 (if you negotiated) for newly grads

former L3, here. my total comp was around 160k USD with base salary at 113k USD (based in Seattle area).

Go on angel.co and filter for jobs in the Bay Area and you'll find roles around 250k base salary. 250k including bonuses and stock is far more common. This isn't just Bay Area btw, take a look at the contract market in London and there are multiple > 200k GBP roles (roughly 250k USD).

What's a decent resource for London contract market gigs?

Most are big corporate companies so the traditional job boards and LinkedIn are your best bets!

There are well over 100k US-based software engineers at the five FAANG companies alone, plus a long tail of other companies that compete with them for talent and offer similar (and in some cases higher) compensation. All of those companies can go over $250k in total comp for the equivalent of Google L4, i.e., one promotion above entry-level.

Non-FAANG, not even a company you've probably heard of, and all of my coworkers and I have TC is in that range.

I started my career in small companies and startups and it took me a long time to understand how TC works. Both in tech and finance base salaries are typically around 200 or less, but total compensations factoring in both bonuses and RSUs brings the amount of money you bring in each year much higher.

It's gotten much better in recent years with levels.fyi and the like helping more people to see this, but I found that a few years back if you didn't go to an elite school you likely didn't have someone explain to you how comp works.

If you want to make > 250k you absolutely can, and it doesn't mean selling your soul. Don't convince yourself that these TC levels are myths.

Though I do suspect we'll see dotcom level changes in comp soon.

It absolutely does exist.

Source: Nearly everyone I came up with as a programmer is in the 250+ range, and not just at FAANG. Check out https://levels.fyi

I think the original post that gave that range was thinking of salary and not TC. Obviously, only a few companies can afford to give away crazy valuable equity.

That is the market rate. I’m at a large non FAANG company, non tech company, and that’s what we pay when you factor in bonus and RSUs.

Yes it absolutely does lol

LOL no one uses Indeed for compensation - the information is all wrong. At minimum you should be looking at levels.fyi.

In my last job search which wasn't too long ago, I got several offers and not a single one was below $400k.

are these all onsite FAANG? Know of any good companies hiring remote (US) in that range? Here in LA we have most of the FAANGs, but I'd rather not drive three hours a day.

No one is hiring developers via indeed.

indeed.com isn't what you should be looking at. levels.fyi