Worked for 23 years now in professional development. Started in big companies, then moved to smaller companies/startups.
I'm very very good at what I do and my salary is up to the point where small companies are starting to choke on it a bit, and I'm just a tiny bit higher than yours.
Been a senior, team lead, principal, architect, dabbled in some management. Also with successful product launches under my belt.
If I want to move up in salary - it probably won't be in startup land unless I find a relatively big one and I'm CTO.
More likely that I'm just going to start my own companies even if I have to do everything myself.
It feels like jobs, while somewhat available, just aren't what I'm looking for anymore. And the market is turning, or has turned, unfriendly to the super senior.
From my experience the 400k base is very very niche. Plenty of top end engineering talent out there available for less.
and you're right. i know numerous talented engineers in the south who you can pay less and get as good or better of a job done than a FAANG engineer. tbh i might be biased towards a non-FAANG engineer. them southern devs be scrappy.
I've tried to build a local network, but haven't had much success yet.
I've had a similar problem in Rhode Island.
It seems like meaningful meetups are just hard when you don't live near a large community of software developers with similar interests.
I imagine remote work exacerbates this. I.e., more of us live away from those population centers.
I try not to think about it in terms of total compensation, but of marginal income (net income - cost of living).
My taxes here are lower, and my cost of living is much lower. I own a 5-bedroom home on half an acre that I paid $125k for. My mortgage is $850 / month. My entire monthly expenditures, including food and such, are around $3,500.
That doesn't surprise me, but it doesn't change my point. Your math is just slightly different.
I'm not super familiar with NOLA housing prices and such, but I can't imagine that it's on par with SF or LA. That means you can work for a lower base comp and still have the same amount (or more!) left over after meeting your basic needs.
I can't speak for your particular situation.
As someone laid off about a year ago, the answer for myself is supply and demand. I had been holding out for my previous TC, but now I'm pursuing lower-paying positions.
It's disappointing, but I don't take offense at it.
Once you make $200k base and $200k+ in equity, you consider yourself worth $400k+. Even if the equity portion isn't really being paid by your company, it's being paid by the shareholders, it's still money in the bank.
This drastically closes the amount of positions you're willing to consider, as many companies either don't pay in equity at all, or aren't growth companies whose initial offer of equity will double or triple.
And you're lecturing us that it's preposterous.
I guess you don't understand what things cost and the needs of real people who aren't billionaires.
I don’t understand this.
Yes, for some engineers, in some roles, in some locations it makes sense - but that’s a tiny part of the overall market.
I’m 40, live in a rural area in a Southern US state, and have right at twenty years’ experience. I’ve worked a big companies, have been the first tech hire at a startup, and have specialized somewhat in healthtech. I feel like I’m the best I’ve ever been; I have room to grow but I know exactly where that room is and how to make it happen. I’ve done everything from knocking out new tickets every day from a queue to architecting large distributed systems. I love my current job that consists mostly of two things: figuring out what the product side of the org actually wants/needs and making sure it gets done, and supporting all of the other engineers with internal tooling and support.
I make $170k base.
There is equity to consider there as well, but equity in an early-stage startup that doesn’t yet have a firm exit strategy. That’s not compensation - that’s a lottery ticket.
You can get junior engineers in my area for $60-70k, and mid-career around $120k.
I’m at the point where I believe I could _justify_ a salary of $400k… just not in my current role. Not in any engineering role that consists primarily of actual engineering work. That’s the kind of money I’d expect if I were looking at an engineering director or CTO position. I’m very comfortable at my current rate; moving “up” into those roles would require significantly more of my time and energy. My kids are teenagers, and I want to be able not only to spend time with them, but to actually leave work at work sometimes and focus on supporting them. I don’t plan to target those roles for another ~7-10 years.