News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent.

Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by xfour on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:07PM (#7401884)
Seems pretty simple solution, just pay more.

You have a 9 Billion dollar Technology budget just pay 225k and I'm sure good devs will sign right up. Coolness be damned.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by stcredzero on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:17PM (#7401947)
Heh. I was working for a multinational petroleum company on software that literally had multi-millions of dollars in repercussions every 15 minutes if it didn't work right, and people in the company balked at paying $100k for a programmer. The company had an incredibly regressive attitude towards software and was continually paying the price for it. (But they made so much money, they failed to notice. Petroleum products traders also used to joke that if you didn't have enough profits, just send this company an invoice, and they'd pay it. Except, it wasn't exactly a joke.)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by avenger123 on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:38PM (#7402102)
Most oil companies see their employees that are not actual engineers (mechanical, chemical, petroleum, etc.) as the helpers, not much better than hiring a welder on contract for a job.

The best way to make money with oil companies with tech is to get hired as an independent contractor. With the big firms there is usually always more work and so you could park your bum there for a long time (possibly years) and get paid equivalent or more than their engineering staff but without the other perks.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by stcredzero on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:48PM (#7402175)
The best way to make money with oil companies with tech is to get hired as an independent contractor.

I was an independent contractor! They still balked at paying a programmer more than $100k a year!

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by waterlesscloud on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:29PM (#7402025)
Programmers work in little cubes with the other peons. Why should they be paid so much?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by chris_mahan on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:36PM (#7402087)
Cubes? I wish I had a cube.

(Yes, I work at BAC)

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by fennecfoxen on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:26PM (#7402001)
Alternatively / complimentarily, deliver nicer working conditions. Programming jobs attached to banks are reputed to comprise some combination of attributes like: stodgy, boring, formal, high stress, long hours, not respected, and having projects/job advancement driven by backstabbing-politics and seniority instead of technical merit...

Give people saner work-weeks and adequate vacation, though, and you might be able to get more of them and at better prices.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by ntaylor on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:22PM (#7401972)
What is the industry norm for financial tech salary? Low?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by morgante on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:31PM (#7402041)
Not necessarily low, but not enough to compensate for being disrespected within company culture.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by humanrebar on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:40PM (#7402114)
And salary is not as high as it sounds if you work in Manhattan.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by Mikeb85 on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:31PM (#7402037)
100,000 and up. You can find jobs advertising 500,000 for programmers in NY with a simple search (I just saw a few), and there are stories of top programmers making millions (one which made it to HN some months ago).
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by jrockway on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:33PM (#7402056)
Don't expect to make a million dollars a year at Bank of America.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by w1ntermute on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:42PM (#7402129)
Million dollars a year or not, no programmer with a conscience should work for Bank of America. They are a fundamentally amoral institution.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by stcredzero on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:49PM (#7402194)
You can find jobs advertising 500,000 for programmers in NY with a simple search

You have to have some specialized knowledge for those.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by aantix on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:43PM (#7402143)
Can you point me to a specific job posting for 500K?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Banks Wage 'Hand-to-Hand Combat' for Tech Talent by VanV on Friday March 14, 2014 @05:38PM (#7402101)
In my anecdotal experience it's competitive with MS and Amazon, at least for offers to new grads. Everything I saw was 90s to low six figures in Chicago, goes a bit higher in New York. Not sure what it's like at big banks, all my experience is with prop firms, I'd imagine it's similar though.
[ Parent | on HN ]