Comment by johnloeber | Hacker News Reader

Comment by johnloeber | Hacker News Reader

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Software testing is not software engineering. Testing generally doesn't pay as well. Be careful: if you're doing an engineer's job, then you deserve an engineer's wage. 30k/year would certainly be very low for a software engineer with a degree. For a software tester, it still appears low. According to glassdoor[0], the median US wage for a software tester is $67k. If you're making $30k, then you're probably being underpaid.

Furthermore, having money to buy unnecessary stuff for your hobbies is not the metric to go by. The more important metric is about what you're able to save. Important questions are:

* Are you saving enough money to ensure a comfortable retirement?

* Are you saving enough money to buy your children (assuming you have/will have them) a decent education?

* Are you saving enough money to cover medical expenses later in life?

* Are you able to set aside an emergency fund?

If the answer to any of those questions is "no", then you should probably be concerned.

[0] https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/software-tester-salary-SR...

he/she is probably not from the US, 30k is a high enough salary in other countries.

I currently work in Finland and earn $35k/year, but granted I currently live alone in a small flat. I own older model car. I don't consume a lot of food. Which leaves me with most of my salary to spend/save as I see fit. Maybe in time I come to see lack of my salary, but for past ~4 years I only had student welfare which left me with little less than 200€/mo (~$220) after rent and stuff for food and what little hobbies I could support. So the change has been huge

I came out of school making $34k and did wonderfully. I was/am happy. After 2 years I bought a house. Making more money doesn't necessarily make life better ;)

As other people have said, it makes little sense comparing wages between states in the same country, even less between countries...

If I´m not mistaken, Finland has free healthcare, education and generous welfare system (that you said you benefited from, as you should), all of these should be taken into account when making comparisons, since they factor in the taxes companies have to pay for hiring people.

That said, it still seems a bit low for Finland, but ok for a recent graduate.

I did some checking after work and apparently I'm earning what Finnish Engineering Union suggests for new engineer without working experience.

Other sources aren't nearly as helpful, but they put me somewhere in the middle of all people (or something).

I'm sure some people earn more, especially closer to Helsinki, but currently I'm content with my earnings.

In Finland you have a social safety net. In the US if you're out of a job you have to pay your own health insurance, you have to keep paying down your student loans, and if you ever want to retire you should probably save and invest the money yourself.

So don't be surprised we worry about money.

Saw an ad for game programming job in Osaka recently. It paid $9 an hour. Not uncommon in Japan

I know at least seven years ago there were quite a few Japanese game studios that were struggling to stay afloat and thus were providing very attractive costs of development (less than half the cost of an American studio).

I was working at a video game publisher at the time and we tried to take advantage of it, being an American company but with roots in Japan, but there was some cultural and communication issues that helped lead to products that didn't sell too great and negated all benefits of cheaper development in the first place.

I wouldn't be surprised if many of those companies are still struggling today.

60k for recently graduated? I think with 5yr experience maybe and 30K for first job looks ok.

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