Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by aroundtown | Hacker News Reader

Full thread

aroundtown

Well this makes me feel terrible... Your sign on was probably for more than I've made in my professional career.

My first job after graduating 10 years ago was for 45k per year.

I have had an awful lot of bad luck since graduating and have yet to be paid more than that since.

Every job I've had paid progressively less, always took them cause I needed the job.

My last programming job paid $14 an hour.

Can anyone offer advice on breaking out of the cycle of terribleness?

I'm a US citizen, bachelors in CS, live in Tx.

View on HN

Regionally: The wealthiest companies pay the highest salaries. In the tech world, those live on the west coast or the east coast. Texas probably isn’t going to give you much room to grow in the tech world.

Some of it is regional, and some of it will depend on what you do. The best salaries will go to the most valuable roles, so you may need to find out how to develop a specialty to make your work more valuable.

$14/hour is really low. I don’t know what exactly you do, but for most programming that’s below the market rate. If you can give me more info I’d be happy to help with advise where I can.

> Texas probably isn’t going to give you much room to grow in the tech world.

Outside of Austin, Texas definitely isn't a tech hub, but there's tons of work in energy and health care, and the pay isn't bad. Your average tech worker in Dallas or Houston is probably on par with the average SV tech worker, when you adjust for cost of living.

I understand that Texas isn't going to pay well, I'm anchored to a wife who has a PhD with extremely limited opportunities that pay decent. So here I am.

The $14 was way below market, some web work, some IT, and some updating a program that I had built for them a year earlier. I needed the cash and it beat flipping burgers or working retail. The place was interesting, people did Bio-Research. I was trying to get my foot in the door and get a better job with them. About that time my wife took a job that brought us back to Texas, outside of San Antonio.

$14 is really low for programming in TX. Interns in (Houston/Dallas/Austin) get paid more than that. I think you just to look what's actually there, especially in the heath and energy business.

I know $14 is low, but I was trying to get my foot in the door. I will not live in Houston again. I'd be willing to live in Austin or Dallas, but I need an offer to be able to move.

Where are you in Texas? I'm in Houston, and those numbers don't jive with my experience (since 2000, making $30 an hour in the lowest paying jobs, and making well more than that on a regular basis)

The 45k was in Houston. Worked 10 months before the company decided to offshore everybody but sales.

Took that job because I had been looking for a year and this was the first reasonable offer. Didn't negotiate cause I really needed the job, found out after a promotion that I was lowest paid employee in the shop by 20k.

What languages do you work in? I'm not trying to belittle you, but at the same time, I'm trying to understand how you've received such small offers. Your experience is EXTREMELY atypical for Houston/Texas.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com