200k+ for 2 years experience in the valley? That is crazy. This guy is overpaid. How realistic is this? I work in the valley I have roughly a decade of experience and I am definitely under 200k.
Am I getting shafted?
Am I getting shafted?
Keep in mind the big tech companies (FANG et al) are really a tier above in terms of pay, and also that the numbers given here include both RSUs and a projected performance bonus.
If you think this guy/gal is overpaid, well, get a load of this table: https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-facebook-alphabet-most...
Salaries normalise over time though, if performance is similar to peers then comp eventually will be as well (meaning other people will get bigger raises).
Things spike up or down, but that doesn't mean it wont revert to the mean. Enjoy it while it lasts. Dont get cocky and come to expect it. Definitely dont make long-term commitments assuming it will go on forever.
Typically you never want anyone (that you want to keep) to be fully vested, so it's expected that you'll get new grants to top up after a couple years if you're doing OK.
disclosure: I'm co-founder of levels.fyi
Many of my co-workers are in the same boat.
I have good fundamentals, and extensive experience diving into and navigating large/old codebases.
First, if a candidate talks about programming languages a lot (especially if they're talking about Lisp and Haskell), that can be a sign that they're going to be unhappy working within the confines my team's Java/C++/whatever codebase, and that they're going to complain a lot and try to rewrite things in other languages. That's not a dealbreaker, but it's not a great first impression.
Second, bragging about how many languages you know also codes as "junior engineer" or "recent graduate", even though the rest of your post makes it sound like that's probably not the case. Most teams are looking for someone who has demonstrated that they are really productive in at least one language, so focus your sales pitch on that. Again, this is just a first impression issue.
Finally, I probably wouldn't claim myself as "expert" on anything, unless I was a top 10 committer to the project or I was specifically trying to bill myself as a consultant on that specific technology. Seeing "expert" sets off people's BS alarm bells, and they'll evaluate everything else you say with a more skeptical eye. It can also get you in trouble in interviews. Point #7 on this blog post explains it better than I could: https://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/09/ten-tips-for-slight...
Anyway, please read this as constructive advice rather than someone on the internet trying to tear you down. I'll echo what the other comments have said - practice coding interviews, apply to the big tech companies that have a presence in your area, and don't get discouraged if you don't get an offer right away. The big companies are full of people who had to interview 2-3 times to get an offer.
I recommend not even mentioning a language in your resume, just explain what you worked on. If they ask if you can program in X, the answer is "of course I can program in X", because of course you can, languages are easy to learn. If they ask if you worked with technology Y, you say "yes" or if that's not true, you say that "I worked with similar technology Z, and I looked at Y and it seemed easy enough to learn in a few days".
You want to position yourself as a person that will do anything that needs to be done, and if it requires learning something new, you'll learn that quickly, as you've already done many times before. Just don't lie, as it can easily poison the well.
Some companies are looking for e.g. Rails developer, and they might reject you if you're not Rails developer, or they don't realize that you are. This is fine, these companies almost never pay $250k+ anyway. Companies that do are looking for people who can do anything they ask them to, not just some simple well-specified tasks.
2. Interview at FANG.
3. If you get a junior-level offer, you're looking at 160-180k total comp. If you get an engineer-level offer, you're looking at 190-240k. If you get a senior-level offer, you're looking at 240-300k. These numbers will increase if you perform well for 12 months.
You should interview :)
I'm talking about 200k on average.
The “secret” is Google tries to hire smart hardworking people, not divinely ordained superhumans. My advice would be to study hard for the interview and let them figure out whether or not you pass the bar. At the very least it will be good practice for othe interviews and you might be accepted and find a role you really like!
Her answer was yes. She went on to elaborate that google hires and targets CS knowledge along with Innate General Intelligence.
Straight from the horses mouth as she was part of the hiring committee. I would source this thread unfortunately I can't find it anymore.
If you don't believe me you can always direct a question towards Gayle on Quora as she's an active user.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. I think in the higher echelons of google, they are actually trying to hire for higher IQ. What actually happens is different. The filters actually allow people who study to slip through the cracks despite how much they try. In general though, the overall group that gets hired at google is still generally smarter than a typical programmer working for a much less famous company.
Also as with every job, performance on the interview is highly uncorrelated from performance on the job, unless google has the big data numbers to prove otherwise.
"The only winning move is not to play."
Companies like Facebook, Google, and trading companies do it quite often.
Engineers with TC over 200k is not rare in the bay area. More tricky is people who's equity is pre-IPO; startups often pay low base salary in exchange for equity / lottery tix.
Do you think that a $200K/year salary is pretty high for tech in the Bay Area? At a global level $200K/year is very high, but regionally, between tech employees in the and their incumbent landlords, it is not that high.