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Comment by the_only_law | Hacker News Reader

> and there does appear to be a much lower salary cap for developers than security engineers.

Shit this is what’s kept me from leaving software. If that’s true, maybe I should try security, I’ve done some security adjacent stuff, but mostly implementing software for compliance purposes.

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This is my observations for midwest area (not chicago) I have no idea what out west is like. There is a HUGE lack of talent for application security, most security starts as network security, and then matures into application security. So if you are a competent developer and have security adj. experience in the appsec space, you likely will be able to do a better job and have an easier time than existing security professionals who specialized in network security.

Don't go into security for the money. For the same effort you can make more money in some other part of the software industry. Only go into this industry if you're nuts about it because you will be competing with people who are nuts about it.

I’m inclined to agree. Which parts do you have in mind?

It seems like being a highly paid security engineer requires a lot more commitment than being a highly paid software engineer.

Not sure what parts specifically. There are FAANG software engineers making $200k entry level. Making the same salary in security requires far more work and skill than doing entry level software development for FAANG.

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