Ask HN: How do you feel about Indeed's reported entry level SWE salary? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you feel about Indeed's reported entry level SWE salary?

6 pointsMathCodeLove9 comments

Amount: $42,557

Source: https://www.indeed.com/career/entry-level-software-engineer/salaries

It's possible this is including many misclassified listings (e.g. hourly paid internships). Additionally, I've seen some listings for higher level jobs for absurdly low salaries ($19,000) which I can only imagine are typos. I wonder if the average somehow includes other regions too with very different cost of living. I wouldn't put too much stock in those average numbers. If you are looking to get an idea for the market for entry level SWE positions, it might make sense to narrow the search to known companies in your region.

"Entry level" needs to be better defined. Is it for somebody with just a short boot-camp education or somebody who has completed a college degree and some internships?

The 99% of employers who are not FAANG are always trying to pay as little as they can get away with.

That is low for any definition of entry level anywhere in the US. On another note, I would (based on many interviews) put someone with boot-camp experience up against someone with a college degree anytime. I am not saying one is better than the other, just that they can be on pretty even footing.

It's not inaccurate. General job sites often pay below average and attract very low quality applicants. There's the story going around that 99.5% of people in the job pool can't pass FizzBuzz. That's where they all lurk.

The top paid jobs there are Bloomberg, Fannie Mae, eBay. They're not terrible jobs but they're cream of the crop there.

That’s suspect. The site says that’s the average salary reported, implying many make less.

Another data point… if you can find a $15/hr full time job (minimum wage in many US markets now), that’s ~30K per year.

My first job paid enough to cover food and transport, not even housing or health insurance. I seriously considered quitting and working as an assistant manager at KFC, just because it would pay the bills.

That kind of median salary was a fantasy. 10 years later, I make over double the median salary I fantasized about.

Most of my former classmates never get there; they're lucky to get jobs putting in fiber optic cables. Most end up doing boring jobs like selling insurance or working HR. But the salary is a local maxima. I had to go through years of terribly paid jobs to get enough experience to get a decent one.

I feel that one number summaries of huge complex distributions are generally meaningless.

Is this good or bad?

That is bad. The O*Net database lists the Annual Low (10%) average at $65,210. I would expect the starting salary number to be in the low 50s.

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