If you work in tech: what are your salaries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Independent tech consultant : 600k-800k/year.

What do you consult on that people are willing to hire you for that amount? But most people can't do that without a compelling pedigree and deep network of connections.

It's BS. You don't make that kind of money unless you are un sales or upper management.

Fake news.

Independent consultant here. At any given time, I have 2 projects going on, each with a rate between $150-$200/hr. I am extremely good at what I do, I am typically able to finish 80hrs of work in 50-60hrs/week. Ten years back I was a Sr. Director with a top defense company, left it to work for myself and haven’t looked back.

Huh, so you're rate is $200/hr, and you bill your clients for 80hrs while working 60hrs? Isn't that fraud?

Yes but difficult to prove. Government spends millions on the most simple projects where 99% of the work is done with the 10% hours allocated to it. You can have a group of engineers talk about cars/home improvement projects/football/take naps all dayyyyyy loooong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Software Developer Govt Contractor 280k/year

What government agency is paying enough for a contracting position that can cover salary, benefits, and overhead for 280k a year?

Many.

240k + bonus. SDE for contractor.

Isn’t there a rule that contractors can’t make more than the top GS scale salary?

LOL! There is t a single person on my team of Gov Contractors that makes less than the GS15 step 10. Good luck finding cleared software developers for anything less than 180k

I just took a pay cut (about $180k to $145k) to move to a government contract after my previous tech firm went out of business abruptly. My plan was to do this for a bit until I figure out next step.

What clearance level do you mean? Just TS or more? I ask because I can probably get sponsored for TS but I’m wondering if it will make a difference. I have lots of full stack, cloud, and data engineering experience but no meaningful, current certifications (never needed them previously). I’m working on certifications now just to keep learning but I’m thinking they don’t make a lot of difference to experienced folks. Advice is welcome, including how to get hired by a prime contractor and not the sub to a sub to a sub folks that called me when I posted my resume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Software Developer Govt Contractor 280k/year

What government agency is paying enough for a contracting position that can cover salary, benefits, and overhead for 280k a year?

Many.

240k + bonus. SDE for contractor.

Isn’t there a rule that contractors can’t make more than the top GS scale salary?

LOL! There is t a single person on my team of Gov Contractors that makes less than the GS15 step 10. Good luck finding cleared software developers for anything less than 180k

I just took a pay cut (about $180k to $145k) to move to a government contract after my previous tech firm went out of business abruptly. My plan was to do this for a bit until I figure out next step.

What clearance level do you mean? Just TS or more? I ask because I can probably get sponsored for TS but I’m wondering if it will make a difference. I have lots of full stack, cloud, and data engineering experience but no meaningful, current certifications (never needed them previously). I’m working on certifications now just to keep learning but I’m thinking they don’t make a lot of difference to experienced folks. Advice is welcome, including how to get hired by a prime contractor and not the sub to a sub to a sub folks that called me when I posted my resume.

Do you have a degree? It will take several years to get a clearance and you have to get sponsored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Software Developer Govt Contractor 280k/year

What government agency is paying enough for a contracting position that can cover salary, benefits, and overhead for 280k a year?

Many.

240k + bonus. SDE for contractor.

Isn’t there a rule that contractors can’t make more than the top GS scale salary?

LOL! There is t a single person on my team of Gov Contractors that makes less than the GS15 step 10. Good luck finding cleared software developers for anything less than 180k

I just took a pay cut (about $180k to $145k) to move to a government contract after my previous tech firm went out of business abruptly. My plan was to do this for a bit until I figure out next step.

What clearance level do you mean? Just TS or more? I ask because I can probably get sponsored for TS but I’m wondering if it will make a difference. I have lots of full stack, cloud, and data engineering experience but no meaningful, current certifications (never needed them previously). I’m working on certifications now just to keep learning but I’m thinking they don’t make a lot of difference to experienced folks. Advice is welcome, including how to get hired by a prime contractor and not the sub to a sub to a sub folks that called me when I posted my resume.

Do you have a degree? It will take several years to get a clearance and you have to get sponsored.

Hmmm… Google says average processing time for TS is 159 days for contractors, less for feds. Why do you say several years? My public trust took about 2 months. Isn’t this a more rigorous version of the same thing? And yes, I know about the sponsorship requirement - I have that covered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Software Developer Govt Contractor 280k/year

What government agency is paying enough for a contracting position that can cover salary, benefits, and overhead for 280k a year?

Many.

240k + bonus. SDE for contractor.

Isn’t there a rule that contractors can’t make more than the top GS scale salary?

LOL! There is t a single person on my team of Gov Contractors that makes less than the GS15 step 10. Good luck finding cleared software developers for anything less than 180k

I just took a pay cut (about $180k to $145k) to move to a government contract after my previous tech firm went out of business abruptly. My plan was to do this for a bit until I figure out next step.



What clearance level do you mean? Just TS or more? I ask because I can probably get sponsored for TS but I’m wondering if it will make a difference. I have lots of full stack, cloud, and data engineering experience but no meaningful, current certifications (never needed them previously). I’m working on certifications now just to keep learning but I’m thinking they don’t make a lot of difference to experienced folks. Advice is welcome, including how to get hired by a prime contractor and not the sub to a sub to a sub folks that called me when I posted my resume.

Do you have a degree? It will take several years to get a clearance and you have to get sponsored.

Hmmm… Google says average processing time for TS is 159 days for contractors, less for feds. Why do you say several years? My public trust took about 2 months. Isn’t this a more rigorous version of the same thing? And yes, I know about the sponsorship requirement - I have that covered.

You clearly know it all. Good luck with your 159 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

Those are top jobs. You'd need to impress in an interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Director at a local biotech company.

$200k salary + 25% bonus.

That is not 'work in tech', business yes, not tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

Those are top jobs. You'd need to impress in an interview.

As a dev? You need relevant experience to get an interview then you have to pass the interview. Many engineers get interviews but it's not easy to crack them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

Those are top jobs. You'd need to impress in an interview.

As a dev? You need relevant experience to get an interview then you have to pass the interview. Many engineers get interviews but it's not easy to crack them.

Netflix pays 450k cash and only hire senior level engineers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

Those are top jobs. You'd need to impress in an interview.

As a dev? You need relevant experience to get an interview then you have to pass the interview. Many engineers get interviews but it's not easy to crack them.

Netflix pays 450k cash and only hire senior level engineers.

Has to be more than that now. I remember hearing the 450k figure thrown around even 4-5 years ago but big tech salaries have increased a lot since then. Netflix is a place that will fire you at the drop of a hat too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

Those are top jobs. You'd need to impress in an interview.

As a dev? You need relevant experience to get an interview then you have to pass the interview. Many engineers get interviews but it's not easy to crack them.

Netflix pays 450k cash and only hire senior level engineers.

Has to be more than that now. I remember hearing the 450k figure thrown around even 4-5 years ago but big tech salaries have increased a lot since then. Netflix is a place that will fire you at the drop of a hat too.

What kind of skills does a senior level engineer need? What is in demand?

[Anonymous]

I have a TS/SCI but have a bachelors that is in economics. Currently work for a gov contractor but that contract will be up soon. What degree or certs can give me leverage when I have no programming skills? Something that is flexible with age too since I just broke out of my 30's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

Those are top jobs. You'd need to impress in an interview.

As a dev? You need relevant experience to get an interview then you have to pass the interview. Many engineers get interviews but it's not easy to crack them.

Netflix pays 450k cash and only hire senior level engineers.

Has to be more than that now. I remember hearing the 450k figure thrown around even 4-5 years ago but big tech salaries have increased a lot since then. Netflix is a place that will fire you at the drop of a hat too.

What kind of skills does a senior level engineer need? What is in demand?

If you are asking this on DCUM, Netflix won’t be in the cards for you. They are ruthless.

But post questions on Hacker News for more general career advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Netflix pays better than the others but has bad benefits.

How to get a job at Netflix or Google? Do they hire folks who only have DoD experience? (But on old technology). However, I am a hard worker and learn quickly (smart if I say so myself and get all with most folks) so definitely can pick up new skills - not sure if I can get hired without these skills but can't get them in the current job.

Those are top jobs. You'd need to impress in an interview.

As a dev? You need relevant experience to get an interview then you have to pass the interview. Many engineers get interviews but it's not easy to crack them.

Netflix pays 450k cash and only hire senior level engineers.

Has to be more than that now. I remember hearing the 450k figure thrown around even 4-5 years ago but big tech salaries have increased a lot since then. Netflix is a place that will fire you at the drop of a hat too.

Agree. I don't have the skills to join Netflix as I am working in old technology for too long. If I don't have programming skills but have the ability to get a TS (with full scope poly) and other good skills, wonder if I should get a non programming job in these companies even if I start from a lower level and work my way up. Would the pay be worth it?

What kind of skills does a senior level engineer need? What is in demand?

If you are asking this on DCUM, Netflix won’t be in the cards for you. They are ruthless.

But post questions on Hacker News for more general career advice.