Director at a local biotech company.

$200k salary + 25% bonus.

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.

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.

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

For people reading this thread, just know that the majority of the people posting in this thread are in the top 2% of the tech field in the DC metro region. The vast majority of the tech industry in this area is not making over $150K let alone making some of the salaries that are posted here. This is a self-selected group at the top who are answering.

I am 56 and have worked as a contractor at my federal agency for 29 years. I am a Network and System administrator and I make $160K which for a non-managerial technical worker is pretty high end, but I have this salary because I have worked for my agency for so long and I have a lot of skills in getting things done here at my agency and knowing how to get things through the government bureaucracy. I happen to work for one of the best agencies in the federal government, so I am quite happy where I am. I have peers in the industry who do make over $200K and some even making over $250K but they work for large corporations and they work more strenuous hours. I have much more family friendly hours and have been able to spend a lot more time with my family over the years than they have.

And as for age discrimination, it is more an issue in private tech than in government contracting. If you are over 50, and in tech, and need to find a job, you should look at the government contracting jobs. In government contracting, they look for and value experience more and are more likely to want someone who they know has the requisite experience. And they are not looking for job hoppers, so they tend not to discriminate against older employees.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Any oldster thinking of NF needs to check out their infamous slide deck.

What’s infamous about it? Nothing looked unusual to me.

Well that’s because they won and everyone runs this way I guess.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/08/28/435583328/episode-647-hard-work-is-irrelevant

https://www.fastcompany.com/3056662/she-created-netflixs-culture-and-it-ultimately-got-her-fired

Anonymous wrote:

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

Any oldster thinking of NF needs to check out their infamous slide deck.

What’s infamous about it? Nothing looked unusual to me.

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Anonymous wrote:wow this thread is eye opening. It makes me feel underpaid. I have 15 yoe and I'm making only $250k at a local company.
I'm getting paid less than new grads? I'm sending my application for a job at a FAANG tomorrow.

Depending on your skills, you may not may more. Some of these salaries are exaggerated.

Not exaggerated. Not just FAANG but random unicorn startups pay 150-250k to fresh grads and 4-5 yoe can make over 300k. There’s a few dozen companies like this. The down side for someone with decades of experience outside big tech is that you may get treated the same as someone right out of school. I see some folks who are 10-20 yoe at a no name and they are given a junior position

Yeah but even if you have experience and skills if you are older than 35 unless you have a close contact sponsoring you, you won’t ever make the cut.

Huh?

Age discrimination

Not at 35 or even 45.

You're talking through your ass.

If you aren’t ALREADY in the Valley by 35, unless you are a founder of a successful startup or some extreme edge case, you aren’t getting a job at a FAANG. Worked for years on algorithms at APL as a staff programmer and can easily do the role of a full stack SDE, they will not give you time of day.

Possibly I know a guy who looks to be in his late 30s or 40s and he just got hired by facebook. If they do discriminate how the heck haven't they been getting sued left and right

Its not age, it’s pedigree. The folks who were in the valley at 20 worked at FAANG, or at some other hot startup from back then, maybe eBay or more recently betterment or Uber or Doordash or instacart or wealthfront or Palantir or 23andme or whatever. Those folks apply to FAANG and have pedigree. The random applying to work there from Dumbledore COBOL Programming or whatever isn’t going to get light of day. Old or young.

This. Though I started my career here in NOVA and I'm still here. I'm 45 and have turned down agressive attempts from AWS for recruitment. I don't want to work In a toxic culture. I already hit it big at Service Now and only chase the RSUs or IPOs at this point. And Facebook? Lololol!!!

I'm wondering how many posters posting are really in tech? FAANG is not where the real money is. Not even close.

FAANG is a reliable way to make a high income. Sure you can try to work for a pre IPO but that is much riskier. Most of your comp at those companies is funny money and statistically most of them fail. You see the occasional 20 something getting a 7 figure payout at IPO but that’s much rarer than getting in to FAANG

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow this thread is eye opening. It makes me feel underpaid. I have 15 yoe and I'm making only $250k at a local company.
I'm getting paid less than new grads? I'm sending my application for a job at a FAANG tomorrow.

Depending on your skills, you may not may more. Some of these salaries are exaggerated.

Not exaggerated. Not just FAANG but random unicorn startups pay 150-250k to fresh grads and 4-5 yoe can make over 300k. There’s a few dozen companies like this. The down side for someone with decades of experience outside big tech is that you may get treated the same as someone right out of school. I see some folks who are 10-20 yoe at a no name and they are given a junior position

Yeah but even if you have experience and skills if you are older than 35 unless you have a close contact sponsoring you, you won’t ever make the cut.

Huh?

Age discrimination

Not at 35 or even 45.

You're talking through your ass.

If you aren’t ALREADY in the Valley by 35, unless you are a founder of a successful startup or some extreme edge case, you aren’t getting a job at a FAANG. Worked for years on algorithms at APL as a staff programmer and can easily do the role of a full stack SDE, they will not give you time of day.

Possibly I know a guy who looks to be in his late 30s or 40s and he just got hired by facebook. If they do discriminate how the heck haven't they been getting sued left and right

Its not age, it’s pedigree. The folks who were in the valley at 20 worked at FAANG, or at some other hot startup from back then, maybe eBay or more recently betterment or Uber or Doordash or instacart or wealthfront or Palantir or 23andme or whatever. Those folks apply to FAANG and have pedigree. The random applying to work there from Dumbledore COBOL Programming or whatever isn’t going to get light of day. Old or young.

This. Though I started my career here in NOVA and I'm still here. I'm 45 and have turned down agressive attempts from AWS for recruitment. I don't want to work In a toxic culture. I already hit it big at Service Now and only chase the RSUs or IPOs at this point. And Facebook? Lololol!!!

I'm wondering how many posters posting are really in tech? FAANG is not where the real money is. Not even close.

Unless you are a founder of ServiceNow, you just got lucky with the random startup that hired you. And servicenow isn’t even high tech, it’s a super basic infrastructure software without any need for sophisticated algorithms, AI, it’s a ticket tracker system for peets sake.

Getti my recruited by AWS? You are delusional, they hound me constantly and I’m a boring, old contractor for NIST.

You should be so grateful you won the startup lottery rather than thinking so highly of yourself.

The pay would be a lot better. Switch. However, its hard to get through the interviews so prep well.

This makes no sense as my spouse started at a big tech company in his early 50's. Skill is as important as age but the numbers are absolutely off except if you are in sales or a high level manager.

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

Any oldster thinking of NF needs to check out their infamous slide deck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow this thread is eye opening. It makes me feel underpaid. I have 15 yoe and I'm making only $250k at a local company.
I'm getting paid less than new grads? I'm sending my application for a job at a FAANG tomorrow.

Depending on your skills, you may not may more. Some of these salaries are exaggerated.

Not exaggerated. Not just FAANG but random unicorn startups pay 150-250k to fresh grads and 4-5 yoe can make over 300k. There’s a few dozen companies like this. The down side for someone with decades of experience outside big tech is that you may get treated the same as someone right out of school. I see some folks who are 10-20 yoe at a no name and they are given a junior position

Yeah but even if you have experience and skills if you are older than 35 unless you have a close contact sponsoring you, you won’t ever make the cut.

Huh?

Age discrimination

Not at 35 or even 45.

You're talking through your ass.

If you aren’t ALREADY in the Valley by 35, unless you are a founder of a successful startup or some extreme edge case, you aren’t getting a job at a FAANG. Worked for years on algorithms at APL as a staff programmer and can easily do the role of a full stack SDE, they will not give you time of day.

Possibly I know a guy who looks to be in his late 30s or 40s and he just got hired by facebook. If they do discriminate how the heck haven't they been getting sued left and right

Its not age, it’s pedigree. The folks who were in the valley at 20 worked at FAANG, or at some other hot startup from back then, maybe eBay or more recently betterment or Uber or Doordash or instacart or wealthfront or Palantir or 23andme or whatever. Those folks apply to FAANG and have pedigree. The random applying to work there from Dumbledore COBOL Programming or whatever isn’t going to get light of day. Old or young.

This. Though I started my career here in NOVA and I'm still here. I'm 45 and have turned down agressive attempts from AWS for recruitment. I don't want to work In a toxic culture. I already hit it big at Service Now and only chase the RSUs or IPOs at this point. And Facebook? Lololol!!!

I'm wondering how many posters posting are really in tech? FAANG is not where the real money is. Not even close.

So you started very young?

ServiceNow IPO when they were 36, and they made real money they had to hired way before that, so likely late 20s at latest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow this thread is eye opening. It makes me feel underpaid. I have 15 yoe and I'm making only $250k at a local company.
I'm getting paid less than new grads? I'm sending my application for a job at a FAANG tomorrow.

Depending on your skills, you may not may more. Some of these salaries are exaggerated.

Not exaggerated. Not just FAANG but random unicorn startups pay 150-250k to fresh grads and 4-5 yoe can make over 300k. There’s a few dozen companies like this. The down side for someone with decades of experience outside big tech is that you may get treated the same as someone right out of school. I see some folks who are 10-20 yoe at a no name and they are given a junior position

Yeah but even if you have experience and skills if you are older than 35 unless you have a close contact sponsoring you, you won’t ever make the cut.

Huh?

Age discrimination

Not at 35 or even 45.

You're talking through your ass.

If you aren’t ALREADY in the Valley by 35, unless you are a founder of a successful startup or some extreme edge case, you aren’t getting a job at a FAANG. Worked for years on algorithms at APL as a staff programmer and can easily do the role of a full stack SDE, they will not give you time of day.

Possibly I know a guy who looks to be in his late 30s or 40s and he just got hired by facebook. If they do discriminate how the heck haven't they been getting sued left and right

Its not age, it’s pedigree. The folks who were in the valley at 20 worked at FAANG, or at some other hot startup from back then, maybe eBay or more recently betterment or Uber or Doordash or instacart or wealthfront or Palantir or 23andme or whatever. Those folks apply to FAANG and have pedigree. The random applying to work there from Dumbledore COBOL Programming or whatever isn’t going to get light of day. Old or young.

This. Though I started my career here in NOVA and I'm still here. I'm 45 and have turned down agressive attempts from AWS for recruitment. I don't want to work In a toxic culture. I already hit it big at Service Now and only chase the RSUs or IPOs at this point. And Facebook? Lololol!!!

I'm wondering how many posters posting are really in tech? FAANG is not where the real money is. Not even close.

Unless you are a founder of ServiceNow, you just got lucky with the random startup that hired you. And servicenow isn’t even high tech, it’s a super basic infrastructure software without any need for sophisticated algorithms, AI, it’s a ticket tracker system for peets sake.

Getti my recruited by AWS? You are delusional, they hound me constantly and I’m a boring, old contractor for NIST.

You should be so grateful you won the startup lottery rather than thinking so highly of yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow this thread is eye opening. It makes me feel underpaid. I have 15 yoe and I'm making only $250k at a local company.
I'm getting paid less than new grads? I'm sending my application for a job at a FAANG tomorrow.

Depending on your skills, you may not may more. Some of these salaries are exaggerated.

Not exaggerated. Not just FAANG but random unicorn startups pay 150-250k to fresh grads and 4-5 yoe can make over 300k. There’s a few dozen companies like this. The down side for someone with decades of experience outside big tech is that you may get treated the same as someone right out of school. I see some folks who are 10-20 yoe at a no name and they are given a junior position

Yeah but even if you have experience and skills if you are older than 35 unless you have a close contact sponsoring you, you won’t ever make the cut.

Huh?

Age discrimination

Not at 35 or even 45.

You're talking through your ass.

If you aren’t ALREADY in the Valley by 35, unless you are a founder of a successful startup or some extreme edge case, you aren’t getting a job at a FAANG. Worked for years on algorithms at APL as a staff programmer and can easily do the role of a full stack SDE, they will not give you time of day.

Possibly I know a guy who looks to be in his late 30s or 40s and he just got hired by facebook. If they do discriminate how the heck haven't they been getting sued left and right

Its not age, it’s pedigree. The folks who were in the valley at 20 worked at FAANG, or at some other hot startup from back then, maybe eBay or more recently betterment or Uber or Doordash or instacart or wealthfront or Palantir or 23andme or whatever. Those folks apply to FAANG and have pedigree. The random applying to work there from Dumbledore COBOL Programming or whatever isn’t going to get light of day. Old or young.

This. Though I started my career here in NOVA and I'm still here. I'm 45 and have turned down agressive attempts from AWS for recruitment. I don't want to work In a toxic culture. I already hit it big at Service Now and only chase the RSUs or IPOs at this point. And Facebook? Lololol!!!

I'm wondering how many posters posting are really in tech? FAANG is not where the real money is. Not even close.

So you started very young?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:wow this thread is eye opening. It makes me feel underpaid. I have 15 yoe and I'm making only $250k at a local company.
I'm getting paid less than new grads? I'm sending my application for a job at a FAANG tomorrow.

Depending on your skills, you may not may more. Some of these salaries are exaggerated.

Not exaggerated. Not just FAANG but random unicorn startups pay 150-250k to fresh grads and 4-5 yoe can make over 300k. There’s a few dozen companies like this. The down side for someone with decades of experience outside big tech is that you may get treated the same as someone right out of school. I see some folks who are 10-20 yoe at a no name and they are given a junior position

Yeah but even if you have experience and skills if you are older than 35 unless you have a close contact sponsoring you, you won’t ever make the cut.

Huh?

Age discrimination

Not at 35 or even 45.

You're talking through your ass.

If you aren’t ALREADY in the Valley by 35, unless you are a founder of a successful startup or some extreme edge case, you aren’t getting a job at a FAANG. Worked for years on algorithms at APL as a staff programmer and can easily do the role of a full stack SDE, they will not give you time of day.

Possibly I know a guy who looks to be in his late 30s or 40s and he just got hired by facebook. If they do discriminate how the heck haven't they been getting sued left and right

Its not age, it’s pedigree. The folks who were in the valley at 20 worked at FAANG, or at some other hot startup from back then, maybe eBay or more recently betterment or Uber or Doordash or instacart or wealthfront or Palantir or 23andme or whatever. Those folks apply to FAANG and have pedigree. The random applying to work there from Dumbledore COBOL Programming or whatever isn’t going to get light of day. Old or young.

This. Though I started my career here in NOVA and I'm still here. I'm 45 and have turned down agressive attempts from AWS for recruitment. I don't want to work In a toxic culture. I already hit it big at Service Now and only chase the RSUs or IPOs at this point. And Facebook? Lololol!!!

I'm wondering how many posters posting are really in tech? FAANG is not where the real money is. Not even close.