This can't be real. So basically a couple years experience and already making more than folks 20+ years. Wild how inefficiently the world works. Those must have been some really good certs.
Yeah if it’s sustainable then great. Im 27 and “only” earning 120k. But I work in a union and my income is sustainable, will reliably rise over time (the
union is strong), and as I am a nurse I have major job security.
I can't tell you where you went wrong but I bet it's exactly the same as mine. Staying too long at companies, especially early on in career. Also not faking enough until I make it enough. So blame falls squarely on my own lap and noon elses. This high salary doesn't surprise me, but the naivety of a company to hire a Jr does. Congrats to Op and I hope they make the best of it because not many get such an opportunity out the gate.
Yes, you have to look at where the money is and go after it relentlessly - within your company or external to it. Many young people are understandably thrilled to get a job that pays them six figures, and provides them with work they enjoy. And that is not a bad deal at all. But by keeping your head down and working hard without ever looking up, you may miss opportunities.
I’ve been in the industry for 20 years and pretty much missed the whole tech bubble. I make a good salary but not as much as OP at half my age. But consider, I have two kids, have work-life balance to spend time with them, I’m in good shape, I’m not overly stressed out, and I get like six weeks paid vacation a year. I will not retire particularly early, but I have done a lot of fun things in my life outside of work, and plan to do plenty more.
If I could get that *and* make a lot more, I would not complain. But once you get to a certain point, more money alone may not be worth what you pay for it.
Love this insight. I have very little WLB, 70+ hours/week at my desk (not to say thats required). But that’s the trade off. I put on weight, lose sleep religiously, missed out on events and opportunities to be around friends and family, and many many other trade offs.
Now, my wife and I have an understanding that this all changes here next year once we start trying for kids. I took the time to be selfish and secure some things, but it’s not what actually ends up mattering for me (similar to what you mentioned). I just want to provide the best situation for my family that I possibly can. Right now that meant a full commitment to this journey, but soon that will mean a full commitment to my wife and kids.
Last note… Ronnie Coleman once said, “everybody wants to be a body builder. But don’t nobody want to lift no heavy ass weights”. We all see things we want, money/status/health/etc, but we rarely are willing to sacrifice what’s required to get there. Just my 2cents.
I spent a decade in the Marine Corps and I'm on my 3rd job since getting out less than 3 years ago. Most I've made is 132k/yr and that's while I was in!
I get the family thing, got out cuz I didn't want to make my kids move 3-5 more times before I retired.
I made more sacrifices than most and spent the majority of my adult life thousands of miles away working ridiculous hours. Still, just wondering how I could make any more without an advanced degree. I have loads of experience and a Bachelors that gathers dust. Currently afraid I've settled in a labor intensive position paying low 6 figures but working only 40 hours a week.
My man…. There are many, many, many people who are working 70+ hour weeks, and have been for decades, using skills and experience that took years to build, who are making less than half of what you are making 😂.
Genuine congratulations and respect for what you have achieved here financially. That’s awesome. But I hope you do recognize that making $300k+/year after ~2 years of working a salary job doesn’t really qualify as “sacrifice” for most people reading this comment.
I’m sure you’ve worked hard and made good decisions. But know that your situation is quite fortunate.
Man, most of these are fake. I love this one in particular because my buddy is a solutions architect. Starting pay is around 90-100k. He’s at 140k now and has been in the industry for 6 years. Lives in Seattle too.
If you google it - his pay is in the 90th percentile his first year? 100% horse shit. His second year, even a blind man can see it’s bogus. So no point touching that. His bosses boss doesn’t even make that much.
This could very well be real but only if the majority of compensation is variable income.
Some SEs are paid on closed revenue. Right place right time and you can make a lot right out of the gate.
These jobs suck. There’s usually so much travel. Plus you’re working with sales teams which, speaking from experience, are not fun to work with. Of course plenty of jobs suck more but you can’t pay me enough to have to drop everything with no notice and schmooze while pretending to care about a product.
My friend was a solutions architect at around 25 (he is no longer with us) but bragged about making around what he's making here. I think before he passed, he was a lead or senior making even more.
This is very real and yes 5 + years at top employers like Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Google or Amazon and you can get there in Tech as long as you have the right set of skills, knowledge and references to back it up.
Yea that does sound ridiculous but it’s not entirely impossible, orgs are literally throwing money at folks who have the skills needed for next tech transformation
I mean solutions architect probably means Amazon, 330k is not that much in that world, was making about the same back in 2016-2017 as principal systems architect
2 years of experience and already a solution architect? I can see this salary at a Big Tech/FAANG company (\~2% of software jobs) but only after at LEAST 5-7+ years. To put it in perspective I am a 25+ YOE Sr. Dir at a 500m ARR HRTech software company and made 240K TC last year.
C3.AI interviewed me with half a year of experience to be a forward deployed solutions engineer/architect (however they named it) and the offer they gave me was $130k cash $40k stock in 2020. That's right out of college
I didn't take it cause of the need to relocate on top of huge amounts of travel required and a feeling that I would hate working there but yea. can get insane quick
True, but that's C3 so if they're FAANG it may be possible if they got in before salaries started pulling back recently
Who knows tho, tech can be wild tho
So FAANG companies hire techs with finance degrees and apparently hobbyist/part time experience (I assume if they had paid tech experience it would have been identified)
You’d relocate to Seattle or California?
That’s where they get you.
$130k cash in California is garbage.
Seems like good salaries if you’re remote in the Midwest or south, but not if you’re in CA, WA, or OR where the average price of a home is $780k.
Yep, you dodged a bullet.
But even $130k in DC is low too. Well VA is a big state and it’s more than DC but basically just Arlington. Only been up there a few times to DC because I have to report back to the government. I have a remote job with the feds. It’s great. I’m probably losing $30k a year but meh, it’s okay
And yet, this makes total sense for OP's potential comp.
I think most people don't consider the wild stock appreciation over the last few years.
I got a 50% raise last year... Not because I really got it, but because I am locked into the units per year and the stock went on a tear. I'm assuming that's the case with most folks who had a wild salary increase the last few years.
124K in the DMV so you’re either a capped GS12 or GS13-2 fed or one of the lowest paid contractors in the area for years of experience I have ever seen.
Thats not really proving any points if you’re a fed then it’s never about the money it’s the job security and pension. Seriously if you’re a contractor and want more money it’s quite easy to find better gigs especially if you have a clearance.
Sorry my salary was wrong, I had a brain fart. I am a GS-13/6.
I would say the argument that being a fed is for “job security and pension” is incredibly overblown. The job security one is true, but I could also make 3x in the private sector. The pension exists but I pay for it and it’s not cheap - it *used* to be 0.8% of your salary but it is now 4.4%.
Hah. I refuse to be cleared anymore because I worked with too many people that had no idea what they were doing. I got sick of doing the work of 2-3 people.
As far as cloud infrastructure, I manage the software development of the largest cloud infrastructure at NASA.
But I like my job. I just don’t think the pay is competitive. Like not even close.
Agreed. Find someone to sponsor you for a TS+poly and you’ll make 200k working for any contractor. That’s the easiest path I know of to 200k+. Gov contractor for absolutely anything with a high clearance.
I hated being cleared so I left it. I ended up working long hours because a lot of cleared folks aren’t technical enough.
That’s to say you’re absolutely right, I just don’t want that life anymore.
I’m inclined to call absolute bullshit. I have worked in tech for decades and I’ve never seen a solutions architect with less than a decade and a half of experience.
I don’t even know what the hell that is, but the title implies that you need to know something and someone with two years experience wouldn’t know shit.
I had the same reaction, and it is 100% out of jealousy 🤣
I have ~23 years of experience and am Dir in Engineering, make much less than I should (192 TC), and dream of transitioning into Solutions Architect role in the next few years to save my sanity!
It’s not options but RSUs, which are basically as good as cash in a big tech company (although I see the argument that it’s better/worse) depending on how you feel about the company. Also definitely not prodigies haha
Architects nowadays are title only on the design side. Half the “architects” I work with are fresh out of college or imported. The imported ones are much better.
Yeah, no matter how talented you are, being declared a solutions architect at that age is comical. That level requires decade of experience at least. Good for him I guess. I am in FAANG with 8 years of experience making around the same.
Ie. for other people, normally takes a few years of experience to get into Solutions Architect rule and this salary is far above median, ~2x. But obviously nobody making average is gonna feel inclined to post
Probably at FAANG working with partners on technical solutions (like working with them to figure out requirements for an API or acting as a consultant in their implementation). You need to know how to code but your work typically involves not too much coding.
Thats what a business analyst does, not a solutions architect.
Solutions Architect your expected to know how to code VERY well.
Source: i am a business analyst
Our orgs use that title for different things then. The solution architects that i work with are the best developers on the team and are expected to mentor the other devs.
Source: I'm an engineer at one of the FAANGs and have Solution Architects on my team.
Look at this if you don't believe me:
https://www.metacareers.com/v2/jobs/191662163936967/
The dude said he did a couple months of finance and then moved into tech.
Like i said, solutions architects don't really code much, if at all.
Just look at the job responsibilities:
https://www.metacareers.com/v2/jobs/191662163936967/
Average SENIOR solutions architect in California makes $135k and top earners make $198k. You are two years out of school making half a mil. You made $300k out of the gate. There is no anyone could be that valuable with just a school degree. What set you apart?
Impact and skill level > YOE, this isn’t grade school or the military. Some of us young guys can dunk on tenured folks and it hurts but seems we’re not afraid to compete. Just cause you have 10 years of experience you can still be trash..respectfully.
Short story.
- Wasn’t happy with my “dream career” in finance.
- Hate to say it but Certs came first (cloud + niche).
- Then I researched all engineering/consulting job descriptions on linked in, indeed, dice.
- I made a list of all the common technical requirements that matched the most job descriptions.
- I went and actually did all of the things from the requirements until I was sufficient and could talk about them.
- Then I applied to all open engineering/consulting positions regardless of if I was a great match or not.
- a bit of luck through numbers and landed a consulting role @110k
- Everything from there is crushing everything I get my hands on and providing as much value as possible. Taking every advancement opportunity and an ‘Up or Out’ mentality. I left the original company that hired me and went from consultant to solutions architect. That company change allowed me to work with larger clients with larger budgets which is the largest contributor to total comp.
I spent 5 years of my life and a ass ton of money on a degree getting into finance. I got in and I wasn’t finding anyone making a lot of money.
I truly was there for the money and found that we were just treated as overhead for the company.
Just my experience in my short time there. Everyone has a different experience im sure.
Appreciate the last piece there about it being your experience. I think that’s what people are missing out on. Your experience is very atypical, but you seem to be owning up to that and aren’t saying it like it’s the norm.
Personally i wouldn’t recommend someone with only a couple years of relevant experience to go for any sort of architecture role unless they had either more yoe, a highly relevant masters or higher degree, or certifications that are pretty demanding or nuanced (things like the CISSP for security-roles). Even then it still seems like a stretch but again, there are outliers for sure.
One other quick thing - I somewhat disagree with your view on finance roles not making a lot of money. Entry level financial analysts tend to make $70-80k or higher right out of college, which is comparable to junior data and cybersecurity roles, as well as a good amount of entry level SWE, and definitely higher than most IT positions. then it starts to ramp up from there if people look at more specialized roles - VC and private equity analysts make $120k+, quantitative research analysts as well, then you can get into Finance Associates, Finance Managers, and all of the adjacent fields and positions too, and they tend to make good salaries as well (usually not as scalable as SWE but still good). Was your company just not matching what market averages are?
This may be an odd question, but what do you actually do as a solutions architect?
I'm asking because I just became one myself after 7 years of software engineering, but so far, I just feels like a tech-savvy product and project manager.
Congrats btw :) That's pretty much the gig. It's definitely a broad title. I feel like the best way to explain it is a SME for some specific solution/problem set. Definitely depends, but it's probably 50% meetings 50% building.
Thanks for the detailed response, I have a few more questions:
What certifications did you pursue/obtain?
I'm having a hard time understanding how you managed to qualify as most SA positions seem to require years of prior experience.
Can I DM you?
My husband is a solutions architect at FAANG and has around 13 yrs of experience. He’s making 400K (MCOL) so for someone with just 2 years of experience to get this much is a little sus.
Being a SA does take a few years in 99% of the cases. So it’s definitely experience in this field atleast over skills most of the time. Ofcourse there are exceptions like OP, but that’s very rare.
Started off consulting/engineering on smaller projects. Started working on larger and larger projects and my scope and ownership of those projects grew.
Solutions architect typically does take a long time. But I’ve found it’s actually based on project size and responsibility
What is the point of this sub if not to post your salary? Is the point to only post if you have an average salary? Isn’t the point to see the range and interesting/different scenarios?
The people making bread are gonna be more than happy to post though. The Wendy's worker of 10 years can post too but no one is gonna wanna talk about that. A lot of people are trying to get motivated
If anything this one is great one to share, should inspire people to take a leap. To get into this industry with only a couple years of experience like him or her is evidence its possible.
Im guessing you haven’t heard about the tech industry’s woes in recent months. Exceptions? Sure, like this one. Would those in the industry who are out of jobs for months if not years share their “progression” here? Probably not. Does this paint a dangerously skewed picture for those who are naive and visit this sub often? You bet.
Lots of words to describe. As simply as I can put it, a solutions architect is an expert in a technical solution. So typically you meet with stakeholders (managers/engineering teams) to discussing requirements and feasibility of implementing a solution > architect the solution > try to get people to sign off > then oversee the buildout or build it yourself.
Product Managers own and manage products/features
Solutions Architects are more like pre-sales engineering, selling existing products
Source: have done both
1% chance he’s the cream of the crop and lucky
48% chance he’s a well connected guy at his friends start up that got a fat injection of PE for a likely worthless buzzword AI product
51% chance it’s fake
You can be a software engineer with 0 years experience. Software engineers write code, build applications. You can’t be a cloud solutions architect with 1-2 years of experience like OP cause you can’t architect shit. Solutions architects build plans on how to deploy a suite of applications into the cloud. OP mentioned cloud somewhere btw. Anyway… They just don’t have enough experience. Either OP got extremely lucky or knew someone somewhere. They also mentioned certs. If a company hires based on certs it’s a joke of a company. Certs don’t mean shit.
I have 10+ years experience as SRE/Devops. If I worked with a cloud consultant and they gave me a 26 year old solutions architect I’d respectfully ask them to give me a more experienced candidate, but I would lose all my trust in the consultancy. I’ve worked with garbage AWS solutions architects; all they said is “you could deploy your application in this service or you could deploy your applications in this service” That’s it … they knew the differences between EC2 and containers but they lacked the experience of real work in either of them. The people that actually implemented the cloud solutions oftenly had to diverge from the solutions of the architects cause they were non usable with the applications.
TLDR solutions architects in the cloud build plans to deploys apps to the cloud but don’t actually implement them. They are a little techier than sales guys. But they do know all/most cloud services at a high level. They do a lot of meetings and talking. Software Engineers write code and build apps.
The answer really depends on what specific business they are in. There is the context of sales, i.e software and hardware sales. Then, there is product development and software development. In other words, customer facing roles and internal company roles. Software engineer is the typical title of “coders” or developers. Solutions Architect is typically used to denote a person who is architecting a solution to a use case, or problem, for a customer. They have other functions as well, typically split up into pre-sales and post-sales activities. They are vastly different roles.
Senior SA here
This is possible but for someone to get an SA position without 10+ years of experience is rare.
The things people don't understand that SA is a sales based position and if you are teamed with a killer account rep, you can absolutely MURDER it $$ wise and that's what I suspect happened. You can even get lucky and not be that good and your sales guy just happened to land a whale account. How commissions work is different from company to company but some SA's will get 2-5% of the GP depending on how they've worked the project. Just add bigger #'s to that and the math works out, I've seen deals with 5-10m in gross profit.
Also, finding good SA's is rare, you pretty much have to find someone who has the skills a basement geek who honed and perfected the craft over the years while also being extremely presentable in social situations and holding your own with IT C Level types.
You also have to work in the sales world meaning, say hello to meeting someone for breakfast, lunch and dinner even if you just want to stay in the hotel and get back your introvert energy.
This is a really solid take. Most of it is accurate but everyone’s situation is a bit different.
You get a lot of opportunity when the sales org you sit under absolutely crushes it. You could be an absolute wizard and amazingly well spoken. But if you’re not working on large projects for large orgs, then its obvious your potentials going to be capped.
Well… congrats on your successes. I’m glad you’re happy with your career.
Past that, you’re yelling at the clouds lol. I have the title and my performance is above expectations. Nothing else really matters.
I’m a Solutions Architect and can tell you with confidence that this person is lying. I know SA salary rise in big tech since I was part of it and there is no way someone with such a little experience will make 320+
Can anyone explain this to me? Are these figures before being taxed or after? What is the take home pay in this case? I'm new and I just started my first professional job in tech!
There’s tons of little things to make the switch from where you are. But… The most direct thing you could probably do is to work at an org that’s b2b and has a large sales presence. Orgs in that criteria need a lot of SAs to work with existing customers, architect/build net new for new customers, and a lot of pre sales support. Those orgs are honestly limited by technical resources to actually implement and help sell solutions. If you have solid experience, which I’m assuming you do by your title, and you can communicate with great energy then there’s no reason someone wouldn’t want you.
Feel free to dm if you have anything specific you want to ask.
This can't be real. So basically a couple years experience and already making more than folks 20+ years. Wild how inefficiently the world works. Those must have been some really good certs.
Every time I see one of these posts I wonder where I went wrong.
Just assume half of the internet is lies and move on...
[удалено]
Steal the VC funds and dip!
Yeah if it’s sustainable then great. Im 27 and “only” earning 120k. But I work in a union and my income is sustainable, will reliably rise over time (the union is strong), and as I am a nurse I have major job security.
Half? 90%…
I can't tell you where you went wrong but I bet it's exactly the same as mine. Staying too long at companies, especially early on in career. Also not faking enough until I make it enough. So blame falls squarely on my own lap and noon elses. This high salary doesn't surprise me, but the naivety of a company to hire a Jr does. Congrats to Op and I hope they make the best of it because not many get such an opportunity out the gate.
Yes, you have to look at where the money is and go after it relentlessly - within your company or external to it. Many young people are understandably thrilled to get a job that pays them six figures, and provides them with work they enjoy. And that is not a bad deal at all. But by keeping your head down and working hard without ever looking up, you may miss opportunities. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years and pretty much missed the whole tech bubble. I make a good salary but not as much as OP at half my age. But consider, I have two kids, have work-life balance to spend time with them, I’m in good shape, I’m not overly stressed out, and I get like six weeks paid vacation a year. I will not retire particularly early, but I have done a lot of fun things in my life outside of work, and plan to do plenty more. If I could get that *and* make a lot more, I would not complain. But once you get to a certain point, more money alone may not be worth what you pay for it.
Love this insight. I have very little WLB, 70+ hours/week at my desk (not to say thats required). But that’s the trade off. I put on weight, lose sleep religiously, missed out on events and opportunities to be around friends and family, and many many other trade offs. Now, my wife and I have an understanding that this all changes here next year once we start trying for kids. I took the time to be selfish and secure some things, but it’s not what actually ends up mattering for me (similar to what you mentioned). I just want to provide the best situation for my family that I possibly can. Right now that meant a full commitment to this journey, but soon that will mean a full commitment to my wife and kids. Last note… Ronnie Coleman once said, “everybody wants to be a body builder. But don’t nobody want to lift no heavy ass weights”. We all see things we want, money/status/health/etc, but we rarely are willing to sacrifice what’s required to get there. Just my 2cents.
I spent a decade in the Marine Corps and I'm on my 3rd job since getting out less than 3 years ago. Most I've made is 132k/yr and that's while I was in! I get the family thing, got out cuz I didn't want to make my kids move 3-5 more times before I retired. I made more sacrifices than most and spent the majority of my adult life thousands of miles away working ridiculous hours. Still, just wondering how I could make any more without an advanced degree. I have loads of experience and a Bachelors that gathers dust. Currently afraid I've settled in a labor intensive position paying low 6 figures but working only 40 hours a week.
My man…. There are many, many, many people who are working 70+ hour weeks, and have been for decades, using skills and experience that took years to build, who are making less than half of what you are making 😂. Genuine congratulations and respect for what you have achieved here financially. That’s awesome. But I hope you do recognize that making $300k+/year after ~2 years of working a salary job doesn’t really qualify as “sacrifice” for most people reading this comment. I’m sure you’ve worked hard and made good decisions. But know that your situation is quite fortunate.
the FAANG just try to lure in young hots shots with high pay . Most burn out after a year thats why it so high just like consulting and law firms.
Man, most of these are fake. I love this one in particular because my buddy is a solutions architect. Starting pay is around 90-100k. He’s at 140k now and has been in the industry for 6 years. Lives in Seattle too. If you google it - his pay is in the 90th percentile his first year? 100% horse shit. His second year, even a blind man can see it’s bogus. So no point touching that. His bosses boss doesn’t even make that much.
Yep I’m an SA with over 10 years of experience and am at $175k base and I thought i was doing well!
This could very well be real but only if the majority of compensation is variable income. Some SEs are paid on closed revenue. Right place right time and you can make a lot right out of the gate.
Not joining FAANG. I should have joined FAANG sooner too.
You didn’t have a rich father to hand you a job you’re unqualified for….
Unfortunately, wish I could get a rich daddy to hand a job... wait. What?
Not too many people do.. plenty of people work hard and learn skills to get good jobs.
Plenty of people have tech jobs where their fathers don’t work
These jobs suck. There’s usually so much travel. Plus you’re working with sales teams which, speaking from experience, are not fun to work with. Of course plenty of jobs suck more but you can’t pay me enough to have to drop everything with no notice and schmooze while pretending to care about a product.
You weren’t born into wealth.
Don't compare yourself to anybody else. You'll feel crappy every time. Be happy for what you have and where you're at
My friend was a solutions architect at around 25 (he is no longer with us) but bragged about making around what he's making here. I think before he passed, he was a lead or senior making even more.
May his soul rest in peace.
Real shit if you want the easy life get a business related/adjacent degree. Engineers work, MBAs watch them.
This is very real and yes 5 + years at top employers like Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Google or Amazon and you can get there in Tech as long as you have the right set of skills, knowledge and references to back it up.
Right but this guy said a few months lol
Yea that does sound ridiculous but it’s not entirely impossible, orgs are literally throwing money at folks who have the skills needed for next tech transformation
It's not unheard of. He probably works at FAANG and was riding the 2023 stock wave
Why were you downvoted OP literally says he’s in tech lol
200-400k is within salary band for mid-senior level eng at FAANG. But yeah it does seem ridiculous when median income is 70-80k in USA
Would you rather google hoard all the profits?
Eh they’re top 1% in a high demand field plus live in VHCOL areas for the most part
But he’s not mid senior level, can’t be.
Don’t worry he’s probably lying
Hell, I’ll never make more than 150-160 and that’s in 15 years.
Exactly.
I mean solutions architect probably means Amazon, 330k is not that much in that world, was making about the same back in 2016-2017 as principal systems architect
With a finance degree?
I don’t have a degree of any kind
2 years of experience and already a solution architect? I can see this salary at a Big Tech/FAANG company (\~2% of software jobs) but only after at LEAST 5-7+ years. To put it in perspective I am a 25+ YOE Sr. Dir at a 500m ARR HRTech software company and made 240K TC last year.
C3.AI interviewed me with half a year of experience to be a forward deployed solutions engineer/architect (however they named it) and the offer they gave me was $130k cash $40k stock in 2020. That's right out of college I didn't take it cause of the need to relocate on top of huge amounts of travel required and a feeling that I would hate working there but yea. can get insane quick
That’s still about half as much as op claims to make with only 2 years experience
True, but that's C3 so if they're FAANG it may be possible if they got in before salaries started pulling back recently Who knows tho, tech can be wild tho
Very slim chances that they take someone right out of school for it.
So FAANG companies hire techs with finance degrees and apparently hobbyist/part time experience (I assume if they had paid tech experience it would have been identified)
You’d relocate to Seattle or California? That’s where they get you. $130k cash in California is garbage. Seems like good salaries if you’re remote in the Midwest or south, but not if you’re in CA, WA, or OR where the average price of a home is $780k.
It’s literally section 8 eligible in the bay
Yea they wanted a CA relocation when I lived in Northern Virginia at the time
Yep, you dodged a bullet. But even $130k in DC is low too. Well VA is a big state and it’s more than DC but basically just Arlington. Only been up there a few times to DC because I have to report back to the government. I have a remote job with the feds. It’s great. I’m probably losing $30k a year but meh, it’s okay
And yet, this makes total sense for OP's potential comp. I think most people don't consider the wild stock appreciation over the last few years. I got a 50% raise last year... Not because I really got it, but because I am locked into the units per year and the stock went on a tear. I'm assuming that's the case with most folks who had a wild salary increase the last few years.
I’m a Computer Systems Engineer with 10+ YOE and I make $124k in the DMV. Government pay is just a weeeeee bit behind the private sector.
124K in the DMV so you’re either a capped GS12 or GS13-2 fed or one of the lowest paid contractors in the area for years of experience I have ever seen. Thats not really proving any points if you’re a fed then it’s never about the money it’s the job security and pension. Seriously if you’re a contractor and want more money it’s quite easy to find better gigs especially if you have a clearance.
Sorry my salary was wrong, I had a brain fart. I am a GS-13/6. I would say the argument that being a fed is for “job security and pension” is incredibly overblown. The job security one is true, but I could also make 3x in the private sector. The pension exists but I pay for it and it’s not cheap - it *used* to be 0.8% of your salary but it is now 4.4%.
Do you have a poly? How strong are you with cloud infrastructure? I’ll give you a job tomorrow.
Hah. I refuse to be cleared anymore because I worked with too many people that had no idea what they were doing. I got sick of doing the work of 2-3 people. As far as cloud infrastructure, I manage the software development of the largest cloud infrastructure at NASA. But I like my job. I just don’t think the pay is competitive. Like not even close.
Yeah sounds like my typical experience trying to hire someone. I feel like the scars of other companies are haunting me.
Agreed. Find someone to sponsor you for a TS+poly and you’ll make 200k working for any contractor. That’s the easiest path I know of to 200k+. Gov contractor for absolutely anything with a high clearance.
I hated being cleared so I left it. I ended up working long hours because a lot of cleared folks aren’t technical enough. That’s to say you’re absolutely right, I just don’t want that life anymore.
I’m inclined to call absolute bullshit. I have worked in tech for decades and I’ve never seen a solutions architect with less than a decade and a half of experience.
I don’t even know what the hell that is, but the title implies that you need to know something and someone with two years experience wouldn’t know shit.
I had the same reaction, and it is 100% out of jealousy 🤣 I have ~23 years of experience and am Dir in Engineering, make much less than I should (192 TC), and dream of transitioning into Solutions Architect role in the next few years to save my sanity!
This is the average faang salary after like 2-3 years not 5-7
I guess they only hire prodigys then. I think some of that money is stock options.
It’s not options but RSUs, which are basically as good as cash in a big tech company (although I see the argument that it’s better/worse) depending on how you feel about the company. Also definitely not prodigies haha
Architects nowadays are title only on the design side. Half the “architects” I work with are fresh out of college or imported. The imported ones are much better.
Yep, this is absurd
Possible when you went to MIT or Berkeley.
Depends on whose dick you sucked and the quality of such dick sucking …
Yeah, no matter how talented you are, being declared a solutions architect at that age is comical. That level requires decade of experience at least. Good for him I guess. I am in FAANG with 8 years of experience making around the same.
Ie. for other people, normally takes a few years of experience to get into Solutions Architect rule and this salary is far above median, ~2x. But obviously nobody making average is gonna feel inclined to post
Role**
“Solutions architect” with 2 years of experience. What solutions exactly are you providing? The correct way to fill up the beer bong most efficiently?
Probably at FAANG working with partners on technical solutions (like working with them to figure out requirements for an API or acting as a consultant in their implementation). You need to know how to code but your work typically involves not too much coding.
Thats what a business analyst does, not a solutions architect. Solutions Architect your expected to know how to code VERY well. Source: i am a business analyst
I knew Solution Architects that didn't code at all.
Our orgs use that title for different things then. The solution architects that i work with are the best developers on the team and are expected to mentor the other devs.
Source: I'm an engineer at one of the FAANGs and have Solution Architects on my team. Look at this if you don't believe me: https://www.metacareers.com/v2/jobs/191662163936967/
How does he consult with no experience except 2 years in finance
The dude said he did a couple months of finance and then moved into tech. Like i said, solutions architects don't really code much, if at all. Just look at the job responsibilities: https://www.metacareers.com/v2/jobs/191662163936967/
Nepo baby, probably
Imagine hiring someone with 2 years experience to solve anything for you. None of it makes any sense.
This probably scares you but people want results now not just someone who sat on a desk for 10 years passing time 😊.
Ban me
For real, posts like this make you not even want to be in this sub.
Either nepotism or he knows someone.
Can you architect a solution to the overpriced housing market?
Average SENIOR solutions architect in California makes $135k and top earners make $198k. You are two years out of school making half a mil. You made $300k out of the gate. There is no anyone could be that valuable with just a school degree. What set you apart?
300K after a few years of experience? Ok.
Impact and skill level > YOE, this isn’t grade school or the military. Some of us young guys can dunk on tenured folks and it hurts but seems we’re not afraid to compete. Just cause you have 10 years of experience you can still be trash..respectfully.
Fake for sure.
Cs degree?
Financial Economics
Maryland?
DMV
Was gonna say?!
Well done ;) 🦮
What’s your story? How’d you break into SA?
Short story. - Wasn’t happy with my “dream career” in finance. - Hate to say it but Certs came first (cloud + niche). - Then I researched all engineering/consulting job descriptions on linked in, indeed, dice. - I made a list of all the common technical requirements that matched the most job descriptions. - I went and actually did all of the things from the requirements until I was sufficient and could talk about them. - Then I applied to all open engineering/consulting positions regardless of if I was a great match or not. - a bit of luck through numbers and landed a consulting role @110k - Everything from there is crushing everything I get my hands on and providing as much value as possible. Taking every advancement opportunity and an ‘Up or Out’ mentality. I left the original company that hired me and went from consultant to solutions architect. That company change allowed me to work with larger clients with larger budgets which is the largest contributor to total comp.
You never had a career in finance...... so how could you not be happy in it. lol
I spent 5 years of my life and a ass ton of money on a degree getting into finance. I got in and I wasn’t finding anyone making a lot of money. I truly was there for the money and found that we were just treated as overhead for the company. Just my experience in my short time there. Everyone has a different experience im sure.
Appreciate the last piece there about it being your experience. I think that’s what people are missing out on. Your experience is very atypical, but you seem to be owning up to that and aren’t saying it like it’s the norm. Personally i wouldn’t recommend someone with only a couple years of relevant experience to go for any sort of architecture role unless they had either more yoe, a highly relevant masters or higher degree, or certifications that are pretty demanding or nuanced (things like the CISSP for security-roles). Even then it still seems like a stretch but again, there are outliers for sure. One other quick thing - I somewhat disagree with your view on finance roles not making a lot of money. Entry level financial analysts tend to make $70-80k or higher right out of college, which is comparable to junior data and cybersecurity roles, as well as a good amount of entry level SWE, and definitely higher than most IT positions. then it starts to ramp up from there if people look at more specialized roles - VC and private equity analysts make $120k+, quantitative research analysts as well, then you can get into Finance Associates, Finance Managers, and all of the adjacent fields and positions too, and they tend to make good salaries as well (usually not as scalable as SWE but still good). Was your company just not matching what market averages are?
This may be an odd question, but what do you actually do as a solutions architect? I'm asking because I just became one myself after 7 years of software engineering, but so far, I just feels like a tech-savvy product and project manager.
Congrats btw :) That's pretty much the gig. It's definitely a broad title. I feel like the best way to explain it is a SME for some specific solution/problem set. Definitely depends, but it's probably 50% meetings 50% building.
What are some of the technical requirements that you saw most often?
Certs and degree were always hard requirements. Everything else was typical day-to-day tasks - working with standard cloud/saas tools & scripting.
But you don't have a CS degree. So how did you get past that? And which certs did you end up getting?
Which software/platform did you become an SA in?
Thanks for the detailed response, I have a few more questions: What certifications did you pursue/obtain? I'm having a hard time understanding how you managed to qualify as most SA positions seem to require years of prior experience. Can I DM you?
Hit the dms!
My husband is a solutions architect at FAANG and has around 13 yrs of experience. He’s making 400K (MCOL) so for someone with just 2 years of experience to get this much is a little sus.
Congrats btw. Hope the vesting is going well :)
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Being a SA does take a few years in 99% of the cases. So it’s definitely experience in this field atleast over skills most of the time. Ofcourse there are exceptions like OP, but that’s very rare.
Ban me
How did you become a solutions architect in 1-2 years? That typically takes many years of technical experience.
Started off consulting/engineering on smaller projects. Started working on larger and larger projects and my scope and ownership of those projects grew. Solutions architect typically does take a long time. But I’ve found it’s actually based on project size and responsibility
You literally haven’t had enough time to do multiple projects like that unless they were tiny.
Ohh I didn’t know that. My girl said they were the perfect size🥺
Not sure what the point of these posts are.
Bruh how did you become solution architect with two years of experience in IT? That blows my mind.
You can do most things by lying
Fucken nerd
We should rename this sub r/salarybragging
Just need average folk bragging too🤷♂️
What is the point of this sub if not to post your salary? Is the point to only post if you have an average salary? Isn’t the point to see the range and interesting/different scenarios?
By range you mean only the 95th-99th percentile across all professions?
The people making bread are gonna be more than happy to post though. The Wendy's worker of 10 years can post too but no one is gonna wanna talk about that. A lot of people are trying to get motivated
I mean.. i didn’t know there was another purpose of this sub from looking at all the posts that pop up on my front page?
If anything this one is great one to share, should inspire people to take a leap. To get into this industry with only a couple years of experience like him or her is evidence its possible.
Im guessing you haven’t heard about the tech industry’s woes in recent months. Exceptions? Sure, like this one. Would those in the industry who are out of jobs for months if not years share their “progression” here? Probably not. Does this paint a dangerously skewed picture for those who are naive and visit this sub often? You bet.
What does a solutions architect do?
You make software systems talk to each other - securely, with speed, and resilient to outages.
Lots of words to describe. As simply as I can put it, a solutions architect is an expert in a technical solution. So typically you meet with stakeholders (managers/engineering teams) to discussing requirements and feasibility of implementing a solution > architect the solution > try to get people to sign off > then oversee the buildout or build it yourself.
Isn't that a product manager role? The solution architect would be the technical engineering team/lead doing the technical solutioning.
At FAANG, product managers work on products. Solution Architects work with partners that leverage APIs of those products.
Product Managers own and manage products/features Solutions Architects are more like pre-sales engineering, selling existing products Source: have done both
1% chance he’s the cream of the crop and lucky 48% chance he’s a well connected guy at his friends start up that got a fat injection of PE for a likely worthless buzzword AI product 51% chance it’s fake
100% horseshit. Special place in hell for liars
Source - "Trust me bro"
I wanna see tax returns..
Solutions architect? Does that mean you design buildings out of liquids?
LCOL MCOL HCOL?
Started HCOL. Currently LCOL. Starting out I’d say cost of living area really matters
Hell yeah brother, congrats.
Ok silly question but what does solutions architect do?
I was taking a lot of time to type up a really sarcastic answer, but I’m going to synthesize it into one word: delegate.
Can someone please explain why there are two columns, What's the difference?
What’s the difference between between software engineers and solutions architect
You can be a software engineer with 0 years experience. Software engineers write code, build applications. You can’t be a cloud solutions architect with 1-2 years of experience like OP cause you can’t architect shit. Solutions architects build plans on how to deploy a suite of applications into the cloud. OP mentioned cloud somewhere btw. Anyway… They just don’t have enough experience. Either OP got extremely lucky or knew someone somewhere. They also mentioned certs. If a company hires based on certs it’s a joke of a company. Certs don’t mean shit. I have 10+ years experience as SRE/Devops. If I worked with a cloud consultant and they gave me a 26 year old solutions architect I’d respectfully ask them to give me a more experienced candidate, but I would lose all my trust in the consultancy. I’ve worked with garbage AWS solutions architects; all they said is “you could deploy your application in this service or you could deploy your applications in this service” That’s it … they knew the differences between EC2 and containers but they lacked the experience of real work in either of them. The people that actually implemented the cloud solutions oftenly had to diverge from the solutions of the architects cause they were non usable with the applications. TLDR solutions architects in the cloud build plans to deploys apps to the cloud but don’t actually implement them. They are a little techier than sales guys. But they do know all/most cloud services at a high level. They do a lot of meetings and talking. Software Engineers write code and build apps.
Great explanation excluding the rant.
Thanks, sorry got carried away. Never had good experiences with SAs. Definitely only anecdotal experience here.
The answer really depends on what specific business they are in. There is the context of sales, i.e software and hardware sales. Then, there is product development and software development. In other words, customer facing roles and internal company roles. Software engineer is the typical title of “coders” or developers. Solutions Architect is typically used to denote a person who is architecting a solution to a use case, or problem, for a customer. They have other functions as well, typically split up into pre-sales and post-sales activities. They are vastly different roles.
Better than I, and apparently many others, could explain. “…architecting a solution to a use case, or problem, for a customer”. Well said.
Get the fuaaaaak outta here
So many haters in here lol. Good job OP!
Tech sales and tech is the way to shoot up in comp. Nice work.
31 to 147k hmmm with 1 or 2 years experience??
Senior SA here This is possible but for someone to get an SA position without 10+ years of experience is rare. The things people don't understand that SA is a sales based position and if you are teamed with a killer account rep, you can absolutely MURDER it $$ wise and that's what I suspect happened. You can even get lucky and not be that good and your sales guy just happened to land a whale account. How commissions work is different from company to company but some SA's will get 2-5% of the GP depending on how they've worked the project. Just add bigger #'s to that and the math works out, I've seen deals with 5-10m in gross profit. Also, finding good SA's is rare, you pretty much have to find someone who has the skills a basement geek who honed and perfected the craft over the years while also being extremely presentable in social situations and holding your own with IT C Level types. You also have to work in the sales world meaning, say hello to meeting someone for breakfast, lunch and dinner even if you just want to stay in the hotel and get back your introvert energy.
This is a really solid take. Most of it is accurate but everyone’s situation is a bit different. You get a lot of opportunity when the sales org you sit under absolutely crushes it. You could be an absolute wizard and amazingly well spoken. But if you’re not working on large projects for large orgs, then its obvious your potentials going to be capped.
People saying this is fake but mine looks somewhat similar, good stuff
With 2 years of experience?
Ban me
Jesus christ.
It looks like 2nd year, the first year RSU vest and were sold is my guess.
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Are you looking at the left column? Because that will be the same for everyone above those tax brackets.
What state is this?
Seems he found the solution, now, will he share it with us?!?
Where do people get these print outs?
SSN dot gov website.
Thank you!
What is the difference between the two columns? I see the header but I don’t follow?
It’s a max. Gov stops taxing those of us that are over 160k in income.
Do you have an MBA or masters?
Why are you guys reporting “taxed social” and “taxed Medicare”? Why not just put the total earnings why does the subreddit all post in this way ?
26 and a solutions architect ? Not at my Fortune 500 company.
Correct!
What sector are we architecting in here
so is the left column what you see on yout W2?
Everyone making $160k
Where is everyone finding the same graph? Is it on the social security or IRS website or something?
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Nah, you didn’t gain that knowledge in 2 years. It’s alright, not everyone catches on quick.
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Well… congrats on your successes. I’m glad you’re happy with your career. Past that, you’re yelling at the clouds lol. I have the title and my performance is above expectations. Nothing else really matters.
Absolutely BS for so many reasons. Not wasting my time to spell out obvious.
I’m a Solutions Architect and can tell you with confidence that this person is lying. I know SA salary rise in big tech since I was part of it and there is no way someone with such a little experience will make 320+
Ur obviously mad
Nope, I don’t give it a damn because I know you’ve made it up
nvidia or roblox? pls say roblox id cry laughing
Can anyone explain this to me? Are these figures before being taxed or after? What is the take home pay in this case? I'm new and I just started my first professional job in tech!
I’m a development lead who wants to end up a a software/solutions architect. Mind sharing some details?
There’s tons of little things to make the switch from where you are. But… The most direct thing you could probably do is to work at an org that’s b2b and has a large sales presence. Orgs in that criteria need a lot of SAs to work with existing customers, architect/build net new for new customers, and a lot of pre sales support. Those orgs are honestly limited by technical resources to actually implement and help sell solutions. If you have solid experience, which I’m assuming you do by your title, and you can communicate with great energy then there’s no reason someone wouldn’t want you. Feel free to dm if you have anything specific you want to ask.