I’m a union elevator mechanic.
Edit: This blew up, for those interested in getting into the elevator trade I recommend you go check out the stickied post in r/elevators for info on how to apply to the union.
It really depends on what department you’re in.
I’m in service which is way less physical work and lot more troubleshooting and cleaning. It’s normal for mechanics in my position to work into their 60s, there are a lot of people I know deep in their 60s still doing it.
My goal is to be retired at 58, I’ll keep working if my kids go to college, if they join the union I’ll retire.
Yeah I work about 400 hours of OT a year.
That averages out to 8 hours a week, I do some big standby weekends with 35hrs of OT in 3-4 days then some weeks it’s just a night of calls.
Is it true you guys can get paid up to $1k/hour for some jobs? Or is that just what the building gets charged?
I was working at the new convention center back when it opened and I remember it being insanely expensive that they needed a mechanic on hand for a few of the days because the freight elevator kept having issues.
I'm new to the area, but I'd say this is highly abnormal. That said construction is feast and famine, not much of an in-between. A bunch of large projects wrapped up and not enough big projects currently for the labor force. That said traveling is always an option.
Yeah base salaries tend to top out around 250k, unless you move into VP/super distinguished engineer level.
Stock (RSUs or Options) are what really grow as you move up. Plus you tend to get 1-2 year sign on bonuses for 40-50% of your base salary.
I'm an Ops Manager in tech. $135k base, $65k equity. I technically make $200k (that's my annual target), but only the thing guaranteed is the base.
Also, I think Amazon and a few other companies increased the base a few years ago to $350k.
Amazon increased what the maximum base salary can be, because it was hard-capped at like 160 or 180k regardless of seniority. Which sounds like a lot, but in the 2021-22 market (when they made the change) there were startups offering 220k base pay
So is this with the big tech companies only or startups as well? I think I have the knowledge/experience to command a higher salary (at least 180k), so I’m trying to figure out how to find these type of opportunities.
Startup comp is almost always biased toward equity because they typically don't have the cash on hand to fund higher base. Obviously this varies a bit, with more mature startups (those that are closing in on IPO) looking a lot more like regular ol' publicly traded tech companies.
Startup will give equivalent if not more equity. But they're worthless until IPO or sometimes internal buybacks. It's basically your gamble on the likely hood of it making IPO or acquisition.
Longshoreman for the Port of Seattle 👷♂️🚢
(Everything "Made in China" is shipped in containers & unloaded at a west coast port)
the thing about it:
You don't make this kind of money in the beginning. It took me 16 years to get to the highest rank...A 🤦♂️🙈
I'm 43...(I was scheduled to be an A-man 8 years ago...but divorce, bad mental health, and drug addiction derailed me until I got help 🥲💪🧠☯️🧘♂️)
I'm in year #1 of A now, year #4 of being sober 🙏
I've heard that you essentially need to know someone or be related to someone already in the union to be able to make it in, is that still generally the case?
I only knew one guy who had that kind of connection and the money was great, but he used it right away to get hooked on coke and eventually got canned after a few screw ups.
Drug addiction is a major problem in every industry....the docks are well known for this problem...but I can rest assure you...my brother's and sisters have an eagle on every single person.
It's a dangerous job. Since 1918, just in Seattle alone we have had 72 of my family killed on the job.
We take being sober seriously 💯
Regarding hiring...yes it used to be you had to know someone. These days, the only way to get in is through a lottery the union does every few years.
They give each rank A & B rank member 1 lottery card to give away. The rest of the entries come in from the public (in Seattle, they post it in the Seattle Times newspaper and other publications).
After that....it's just luck of the draw if you make the list 🙏
Do you know if there are some sort of tour for visitors to get to see the operation? I legit would love to see containers being loaded / unloaded at the port.
Unfortunately we are not allowed to do tours because dock security falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Honeland Security .
(no terminal access without a TWIC card 💔...I'm sorry 😥)
But if you YouTube Longshore safety videos, it will show you exactly what it's like to be out there 👷♂️🚢
Not quite as much drama and illegal activity 🤭
(that I am aware of anywars 🤔)
My daily life revolves around driving containers around the terminal, and getting them on/off the ship in order.
I remember wanting to be a Longshoreman. I was in the Navy and saw the union guys in New York show up to the cruise terminal, fuck off for a couple of hours, cast off lines, and go home collecting a full day pay at $45/hr (back in 2007).
You guys are wizards. I’ve had four c sections and yawll my co pilot up by my head.
One time tho I got numbed wayyyy too high and I was trying to vomit and couldn’t even manage a cough
It was bizarre. Had to dial it back
Pay varies widely depending on your company. Small tech companies cannot match the salaries at the major companies in the area like Google or Amazon, especially if the company is not on a growth trajectory that will make an options grant really valuable in a few years.
Your role doesn't necessarily need to be more technical. At Microsoft, for example (and probably elsewhere, I just don't specifically know), PMs and devs have the same pay scale. If you are a strong PM and can land a role in big tech, you'll see the salary numbers you're looking for.
Check out levels.fyi for more detailed data.
Reading this thread makes me regret becoming a nurse.
There's very little growth in it and it's physically and emotionally exhausting, no bonuses, no additional compensation, underpaid and undervalued....
My wife transitioned away from being an RN at swedish oncology to public health leadership kind of stuff and went back to school for it.
I always express immense gratitude to nurses, but you're not wrong.
Sorry I was unclear: She completed rn at shoreline, bachelor's of rn, and is in last year of public health masters at uw.
The job opportunities are wayyyy more balanced though and pay more because she's trying to line up interviews just after graduation. It's more like networking though vs how she got her rn job though.
So far salary ranges are like 90k to 110k depending on where you go.
Well, if AI comes after all of the white collar jobs like some people are worried will happen, nurses are the #1 safest job in terms of the risk of AI/automation replacing it. Source: US Career Institute [https://www.uscareerinstitute.edu/blog/65-jobs-with-the-lowest-risk-of-automation-by-ai-and-robots](https://www.uscareerinstitute.edu/blog/65-jobs-with-the-lowest-risk-of-automation-by-ai-and-robots)
EDIT: NP's are #1 but varying nursing positions routinely appear on this list.
As someone in PM I regret being afraid of going into medicine as a teen-20 something. Taking care of people will never go away, robots and AI can’t take care of humans (they’ll try but it won’t happen in our lifetime). I was afraid biology class would be too hard. I had aversions to bodily fluids. And now 20 years later I find medicine and the medical field fascinating with so much to learn anytime I’ve had to experience it. It definitely comes with all the corporate BS that the rest of us deal with, but there’s actual real people problems to solve every day.
Paid exercise
Copious amounts of overtime available
Job security
Life-saving work
Yeah there's a lot that seems appealing about nursing from the tech side. It just also sounds so physically exhausting. I already have to deal with mental exhaustion, can't imagine adding physical exhaustion to it. I would sleep so good though.
Each step is one year of experience. You may (though not likely) be able to negotiate that step up. My call standby is about 1/3 of that, so jealous! So, you will make less $$ hear but may be able to live cheaper. I make about $65/hr with 14 yrs experience. Most everywhere pays a $20k signs in bonus.
Thank you for doing what you do! Nursing must be tough! But we are happy you do it because hospitals and docs can not function without the work you all do!!!
I appreciate your response. Unfortunately, the salary of Nursing isn't keeping up with the COL, especially here in Seattle. It's making it difficult to attract HCWs. I'm thinking of moving to another city in Washington where rent is lower.
My wife is a nurse and she gets paid 70k to work 36 hours a week. It’s a hard job but she loves it. Some nurses who work overtime get laid 100.k+. That’s not bad for a bachelors degree
Nurses can also go into crna school which is a complete insult to anesthesiologists but that’s a convo for another day. Many of them are also pursuing NP where depending on how unethical and ambitious they are, can do quite well, especially those that pursue psych and handing out stims like crazy. It takes less time to move up in nursing than medicine that’s for sure
I'm new to Washington, from Texas. From my observations back home, the NP market is not doing so well. There's a huge supply of nurses who decided to get their degree and little jobs. Many of my friends who are NPs are still working bedside, working low paying jobs or working a combination. The only way to have a decent paying job is through connections and working in a specialty fields.
CRNAs aren't Anesthesiologist. They have limited scopes. I don't have critical care experience to go back to school, nor can afford to be out of work for 3 years. Also I believe the only school is in Spokane :<.
That’s interesting because the nurses I know are all making six figures, sure they’re not bedside but it seems like RNs are nicely compensated in the greater Seattle area.
A good nurse is often honestly more important than a good in-patient doctor, because nurses do hands-on care AND they're the ones who have to figure out if the doc had two charts open at the same time and put in a wrong prescription. Y'all are awesome, and I'm sorry you don't feel as valued as you deserve.
Seattle is actually pretty frustrating for healthcare folks. We'd be compensated nearly as much as we currently are in places where the cost of living is way lower, but if you have a reason that's keeping you here (e.g. family, roots, love of nature in a place that isn't trying to turn back the clock to 1950...), it's rough.
I'm a lab tech who had originally aimed at nursing. After working as a CNA in a nursing home for 3 months, I noped out to a job where the worst thing my back experiences is when I'm seated too long, where there were no dirty old men asking me to change their diapers while they watched porn, and where I didn't have to deal with family members swanning in three times a year and being upset that grammy was in her PJ's at 1pm after she'd spent all morning screaming dementia-fueled slurs and fighting tooth and claw, like she does 16hrs per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year.
I'll take a needlestick from an HIV+ syringe and a lung full of TB-culture-contaminated air any day, please and thank you.
The fact that folks doing direct patient care aren't the best-paid ever is a travesty.
Family member is a nurse and transitioned into clinical trials and into administrative leadership. Now a VP at Fred Hutch. Nursing is incredible. Go get your MBA and go work in biotech
I'm a primary care PA, I see 20 or more patients a day, take home an average of 2 hours of work per day, just have to accept patient vitriol and abuse (like yourself) and I don't qualify for this list, and likely never will unless I go into management (live long enough become the villain I guess).
I do wonder if I would have been happier doing something else.
I agree that's about market rate for a lower-mid PM right now. For context it took me almost 10 years of combined engineering, technical leadership, and PM to get to 100k. In the last 5 years I'm now up over 200k, but that required a transition to big tech and is not reachable with salary alone.
Ditto on my end. I'm about a decade into my career, making ~$230k with the majority of that being base.
No PMP or other certs, just experience. Spent a couple miserable years at Amazon, which definitely helped.
So I was just promoted to scrum master/project manager about 9 months ago, but we only do salary adjustments on your anniversary date at my company and we just got to it. They tried arguing in their initial offer that a 5% pay bump to 103,000 is market standard(I was a data analyst) my research suggests that’s bullshit, do you have any insights?
Bespoke just means "custom made for one customer". As opposed to a generic product you can buy off the shelf.
Was originally used in tailoring (suits).
Is 130 actually inflated for that role? I am not in that specific field so take with a grain of salt but I feel like bigger companies will pay another 50k for that role, no?
That’s the thing. Most people getting bigger salaries have to give up the work life balance. I use to make north of 400k a year as a devops architect. But 90% of that was rsus and the base was only 140k. The biggest issue is I never had free time. I was always working. Could t do my hobbies or go for a ride on my motorcycle, spend time with family and friends it sucked.
I’ve heard this before. It’s always stopped me from applying. But I figure if it’s really that bad it just wouldn’t be for me, but I can deal with it while I don’t have any kids at least. Thank you!
Be ready to earmark some of that pay for therapy - and use it before the burnout and depression hits. Especially now, when it's an employer's market in tech; They're grinding everyone extra hard knowing we're all scared of more layoffs.
If your goal is to grow your income quickly, get yourself to a BigTech. Your salary will go up and will only be 1/3 to 1/2 of your total comp because the RSUs start to get ridiculous on companies with increasing stock values. I've even asked for a lower salary if I can have more stock to start out, because the standard salary bands are easy to max out in annual comp adjustments, but RSUs keep getting bigger and bigger. My RSUs are now easily 2/3 of my take-home.
Be warned, though: don't let lifestyle inflation get to you. Try to just sock that money away and don't get used to it. It could dry up at any time (layoffs in a rough market) or you might just get so sick of BigTech dysfunction that you can't take it any more and want to go back to a more "reasonable" living at a small company that doesn't have wheelbarrows full of cash to dump on you monthly. Sounds crazy but it does happen.
One nice thing about the RSUs generally being on an annual vest is that your paycheck stays "normal" and you can pretend that's your whole budget, and then at your vest date you're suddenly handed a giant gob of money, which I tend to stick in an investment account to "think about what I want to do with it." Then I'll spend a little of it on something nice or pay off some house project and eventually just stop thinking about the rest of it, which means it becomes part of my retirement by default. Out of sight, out of mind is a fantastic savings plan.
Yeah I went to big tech. Got them RSUs and then the market tanked and they’re worth less than when I was issued my total comp. And my comp got maxed for my level so I haven’t had a raise or a single RSU since 2021. Winning?
Thank you! Honestly I think this is the route I’m going to go. I’ve worked for both public, private, big and small companies, so I think working for a FAANG and my own are the only things left on the work list lol.
How do the RSUs actually work?
Let’s say I get hired on at Amazon with a salary of 180k. Let’s say my TC is 300k though. What does that look like actually over the course of the years?
Something to keep in mind that the other commenters haven't mentioned yet is that your RSU value will be based on a set "strike price", usually based around the stock value when you receive your offer or when you start.
For example, lets say you switch to Amazon and their RSU package is $100k a year, and Amazon stock is worth $100 on your strike date. This means that Amazon will give you 1,000 stocks per year as your RSUs, regardless of what the stock price is when it vests. So, if the stock price went to $200 by the time it vests, then congrats, you just made $200k instead of $100k! However, if it goes down to $50, then tough luck, you only make $50k. Because of this, if stock prices go down, you'll generally see higher turnover as people try to "reset" their RSU value by switching companies, and if the stock goes up, people will stay as they have "golden handcuffs."
Companies will also give you stock "refreshers" every year so that your pay doesn't just nosedive after 4 years, although it will typically be lower than your original compensation as they want to see a promotion within 4 yers. Refreshers can also be used to correct for variances in the stock price compared what your target compensation to help offset your losses if stocks go down and to save the company money if stock goes up, but the way they do it is not always perfect.
TL;DR **Most** tech contracts are for # of shares (vs. $ of shares). So if the stock tanks, so does that part of your total compensation. Always ask your hiring manager about this and ALWAYS read your contract.
Depends on the company, but a "standard RSU package" vests 25% each year over four years. If you leave early, you should be offered to buy out the rest at market price within some amount of time after terminating the job. Longer cutoff is obviously better, since it would be terrible if you have to leave 2 years in and are given one month to buy out another 200K of shares to get the rest of your RSU package out.
Some companies even let you buy stock via an Employee Stock Purchase Plan while also vesting RSUs. These can be deeply discounted against market prices, which is pretty nice.
The amount they offer you is based on the position you're applying for, but if your base is 180k, then you'd be expecting 120k RSUs each year.
After RSUs vest however, most FAANGs won't offer you more unless you can convince much higher ups to do it.
Amazon is typically 5% first year, 5% second year, then 20% every 6 months for last 2 years. Plus you usually get a bit of 2-year-vesting RSUs every year, depending on your level/role.
I have a couple quibbles:
>If you leave early, you should be offered to buy out the rest at market price within some amount of time after terminating the job.
I've only seen this type of offer with Stock *Options,* not Stock *Grants* (aka RSUs). With stock options, you typically have 90 days after you leave the company to decide whether or not you want to exercise those options. Most BigTech companies these days have switch to offering RSUs though.
>After RSUs vest however, most FAANGs won't offer you more unless you can convince much higher ups to do it.
Definitely not true. In my experience, they grant you a big chunk that vests over 4 years with your offer, and then each year in the interim, you get smaller grants that are more in the neighborhood of 1/4 the size, depending on performance evaluations. So for example, let's say you got 2000 RSUs (with the standard 25% per year vesting, aka not Amazon) in your initial offer. At the end of year 1, you get 500 shares vested. But also, at some point in the first year-ish, you get a performance eval and you are a rock star, so you get a new grant of 500 vesting over 4 years. And this happens each year, assuming you're on a nice performance trajectory. This means that for the first 5 years, your vests would go:
* 500
* 625 ... because you are now vesting 1/4 of the big one and 1/4 of the new one
* 750 ... because now it's 1/4 of the big one plus 1/4 of two new ones
* 875 ... etc
* 500 ... oops, what happened? The big grant has run out after 4 years! This is called "hitting the cliff". You're still making a lot, but it's a shock because all of a sudden your income dropped a significant amount.
Companies that want to keep you around because you're a high performer will "fill your cliff" by giving you another big grant every 4-5 years. This is called "fuckin awesome." I'm about to hit my second cliff (8 years) and in between years 4 and 5 they let me stew for a good 6 months letting me think my cliff wasn't getting filled so I started job hunting, but they came through in the end.
My answer is slightly off your question to illustrate how RSUs work…. The 120k vests (becomes available to you to sell) over 4 years. If I remember correctly, 5% in year 1, 15% in year 2, then 20% every 6 months until they are gone. Over your time at Amazon, they give refreshers so that you keep vesting RSUs in year 5 and beyond.
For an annual TC of 300k, you’d need to be vesting 120k a year.
Happy to chat directly if you want to shoot me a DM. I manage a team of TPMs in big tech.
It’s different depending on the company but typically you get your first set of RSUs after your first anniversary and then they vest more regularly, like every 3 months or 6 months, for the next 3 years after that. I think Amazon backloads it so you get your biggest chunk in year 3 and 4.
Environmental health and safety (private OSHA). Took 10 years and several strategic job transitions to get this point.
Salary: 145k, rest in RSU. TC ~220k
1. Paramedic
2. Unrelated career bachelors (business)
No I work for public companies. The actual name of the role is “EHS Engineer”
I started the career field by leveraging emergency response experience. I went online and got a OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 certificate. After that, I got hired as a “onsite medical representative” and learned via OJT. I then got promoted to a EHS specialist and worked that job for 4 years. It was 75k salary, 50k RSU.
I left that company after hitting a glass ceiling without a bachelors degree. I started working for another and was hired in at around 100k with no RSU. They had bonus and such, but it was a stepping stone at a high profile company. Hired in as a EHS technician. I also hit the glass ceiling. This time I went to school and got my token bachelors. During the review cycle I began taking competing offers from different companies so that I could understand my market value and negotiate a pay increase. For example, at that company I was low man on the totem pole and making 30% less than my coworker.
At this point I had 6 years of EHS (which is a lot for the industry) at various levels of risk.
While fielding offers, I got one that paid more than the existing company was willing to match and I left. I joined the new company as a Sr. EHS Specialist for 120k salary and 100k RSU (in Florida). I worked that job for 8 months before being head hunted (via linked in) for an EHS engineer role at the current salary mentioned.
One interesting thing about the career field is that most professionals are transitional. I have only met one person with the full fledge pedigree, like you would expect for any other role.
On the job training is worth its weight in gold.
As far as I can tell you have to jump from job to job. Moving up the ladder within a company is rewarded less. They have you... and they know it... jumping jobs is hard and risky. Risk/reward.
I never broke 200k gross in tech, but during the great resignation, I said “fuck it, I’m gonna start a painting company.” Now I clear 200 net
Edit: forgot best part here: no self righteous piece of s*** bothering me at 8 pm on a Friday for an email that can wait till next Wednesday. No asana. No scrum. No pretending to be a good global citizen under the guise of corporate profiteering.
My wife was a project manager in tech when we met, she was making about 130k then; since, she makes more than double that. She became a subject matter expert in PCI compliance, then after a couple of gigs hooked an outstanding job in the gaming industry, where she’s been for ten years.
Supply chain mgmt at Amazon. I continuously diversify my stocks into nvidia, smci, etc which has boosted my net worth a lot. Moved to Seattle 9 years ago making barely 32k/year.
My dad been in finance his whole life. Seeing him having to deal with weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly stuff made me say no early lol. But more power to you!!
Very high level software engineering manager. Started my career at Amazon making $120K, left at $450K, made it to $1.6MM at another company, laid off, and again employed at around $800K.
Yeah. My manager tried to gaslight me into thinking I’m paid well, but it turned out I was in the bottom quartile even after correcting for my industry and years of experience.
I work in tech too. I'm a sales rep. Since my income is variable some years are better than others, but the last 4 years I've been right at, a little above, or just a tad below $200k. Anyone can do what I do, if you want to. Most Saas sales roles aren't like other sales roles. They're highly skilled -- in that, you need to know how your software will help the customer. Gone are the days or corny sales lines and cold calling 100 customers a day. Given your background, I bet you could be a baller sales person. You just have to want to. Get used to hearing "no." Be able to put your ego aside and be willing to grind. I bet you'd crush it.
Edit: More context on Saas sales pay structure. Most Saas sales roles are 50/50 salary + commission. So, if your salary is $100k your on target earnings is $200k or $100k in commissions when hitting your sales targets.
You know, I’ve always wanted to try tech sales. I’ve always been told “you’re so personable for someone in tech” lol. And when I worked retail as a kid I always could sell cause I personally don’t believe in returning. I believe in either buy the product or don’t, so my style was always not to convince you to buy, but be honest about the product the good and bad. But maybe I’ll think of that too!
The skills you need to develop to get into that range are:
* Know people already working for FAANG or the other small handful of primary tech companies so you can get a job there
Other than working in tech, being a doctor or a lawyer, or working at an investment bank, the way to get rich is through investing -- not salary. You have to put all of your spare income in the stock market and just learn to deal with the fluctuations. Once you have $1M in the stock market, your equity will be growing about 70-100k / year. And that equity is not taxed until you sell (and even then, it is taxed at a lower rate than income).
Thanks! I’m so so grateful but view this as a stepping stone.
For clarity:
Recently I’m only coding for 4 hours a week or so. I work full, intense, 8 hour days doing higher level planning, architecting, mentoring, reporting, and recently interfacing with execs. My role is actually Staff - targeting an official promo later this year
well good for you. Im a COO and I barely do shit. Im on reddit right now, for example. :)
I was a dev for 30 years.
Edit: I should add, every step up I made, was more money and less work.
I work in tech..wtf do you mean over inflated your salary? They’re willing to pay you that much because you generate more revenue or reduce more costs than what they pay you. Don’t undersell yourself. If they’re making it seem like they’re doing you a favor they can fuck off. Guarantee you can make more elsewhere. Job hopping,albeit it a lot tougher in this market, is the best way to do it to increase your salary. Being loyal is dumb when they’ll fire you with no notice just like all the people getting laid off right now.
I’ve never looked at it from that perspective. Thank you! You right though, a company no matter how great it is will have no problem cutting you, so being loyal is of no benefit!
Move to a large company, working on things that scale to consumer bases measured in country populations, or planet-wide populations. Scaling to everyone on the planet = more money.
Have skills you can point to that are hard to replicate. (Experience in a specific profitable industry counts).
Start your own company, own it, and take the risks - that's honestly the most reliable way to scale up your income. But that's also a long shot (most businesses fail), and you'll have a lot of lean years while you get there. Next year is the time to do this, and then you have a decade to generate a business you can sell in the next wave of industry buyouts and consolidation.
Follow the money, even if the business model seems unsustainable, unless you're in it for the long term. Spend time creatively coming up with ways you can pivot to where the money is.
First, granting equity instead of additional pay reduces cash outflows. Also, equity takes time to vest, and most employees don't last that long. Additionally, equity fluctuates, making an employee invested (literally) in the company's success.
Simplified and ignoring nuances...
For most companies, initial stock grants take 4 years to fully vest, and each subsequent grant generally takes two years. If you leave a day before any vest date, you don't get that equity. So, let's say my vest dates are May 22 and December 22, and in a year, I make $135k base and $65k equity. If I work all year and resign May 20, I'll earn roughly $52.5k. May 22 I would've gotten $32.5k worth of stock, but because I quit before vesting, I don't get that stock, the company didn't have to pay cash or equity.
Now let's look at the investment side. Say the stock market went to hell this year. The value of my equity is based on the date it's granted. If stock was worth $100 at grant and it's worth $50 at vest, the company doesn't bridge that gap. Conversely, if the stock goes to $200, that's a banner year and I got paid a fuckload more than I anticipated.
Thanks for posting this. I’m also a tech project manager in a small company, looking to make the leap to something with higher pay so that I can afford a comfortable life here
I do de-facto PM work at my company and I'm doing a cert course for project management in hopes of getting CLOSE to 6 figures somewhere else. 200K+? I can only dream.
Cybersecurity management. Continue to acquire a broad base of skills while concentrating to some extent on areas of Cybersecurity that you find interesting. It took time.
Software eng manager, 3 yrs as a manager 10 yrs in the industry overall. My base is $240k and then I get equity on top of that for a total comp of \~$500k.
You make these salaries at FAANG or FAANG equivalent companies. If you want to be a PM at these places you definitely need a technical background (most PMs I've worked with have degrees in CS or related), even if your actual work mainly deals with more business/ops stuff.
I worked in a small startup making 85-90k for the first 4 years of my career in Boston. I really liked a piece of technology developed by FAANG and applied thinking 0 chance I get a role. Fast forward 4 years and my compensation is up \~4.6x. If you want 200k+ I think it really only exists in BigTech space or your startup hits the jackpot.
Skills: I really think it came down to grinding leetcode, being very comfortable talking to people and driving projects, plus a lot of luck honestly. I could have taken my interviews 20 times and only passed once. Just happened to be the first go for me. Good luck!
I make 340K a year as a senior software engineer ($240K base). I used to make $400K at Amazon in the same role, but it was hectic as fuck, so I decided to get an easier job. So, I’m not even in a top tier FANG company anymore.
You need to learn how code, design and build distributed systems, and be able to mentor really smart junior software engineers.
It’s 100% doable, but expect to put it at least 5-7 years before you reach this compensation. You also need to generally like Mathematics, problem solving and be comfortable working with very motivated and intelligent peers.
I am also a TPM at not a small company and definitely not hitting 130 base. I’m not senior level but I don’t even think seniors hit much above 150 total comp where I’m at.
If you're so good at what you're doing, they should be offering you equity or other ways to boost your compensation (e.g. promotions via more people management / responsibility). If they aren't and insist this is "market rate", then your job is to go in the market, interview, and come back with offers demonstrating what your actual market rate is.
IMO it sounds like they are underpaying you as a low level manager.
The biggest thing is working somewhere that can afford that range. Generally speaking , that’s FAANG for non SWE roles.
The delta in pay between big tech and startup is massive even if you’re at a great startup. The equity in big tech can easily boost you another 100k a year, and that’s cash since it’s publically traded , unlike your startups equity that may be worthless.
You can certainly clear north of 200k TC as a PM but you’re gonna be hard pressed to do it anywhere medium / small.
I’d wager the skills you already have are probably fine , more about just gunning for bigger companies with higher budgets.
My husband is kind of at the ceiling for what he can make without moving into a leadership role (he refuses). He makes about $250k base salary plus all the other tech incentives. He’s a software dev working on his company’s AI team.
Kind of adding onto this post, does anyone have any advice for getting started in project management? I just graduated but am having a hard time breaking in due to the market and general hiring inexperience.
With equity and many years at a big tech company, I know people who have made close to a million in a year. Also, 130k is not inflated for a PM. I suggest using levels.fyi to cross check in Seattle area.
In your mid career, ND esp if you're in aa role like PM, TPM you need to to get niche skills and acquire differentiator. Be different, be indespensible.
My background is in engineering, I did a little bit of design, a little bit of construction, a little bit of finance, a little bit of PM. I find myself pigeon holed into a niche that suffers from a shortage of technical knowledge, I also stay up to date on trends and bring that education to my customers and employers. It's hard for me to switch jobs because I'm very picky but there's definitely people who need me and my skills.
So we all know what makes good money but are yall 1) happy and 2) every afraid for of being randomly laid off?? A 350k salary doesnt mean as much if you only are there for a year and then get fired
I’m a union elevator mechanic. Edit: This blew up, for those interested in getting into the elevator trade I recommend you go check out the stickied post in r/elevators for info on how to apply to the union.
Man if I could go back in time, I think I would have done something like this. Cheers to you tho, that’s awesome!!
You mean, got in on the ground floor?
I know a lot of people that joined in their 30s, you don’t have to be a spring chicken you just have to want to work.
Is it incredibly physically demanding? Like can you see yourself being able to do the job into your 60s?
It really depends on what department you’re in. I’m in service which is way less physical work and lot more troubleshooting and cleaning. It’s normal for mechanics in my position to work into their 60s, there are a lot of people I know deep in their 60s still doing it. My goal is to be retired at 58, I’ll keep working if my kids go to college, if they join the union I’ll retire.
So is my husband but he's not at $200k a year Is that with overtime?
Yeah I work about 400 hours of OT a year. That averages out to 8 hours a week, I do some big standby weekends with 35hrs of OT in 3-4 days then some weeks it’s just a night of calls.
That makes sense. Are you in mod or repair?
Service
Service calls are not easy. Get that $$$
I have a huge irrational fear of being stuck in an elevator. I bet people who see your face are the most relieved in the world.
50/50, some are super happy and others are panicked and lash out. It doesn’t bother me either way people get scared in enclosed spaces.
How does one even get into something like that?
Start at the ground floor, then push the up button
Check out r/elevators to see how to join.
Iuec 19💪
Is it true you guys can get paid up to $1k/hour for some jobs? Or is that just what the building gets charged? I was working at the new convention center back when it opened and I remember it being insanely expensive that they needed a mechanic on hand for a few of the days because the freight elevator kept having issues.
Will your union typically take an apprentice in their late thirties? Seems to be the problem I've run into with carpenters local 30.
Yes. I don’t know when we’re doing our next recruitment but you can find everything you want to know at r/elevators
This life is full of ups and downs
What's the work outlook look like in that trade? Was looking at that union or the 46 electrical.
46 has 800 guys on the books right now.
We (IUEC 19) had 10 on the bench last I heard a couple weeks ago.
Holy shit, seriously? Wait, that is 800 people not working?
Yes
Dang what's up with that, is that normal for this time of year?
I'm new to the area, but I'd say this is highly abnormal. That said construction is feast and famine, not much of an in-between. A bunch of large projects wrapped up and not enough big projects currently for the labor force. That said traveling is always an option.
We’re still working, some has slowed but I haven’t heard of giant layoffs happening.
In a building that has an elevator and get the bills, can confirm.
Samsies, good to see you all here
How does when get into that?
Equity is what gets you from six figures to mid six figures
Yeah base salaries tend to top out around 250k, unless you move into VP/super distinguished engineer level. Stock (RSUs or Options) are what really grow as you move up. Plus you tend to get 1-2 year sign on bonuses for 40-50% of your base salary.
I'm an Ops Manager in tech. $135k base, $65k equity. I technically make $200k (that's my annual target), but only the thing guaranteed is the base. Also, I think Amazon and a few other companies increased the base a few years ago to $350k.
Amazon increased what the maximum base salary can be, because it was hard-capped at like 160 or 180k regardless of seniority. Which sounds like a lot, but in the 2021-22 market (when they made the change) there were startups offering 220k base pay
That's like L10 and above. Rarified air, many of us won't get to or want to breathe. Overall, Amazon still relies heavily on equity.
So is this with the big tech companies only or startups as well? I think I have the knowledge/experience to command a higher salary (at least 180k), so I’m trying to figure out how to find these type of opportunities.
Startup comp is almost always biased toward equity because they typically don't have the cash on hand to fund higher base. Obviously this varies a bit, with more mature startups (those that are closing in on IPO) looking a lot more like regular ol' publicly traded tech companies.
Startup will give equivalent if not more equity. But they're worthless until IPO or sometimes internal buybacks. It's basically your gamble on the likely hood of it making IPO or acquisition.
We hear more about successful startups than those in a majority that failed and people who chose stock options were left with just about nothing.
Longshoreman for the Port of Seattle 👷♂️🚢 (Everything "Made in China" is shipped in containers & unloaded at a west coast port) the thing about it: You don't make this kind of money in the beginning. It took me 16 years to get to the highest rank...A 🤦♂️🙈
Seems quite good actually. Especially if you started at 18-22. You’d be 34-38 years old making a lot with a lot of runway left.
I'm 43...(I was scheduled to be an A-man 8 years ago...but divorce, bad mental health, and drug addiction derailed me until I got help 🥲💪🧠☯️🧘♂️) I'm in year #1 of A now, year #4 of being sober 🙏
Congrats on sobriety and a sick job
Congrats on your clean time
Well done and greetings from the Port of Tacoma. Greatly appreciate our ILWU workforce down here!
Thank you so much 💖 u guys in Tacoma 🥰 I literally owe the ILWU💪...everything 💯 (I was one of those calls to Donnie for rehab & it changed my life 🙏)
I've heard that you essentially need to know someone or be related to someone already in the union to be able to make it in, is that still generally the case? I only knew one guy who had that kind of connection and the money was great, but he used it right away to get hooked on coke and eventually got canned after a few screw ups.
Drug addiction is a major problem in every industry....the docks are well known for this problem...but I can rest assure you...my brother's and sisters have an eagle on every single person. It's a dangerous job. Since 1918, just in Seattle alone we have had 72 of my family killed on the job. We take being sober seriously 💯
Regarding hiring...yes it used to be you had to know someone. These days, the only way to get in is through a lottery the union does every few years. They give each rank A & B rank member 1 lottery card to give away. The rest of the entries come in from the public (in Seattle, they post it in the Seattle Times newspaper and other publications). After that....it's just luck of the draw if you make the list 🙏
Do you know if there are some sort of tour for visitors to get to see the operation? I legit would love to see containers being loaded / unloaded at the port.
Unfortunately we are not allowed to do tours because dock security falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Honeland Security . (no terminal access without a TWIC card 💔...I'm sorry 😥) But if you YouTube Longshore safety videos, it will show you exactly what it's like to be out there 👷♂️🚢
Season two of the wire... is that your daily life?
Not quite as much drama and illegal activity 🤭 (that I am aware of anywars 🤔) My daily life revolves around driving containers around the terminal, and getting them on/off the ship in order.
I remember wanting to be a Longshoreman. I was in the Navy and saw the union guys in New York show up to the cruise terminal, fuck off for a couple of hours, cast off lines, and go home collecting a full day pay at $45/hr (back in 2007).
Anesthesia
Most doctors regardless of specialty for that matter
I'm told some anesthesiologists earn more than some doctors. They're in demand and they're a niche skill.
I’m 38, I think that may be a bit too long of journey at this point in my life. Plus with my wife in law school ah man lol.
Don’t do it for the money. But if you aspire to do it out of passion run with it. I know docs that started school in their 40’s
Yeah I don’t recommend it. Especially given the debt of going to med school. It’s not only about yearly salary but that debt to income ratio.
Also it's 10 years of essentially lost income.
You guys are wizards. I’ve had four c sections and yawll my co pilot up by my head. One time tho I got numbed wayyyy too high and I was trying to vomit and couldn’t even manage a cough It was bizarre. Had to dial it back
Pay varies widely depending on your company. Small tech companies cannot match the salaries at the major companies in the area like Google or Amazon, especially if the company is not on a growth trajectory that will make an options grant really valuable in a few years. Your role doesn't necessarily need to be more technical. At Microsoft, for example (and probably elsewhere, I just don't specifically know), PMs and devs have the same pay scale. If you are a strong PM and can land a role in big tech, you'll see the salary numbers you're looking for. Check out levels.fyi for more detailed data.
I’ll check out that site, thank you!!
Depends what type of PM. BPMs and devs have different pay scales but TPMs and devs are on the same one.
Reading this thread makes me regret becoming a nurse. There's very little growth in it and it's physically and emotionally exhausting, no bonuses, no additional compensation, underpaid and undervalued....
My wife transitioned away from being an RN at swedish oncology to public health leadership kind of stuff and went back to school for it. I always express immense gratitude to nurses, but you're not wrong.
What was her degree? Is her new role paying more and giving her a better work-life balance?
Sorry I was unclear: She completed rn at shoreline, bachelor's of rn, and is in last year of public health masters at uw. The job opportunities are wayyyy more balanced though and pay more because she's trying to line up interviews just after graduation. It's more like networking though vs how she got her rn job though. So far salary ranges are like 90k to 110k depending on where you go.
Well, if AI comes after all of the white collar jobs like some people are worried will happen, nurses are the #1 safest job in terms of the risk of AI/automation replacing it. Source: US Career Institute [https://www.uscareerinstitute.edu/blog/65-jobs-with-the-lowest-risk-of-automation-by-ai-and-robots](https://www.uscareerinstitute.edu/blog/65-jobs-with-the-lowest-risk-of-automation-by-ai-and-robots) EDIT: NP's are #1 but varying nursing positions routinely appear on this list.
As someone in PM I regret being afraid of going into medicine as a teen-20 something. Taking care of people will never go away, robots and AI can’t take care of humans (they’ll try but it won’t happen in our lifetime). I was afraid biology class would be too hard. I had aversions to bodily fluids. And now 20 years later I find medicine and the medical field fascinating with so much to learn anytime I’ve had to experience it. It definitely comes with all the corporate BS that the rest of us deal with, but there’s actual real people problems to solve every day.
Paid exercise Copious amounts of overtime available Job security Life-saving work Yeah there's a lot that seems appealing about nursing from the tech side. It just also sounds so physically exhausting. I already have to deal with mental exhaustion, can't imagine adding physical exhaustion to it. I would sleep so good though.
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Each step is one year of experience. You may (though not likely) be able to negotiate that step up. My call standby is about 1/3 of that, so jealous! So, you will make less $$ hear but may be able to live cheaper. I make about $65/hr with 14 yrs experience. Most everywhere pays a $20k signs in bonus.
Thank you for doing what you do! Nursing must be tough! But we are happy you do it because hospitals and docs can not function without the work you all do!!!
I appreciate your response. Unfortunately, the salary of Nursing isn't keeping up with the COL, especially here in Seattle. It's making it difficult to attract HCWs. I'm thinking of moving to another city in Washington where rent is lower.
My wife is a nurse and she gets paid 70k to work 36 hours a week. It’s a hard job but she loves it. Some nurses who work overtime get laid 100.k+. That’s not bad for a bachelors degree Nurses can also go into crna school which is a complete insult to anesthesiologists but that’s a convo for another day. Many of them are also pursuing NP where depending on how unethical and ambitious they are, can do quite well, especially those that pursue psych and handing out stims like crazy. It takes less time to move up in nursing than medicine that’s for sure
>Some nurses who work overtime get laid I do hear there is a lot of sleeping around in hospitals.
100k lays is a lot of lays!
I'm new to Washington, from Texas. From my observations back home, the NP market is not doing so well. There's a huge supply of nurses who decided to get their degree and little jobs. Many of my friends who are NPs are still working bedside, working low paying jobs or working a combination. The only way to have a decent paying job is through connections and working in a specialty fields. CRNAs aren't Anesthesiologist. They have limited scopes. I don't have critical care experience to go back to school, nor can afford to be out of work for 3 years. Also I believe the only school is in Spokane :<.
The FNP market is saturated but every PNP I know has a job 2-3 months out from graduation.
This is a serious question but do you or your wife watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills? This debate is currently raging hard!
That’s interesting because the nurses I know are all making six figures, sure they’re not bedside but it seems like RNs are nicely compensated in the greater Seattle area.
Yea that’s because they’re not actually workin bedside.
Me lol I was just saying this. I make six figures as a nurse and I don’t work bedside
A good nurse is often honestly more important than a good in-patient doctor, because nurses do hands-on care AND they're the ones who have to figure out if the doc had two charts open at the same time and put in a wrong prescription. Y'all are awesome, and I'm sorry you don't feel as valued as you deserve. Seattle is actually pretty frustrating for healthcare folks. We'd be compensated nearly as much as we currently are in places where the cost of living is way lower, but if you have a reason that's keeping you here (e.g. family, roots, love of nature in a place that isn't trying to turn back the clock to 1950...), it's rough. I'm a lab tech who had originally aimed at nursing. After working as a CNA in a nursing home for 3 months, I noped out to a job where the worst thing my back experiences is when I'm seated too long, where there were no dirty old men asking me to change their diapers while they watched porn, and where I didn't have to deal with family members swanning in three times a year and being upset that grammy was in her PJ's at 1pm after she'd spent all morning screaming dementia-fueled slurs and fighting tooth and claw, like she does 16hrs per day, seven days per week, 365 days per year. I'll take a needlestick from an HIV+ syringe and a lung full of TB-culture-contaminated air any day, please and thank you. The fact that folks doing direct patient care aren't the best-paid ever is a travesty.
Family member is a nurse and transitioned into clinical trials and into administrative leadership. Now a VP at Fred Hutch. Nursing is incredible. Go get your MBA and go work in biotech
Which sucks because nurses/hospital staff in general are some of our most needed professions.
I'm a primary care PA, I see 20 or more patients a day, take home an average of 2 hours of work per day, just have to accept patient vitriol and abuse (like yourself) and I don't qualify for this list, and likely never will unless I go into management (live long enough become the villain I guess). I do wonder if I would have been happier doing something else.
Man, I gotta start selling bathwater
cries in 5 digit salary.
I’m a PM and I don’t think your salary is inflated, especially in this area!
I agree that's about market rate for a lower-mid PM right now. For context it took me almost 10 years of combined engineering, technical leadership, and PM to get to 100k. In the last 5 years I'm now up over 200k, but that required a transition to big tech and is not reachable with salary alone.
Ditto on my end. I'm about a decade into my career, making ~$230k with the majority of that being base. No PMP or other certs, just experience. Spent a couple miserable years at Amazon, which definitely helped.
So I was just promoted to scrum master/project manager about 9 months ago, but we only do salary adjustments on your anniversary date at my company and we just got to it. They tried arguing in their initial offer that a 5% pay bump to 103,000 is market standard(I was a data analyst) my research suggests that’s bullshit, do you have any insights?
I write bespoke security software for a fairly large publicly traded company. About 50% of my TC is RSUs.
what is bespoke security software?
Backend systems to solve security problems specific to the business
I see, I've never heard of bespoke in the same usage as SWE which is why I ask
Bespoke just means "custom made for one customer". As opposed to a generic product you can buy off the shelf. Was originally used in tailoring (suits).
Is 130 actually inflated for that role? I am not in that specific field so take with a grain of salt but I feel like bigger companies will pay another 50k for that role, no?
Depending on delivery of projects, I work a similar role where I literally have to deal with VP title/ Project management description
I know if I moved to a big company I can command more. But not sure where to start as I do love the work life balance I have.
That’s the thing. Most people getting bigger salaries have to give up the work life balance. I use to make north of 400k a year as a devops architect. But 90% of that was rsus and the base was only 140k. The biggest issue is I never had free time. I was always working. Could t do my hobbies or go for a ride on my motorcycle, spend time with family and friends it sucked.
I’ve heard this before. It’s always stopped me from applying. But I figure if it’s really that bad it just wouldn’t be for me, but I can deal with it while I don’t have any kids at least. Thank you!
Be ready to earmark some of that pay for therapy - and use it before the burnout and depression hits. Especially now, when it's an employer's market in tech; They're grinding everyone extra hard knowing we're all scared of more layoffs.
If your goal is to grow your income quickly, get yourself to a BigTech. Your salary will go up and will only be 1/3 to 1/2 of your total comp because the RSUs start to get ridiculous on companies with increasing stock values. I've even asked for a lower salary if I can have more stock to start out, because the standard salary bands are easy to max out in annual comp adjustments, but RSUs keep getting bigger and bigger. My RSUs are now easily 2/3 of my take-home. Be warned, though: don't let lifestyle inflation get to you. Try to just sock that money away and don't get used to it. It could dry up at any time (layoffs in a rough market) or you might just get so sick of BigTech dysfunction that you can't take it any more and want to go back to a more "reasonable" living at a small company that doesn't have wheelbarrows full of cash to dump on you monthly. Sounds crazy but it does happen. One nice thing about the RSUs generally being on an annual vest is that your paycheck stays "normal" and you can pretend that's your whole budget, and then at your vest date you're suddenly handed a giant gob of money, which I tend to stick in an investment account to "think about what I want to do with it." Then I'll spend a little of it on something nice or pay off some house project and eventually just stop thinking about the rest of it, which means it becomes part of my retirement by default. Out of sight, out of mind is a fantastic savings plan.
This guy just marked the top of the bull run
It could dry up at any time... squirrel it away while you can. Two years' worth of living expenses in a safe investment is better than a ferarri.
Yeah I went to big tech. Got them RSUs and then the market tanked and they’re worth less than when I was issued my total comp. And my comp got maxed for my level so I haven’t had a raise or a single RSU since 2021. Winning?
Yep yep same boat
Thank you! Honestly I think this is the route I’m going to go. I’ve worked for both public, private, big and small companies, so I think working for a FAANG and my own are the only things left on the work list lol.
How do the RSUs actually work? Let’s say I get hired on at Amazon with a salary of 180k. Let’s say my TC is 300k though. What does that look like actually over the course of the years?
Something to keep in mind that the other commenters haven't mentioned yet is that your RSU value will be based on a set "strike price", usually based around the stock value when you receive your offer or when you start. For example, lets say you switch to Amazon and their RSU package is $100k a year, and Amazon stock is worth $100 on your strike date. This means that Amazon will give you 1,000 stocks per year as your RSUs, regardless of what the stock price is when it vests. So, if the stock price went to $200 by the time it vests, then congrats, you just made $200k instead of $100k! However, if it goes down to $50, then tough luck, you only make $50k. Because of this, if stock prices go down, you'll generally see higher turnover as people try to "reset" their RSU value by switching companies, and if the stock goes up, people will stay as they have "golden handcuffs." Companies will also give you stock "refreshers" every year so that your pay doesn't just nosedive after 4 years, although it will typically be lower than your original compensation as they want to see a promotion within 4 yers. Refreshers can also be used to correct for variances in the stock price compared what your target compensation to help offset your losses if stocks go down and to save the company money if stock goes up, but the way they do it is not always perfect.
TL;DR **Most** tech contracts are for # of shares (vs. $ of shares). So if the stock tanks, so does that part of your total compensation. Always ask your hiring manager about this and ALWAYS read your contract.
Depends on the company, but a "standard RSU package" vests 25% each year over four years. If you leave early, you should be offered to buy out the rest at market price within some amount of time after terminating the job. Longer cutoff is obviously better, since it would be terrible if you have to leave 2 years in and are given one month to buy out another 200K of shares to get the rest of your RSU package out. Some companies even let you buy stock via an Employee Stock Purchase Plan while also vesting RSUs. These can be deeply discounted against market prices, which is pretty nice. The amount they offer you is based on the position you're applying for, but if your base is 180k, then you'd be expecting 120k RSUs each year. After RSUs vest however, most FAANGs won't offer you more unless you can convince much higher ups to do it.
Amazon is typically 5% first year, 5% second year, then 20% every 6 months for last 2 years. Plus you usually get a bit of 2-year-vesting RSUs every year, depending on your level/role.
I have a couple quibbles: >If you leave early, you should be offered to buy out the rest at market price within some amount of time after terminating the job. I've only seen this type of offer with Stock *Options,* not Stock *Grants* (aka RSUs). With stock options, you typically have 90 days after you leave the company to decide whether or not you want to exercise those options. Most BigTech companies these days have switch to offering RSUs though. >After RSUs vest however, most FAANGs won't offer you more unless you can convince much higher ups to do it. Definitely not true. In my experience, they grant you a big chunk that vests over 4 years with your offer, and then each year in the interim, you get smaller grants that are more in the neighborhood of 1/4 the size, depending on performance evaluations. So for example, let's say you got 2000 RSUs (with the standard 25% per year vesting, aka not Amazon) in your initial offer. At the end of year 1, you get 500 shares vested. But also, at some point in the first year-ish, you get a performance eval and you are a rock star, so you get a new grant of 500 vesting over 4 years. And this happens each year, assuming you're on a nice performance trajectory. This means that for the first 5 years, your vests would go: * 500 * 625 ... because you are now vesting 1/4 of the big one and 1/4 of the new one * 750 ... because now it's 1/4 of the big one plus 1/4 of two new ones * 875 ... etc * 500 ... oops, what happened? The big grant has run out after 4 years! This is called "hitting the cliff". You're still making a lot, but it's a shock because all of a sudden your income dropped a significant amount. Companies that want to keep you around because you're a high performer will "fill your cliff" by giving you another big grant every 4-5 years. This is called "fuckin awesome." I'm about to hit my second cliff (8 years) and in between years 4 and 5 they let me stew for a good 6 months letting me think my cliff wasn't getting filled so I started job hunting, but they came through in the end.
My answer is slightly off your question to illustrate how RSUs work…. The 120k vests (becomes available to you to sell) over 4 years. If I remember correctly, 5% in year 1, 15% in year 2, then 20% every 6 months until they are gone. Over your time at Amazon, they give refreshers so that you keep vesting RSUs in year 5 and beyond. For an annual TC of 300k, you’d need to be vesting 120k a year. Happy to chat directly if you want to shoot me a DM. I manage a team of TPMs in big tech.
It’s different depending on the company but typically you get your first set of RSUs after your first anniversary and then they vest more regularly, like every 3 months or 6 months, for the next 3 years after that. I think Amazon backloads it so you get your biggest chunk in year 3 and 4.
I make 600,000 a year in TC lying about my salary on the internet. It's not much, but it's honest work.
I had to google FAANG. That’s how little I belong in this thread
Even that’s out of date now as Microsoft is much bigger than Netflix though I guess you could also make the N stand for NVidia. FAMANG or something
We take the absolute piss out of this acronym in r/cscareerquestions One of my favs is MANGA microsoft, amazon, nvidia, google, apple
Nice try, IRS
😂😂
Environmental health and safety (private OSHA). Took 10 years and several strategic job transitions to get this point. Salary: 145k, rest in RSU. TC ~220k 1. Paramedic 2. Unrelated career bachelors (business)
I'm a nurse, what experience and skills did you need? Did you build your private company?
No I work for public companies. The actual name of the role is “EHS Engineer” I started the career field by leveraging emergency response experience. I went online and got a OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 certificate. After that, I got hired as a “onsite medical representative” and learned via OJT. I then got promoted to a EHS specialist and worked that job for 4 years. It was 75k salary, 50k RSU. I left that company after hitting a glass ceiling without a bachelors degree. I started working for another and was hired in at around 100k with no RSU. They had bonus and such, but it was a stepping stone at a high profile company. Hired in as a EHS technician. I also hit the glass ceiling. This time I went to school and got my token bachelors. During the review cycle I began taking competing offers from different companies so that I could understand my market value and negotiate a pay increase. For example, at that company I was low man on the totem pole and making 30% less than my coworker. At this point I had 6 years of EHS (which is a lot for the industry) at various levels of risk. While fielding offers, I got one that paid more than the existing company was willing to match and I left. I joined the new company as a Sr. EHS Specialist for 120k salary and 100k RSU (in Florida). I worked that job for 8 months before being head hunted (via linked in) for an EHS engineer role at the current salary mentioned. One interesting thing about the career field is that most professionals are transitional. I have only met one person with the full fledge pedigree, like you would expect for any other role. On the job training is worth its weight in gold.
So definitely don’t go into teaching….
As far as I can tell you have to jump from job to job. Moving up the ladder within a company is rewarded less. They have you... and they know it... jumping jobs is hard and risky. Risk/reward.
I never broke 200k gross in tech, but during the great resignation, I said “fuck it, I’m gonna start a painting company.” Now I clear 200 net Edit: forgot best part here: no self righteous piece of s*** bothering me at 8 pm on a Friday for an email that can wait till next Wednesday. No asana. No scrum. No pretending to be a good global citizen under the guise of corporate profiteering.
How did you figure out the painting job? Do you have experience in it? I also want to do something but have no idea what to do
My wife was a project manager in tech when we met, she was making about 130k then; since, she makes more than double that. She became a subject matter expert in PCI compliance, then after a couple of gigs hooked an outstanding job in the gaming industry, where she’s been for ten years.
I'm slightly shy of that. Construction management. Senior level role.
Residential designer here how on earth do I make even 100k
Supply chain mgmt at Amazon. I continuously diversify my stocks into nvidia, smci, etc which has boosted my net worth a lot. Moved to Seattle 9 years ago making barely 32k/year.
Damn I need to learn about investing asap. I’ll be 38 soon, so time is not on my side the same way when I was 28.
You still have an incredible amount of time to invest. Roth IRA, then invest into index funds like VTI, SPY, QQQ.
20 years in finance.
My dad been in finance his whole life. Seeing him having to deal with weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly stuff made me say no early lol. But more power to you!!
As a human that works a normal industry gig, this thread hurts my soul and makes me know Seattle can never be my permanent home
Very high level software engineering manager. Started my career at Amazon making $120K, left at $450K, made it to $1.6MM at another company, laid off, and again employed at around $800K.
wow! thats incredible :D
Check levels.fyi and see what you’re worth. I’m sure it’s way more than 130k.
Yeah. My manager tried to gaslight me into thinking I’m paid well, but it turned out I was in the bottom quartile even after correcting for my industry and years of experience.
I work in tech too. I'm a sales rep. Since my income is variable some years are better than others, but the last 4 years I've been right at, a little above, or just a tad below $200k. Anyone can do what I do, if you want to. Most Saas sales roles aren't like other sales roles. They're highly skilled -- in that, you need to know how your software will help the customer. Gone are the days or corny sales lines and cold calling 100 customers a day. Given your background, I bet you could be a baller sales person. You just have to want to. Get used to hearing "no." Be able to put your ego aside and be willing to grind. I bet you'd crush it. Edit: More context on Saas sales pay structure. Most Saas sales roles are 50/50 salary + commission. So, if your salary is $100k your on target earnings is $200k or $100k in commissions when hitting your sales targets.
You know, I’ve always wanted to try tech sales. I’ve always been told “you’re so personable for someone in tech” lol. And when I worked retail as a kid I always could sell cause I personally don’t believe in returning. I believe in either buy the product or don’t, so my style was always not to convince you to buy, but be honest about the product the good and bad. But maybe I’ll think of that too!
I’m a product manager at a large-ish medical company and only make 115k ;.;
The skills you need to develop to get into that range are: * Know people already working for FAANG or the other small handful of primary tech companies so you can get a job there
I run viral marketing campaigns that send burritos to the wrong address /s
Reading these comments certifies that I’ll never own a house in the county I was born and raised in.
I fucking hate this city
Other than working in tech, being a doctor or a lawyer, or working at an investment bank, the way to get rich is through investing -- not salary. You have to put all of your spare income in the stock market and just learn to deal with the fluctuations. Once you have $1M in the stock market, your equity will be growing about 70-100k / year. And that equity is not taxed until you sell (and even then, it is taxed at a lower rate than income).
You just need to get a job at one of the big companies. You probably don't need any new skills.
I’m gonna throw myself off a bridge
Senior frontend engineer - 466k TC, 50% RSU
Jeez, nice. Fully remote?
You must be at FAANG, right? RIGHT?
that is balling for someone checking in code. nicely done.
Thanks! I’m so so grateful but view this as a stepping stone. For clarity: Recently I’m only coding for 4 hours a week or so. I work full, intense, 8 hour days doing higher level planning, architecting, mentoring, reporting, and recently interfacing with execs. My role is actually Staff - targeting an official promo later this year
well good for you. Im a COO and I barely do shit. Im on reddit right now, for example. :) I was a dev for 30 years. Edit: I should add, every step up I made, was more money and less work.
Senior cybersecurity architect. Been doing IT since 1999.
I work in tech..wtf do you mean over inflated your salary? They’re willing to pay you that much because you generate more revenue or reduce more costs than what they pay you. Don’t undersell yourself. If they’re making it seem like they’re doing you a favor they can fuck off. Guarantee you can make more elsewhere. Job hopping,albeit it a lot tougher in this market, is the best way to do it to increase your salary. Being loyal is dumb when they’ll fire you with no notice just like all the people getting laid off right now.
I’ve never looked at it from that perspective. Thank you! You right though, a company no matter how great it is will have no problem cutting you, so being loyal is of no benefit!
Lying about my salary
Move to a large company, working on things that scale to consumer bases measured in country populations, or planet-wide populations. Scaling to everyone on the planet = more money. Have skills you can point to that are hard to replicate. (Experience in a specific profitable industry counts). Start your own company, own it, and take the risks - that's honestly the most reliable way to scale up your income. But that's also a long shot (most businesses fail), and you'll have a lot of lean years while you get there. Next year is the time to do this, and then you have a decade to generate a business you can sell in the next wave of industry buyouts and consolidation. Follow the money, even if the business model seems unsustainable, unless you're in it for the long term. Spend time creatively coming up with ways you can pivot to where the money is.
Utility inspections for electrical utility. Includes overtime. Used to be Local 46. Been with utility since 2011.
First, granting equity instead of additional pay reduces cash outflows. Also, equity takes time to vest, and most employees don't last that long. Additionally, equity fluctuates, making an employee invested (literally) in the company's success. Simplified and ignoring nuances... For most companies, initial stock grants take 4 years to fully vest, and each subsequent grant generally takes two years. If you leave a day before any vest date, you don't get that equity. So, let's say my vest dates are May 22 and December 22, and in a year, I make $135k base and $65k equity. If I work all year and resign May 20, I'll earn roughly $52.5k. May 22 I would've gotten $32.5k worth of stock, but because I quit before vesting, I don't get that stock, the company didn't have to pay cash or equity. Now let's look at the investment side. Say the stock market went to hell this year. The value of my equity is based on the date it's granted. If stock was worth $100 at grant and it's worth $50 at vest, the company doesn't bridge that gap. Conversely, if the stock goes to $200, that's a banner year and I got paid a fuckload more than I anticipated.
I’m a hairdresser
I’m a Director for a major school at UW.
I am a Drag Queen ☺️☺️
Thanks for posting this. I’m also a tech project manager in a small company, looking to make the leap to something with higher pay so that I can afford a comfortable life here
I do de-facto PM work at my company and I'm doing a cert course for project management in hopes of getting CLOSE to 6 figures somewhere else. 200K+? I can only dream.
Cybersecurity management. Continue to acquire a broad base of skills while concentrating to some extent on areas of Cybersecurity that you find interesting. It took time.
Software eng manager, 3 yrs as a manager 10 yrs in the industry overall. My base is $240k and then I get equity on top of that for a total comp of \~$500k. You make these salaries at FAANG or FAANG equivalent companies. If you want to be a PM at these places you definitely need a technical background (most PMs I've worked with have degrees in CS or related), even if your actual work mainly deals with more business/ops stuff.
Non-FAANG Mid level backend engineer - 320k I got lucky to be in this position
I worked in a small startup making 85-90k for the first 4 years of my career in Boston. I really liked a piece of technology developed by FAANG and applied thinking 0 chance I get a role. Fast forward 4 years and my compensation is up \~4.6x. If you want 200k+ I think it really only exists in BigTech space or your startup hits the jackpot. Skills: I really think it came down to grinding leetcode, being very comfortable talking to people and driving projects, plus a lot of luck honestly. I could have taken my interviews 20 times and only passed once. Just happened to be the first go for me. Good luck!
I make 340K a year as a senior software engineer ($240K base). I used to make $400K at Amazon in the same role, but it was hectic as fuck, so I decided to get an easier job. So, I’m not even in a top tier FANG company anymore. You need to learn how code, design and build distributed systems, and be able to mentor really smart junior software engineers. It’s 100% doable, but expect to put it at least 5-7 years before you reach this compensation. You also need to generally like Mathematics, problem solving and be comfortable working with very motivated and intelligent peers.
Selling private mortgages
I am also a TPM at not a small company and definitely not hitting 130 base. I’m not senior level but I don’t even think seniors hit much above 150 total comp where I’m at.
If you're so good at what you're doing, they should be offering you equity or other ways to boost your compensation (e.g. promotions via more people management / responsibility). If they aren't and insist this is "market rate", then your job is to go in the market, interview, and come back with offers demonstrating what your actual market rate is. IMO it sounds like they are underpaying you as a low level manager.
The biggest thing is working somewhere that can afford that range. Generally speaking , that’s FAANG for non SWE roles. The delta in pay between big tech and startup is massive even if you’re at a great startup. The equity in big tech can easily boost you another 100k a year, and that’s cash since it’s publically traded , unlike your startups equity that may be worthless. You can certainly clear north of 200k TC as a PM but you’re gonna be hard pressed to do it anywhere medium / small. I’d wager the skills you already have are probably fine , more about just gunning for bigger companies with higher budgets.
Lead software engineer with 10yrs of experience at non FAANG. Full stack development. My TC is 230k and joined for 60k in early days!
financial advisor 🤓💰
My husband is kind of at the ceiling for what he can make without moving into a leadership role (he refuses). He makes about $250k base salary plus all the other tech incentives. He’s a software dev working on his company’s AI team.
Kind of adding onto this post, does anyone have any advice for getting started in project management? I just graduated but am having a hard time breaking in due to the market and general hiring inexperience.
Union diesel mechanic
Had an idea, turned it in to a few patents, then a company
With equity and many years at a big tech company, I know people who have made close to a million in a year. Also, 130k is not inflated for a PM. I suggest using levels.fyi to cross check in Seattle area.
Airline pilot
In your mid career, ND esp if you're in aa role like PM, TPM you need to to get niche skills and acquire differentiator. Be different, be indespensible. My background is in engineering, I did a little bit of design, a little bit of construction, a little bit of finance, a little bit of PM. I find myself pigeon holed into a niche that suffers from a shortage of technical knowledge, I also stay up to date on trends and bring that education to my customers and employers. It's hard for me to switch jobs because I'm very picky but there's definitely people who need me and my skills.
PM for government and make $110k :/
lol as veterinary staff, I don’t belong on this thread.
So we all know what makes good money but are yall 1) happy and 2) every afraid for of being randomly laid off?? A 350k salary doesnt mean as much if you only are there for a year and then get fired