For software engineers, geography has a tremendous effect on their paychecks. originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people … Test and quality assurance specialists are the only engineers where the supply outstrips the demand, albeit barely. Be really good at what you do. ... 6 months or 1 year or longer in a software engineering school, ... Start Startups — Lawyers don’t make startups, software developers do. Not only do you need a related internship and side projects in your field, you'll probably want to have some form of publication, whether it's a personal website/blog, or even a small book. The average salary for a Software Engineer is $106,263 in Seattle, WA. People may hate the fads, but keeping up with them is straight cash in your pocket. If you look at average engineers versus average physicians, they still make more money, but the dollars per hour and the career salary per lifetime student loans may not be so favorable. This is a good place to be. Below I've aggregated 5 lessons I learned along the way. Relax – it’s still a good career choice; it’s just not as in-demand as other specialities. In the San Francisco Bay Area, software engineers make a median salary of $142,000 – in Detroit, they make $88,0000. The higher the … People who earn 350K aren't wasting time on this sub. it doesn't come from people who actually make 350k. Millennial Money How a 24-year-old who makes $100,000 and lives with her parents spends her money. It’s worth noting that, based on this demographic data, all specialties have a long way to go until they reach gender parity. The national average salary for a Software Engineer is $92,046 in United States. Yes, I'm shallow as fuck and only care about money. Machine Learning and Data Science Engineers: The smallest specialty – and the most in-demand (more on that in the next section). Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Press J to jump to the feed. I realized that a lot of them would really excel as freelancers. Ignore the CS curriculum stuff, learn exactly what he needs to start building web or mobile apps, then skip ahead to the blogging and speaking at conferences part. How do I make a lot of money (350k+) ... what can they ask of me,someone who is trying to pivot into this from a software engineer. The summary: If you want a guaranteed 6 figure salary, you might need to change careers. I've heard many people mention that as a contract software engineer you can make 20-30% more per hour than if you were salaried - because of no benefits. There’s lots of ways to make money as a student in software, and it doesn’t necessarily require a lot of time or experience! In chemical engineering, you essentially need a running plant or a lot of money to design a plant if you had an idea for a new product. Unsurprisingly, thanks to large demand and short supply, software engineers who specialize in machine learning and data science are the highest paid. Get the latest on trending skills once a week. Software engineers also spend more time on LinkedIn, with 45 percent of them updating their LinkedIn profile recently, compared to 32 percent of the rest of the population. The sandals, the beard, the long hair he'll probably put in a ponytail. In essence, what the fuck would you tell your 18 year old self in order to make a shit ton of money. As with the other highest-paying jobs, physicians spend a lot of time in school, working in residencies, and just working in general – hours for a physician are long and demanding. Of course, the cost-of-living varies greatly across these regions as well. Ranked as the number two best job in technology, the number two best STEM job, and the number 13 all-around… Housing is considered affordable at 24-30% of a person's annual income. They're generally not giving away career advice for free on the internet. For experienced engineers, base salaries (not including bonuses, benefits, perks) are more like 100-250k. On the other hand, your income will be at least 3X the poverty line. Embedded and Application Engineers: These engineers focus primarily on the IoT and are one of the smallest talent pools, but also the most experienced. Focused on connecting all professionals to economic opportunity. After examining millions of LinkedIn profiles of software engineers, we found that most engineers fit into six areas, such as front-end and mobile. That means that, at $100,000 per year, you can afford up to $2,000 to $2,500 per month. But certain specialties tend to draw even more interest, meaning it’s even easier to get a job. I have a good eye for finding things that will sell well. But it's a nice theoretical situation that isn't impossible. Software engineers are highly sought after and well paid in Silicon Valley, but the actual amount they make correlates to a single number. From there you'll want to whore yourself out to the highest bidder, and never stop looking for an even higher one. Realistically, it's not going to happen. To the best of my knowledge, ... help Reddit App Reddit coins Reddit premium Reddit gifts. It's a tiny percentage of people. Does $127,000 sound like a lot of money to you? However, when I look at contractor rates on sites like glassdoor.com for senior positions, I see very low hourly rates. As a new programmer (4 months into my first job), I rely on help quite a lot (whether from SO or other places). Developers that live in high demand areas often receive many inquiries a month from recruiters and head hunters. I obviously don't have prior cloud experience. Mobile Engineers: The second-biggest specialty, and they’re also the youngest cohort – 37 percent of these engineers have less than 10 years of experience, more than any other specialty. That's because the people who are making 350k aren't sitting around on cscareerquestions. Front-End Engineers: By far the biggest talent pool, their population is more than double that of the second-biggest specialty. Ex-Google tech lead TechLead explains how much a Software Engineer makes in Silicon Valley. The other option is that he can become a prolific technologist. Here we have a screenshot from Glassdoor showing the salary and total compensation for a Google software engineer in San Francisco, CA: There are 314 salaries reported for a Google software engineer in San Francisco, so let’s assume this is the average, basically a mid-level compensation. The engineer says he used to work on OS/software issues at the cloud division of Amazon.com, and he now gets paid more to do development outside of AWS. Salary estimates are based on 256,924 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Software Engineer employees. instead, focus your energy on competitive programming. BUt let’s take a look at the next rung up. Engineers who specialize in infrastructure and cloud are low in relative supply and demand. Software engineering is a smart career choice – it’s one of the most in-demand skills in the world and American software engineers earn a median salary of $112,000. Not bad. Senior software engineer: $176,000. That means software engineers with that speciality are often swimming in opportunity. Why do software engineers change jobs so frequently? At this point in time, there are actually more positions for skillful programmers than there are people to fill those positions. How much does a Software Engineer make in Seattle, WA? Software Development Engineers typically make £42,000 a year. As you can see, 48 percent of software engineers said they recently learned a new skill, compared to 36 percent among all professionals. It takes a lot of time and effort and you won’t make the kind of money I make right away. start doing the usaco trainer since you're in high school and immediately join and start training with your university's icpc team. A software engineer applies mathematical analysis and the principles of computer science in order to design and develop computer software. With that in mind, it is easy to conclude that programming is in incredibly high demand right now, and will be for years to come.. With that much demand, not only can you make money through programming but also you can make money … data from our friends at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, tech experts agree that cloud engineering, IoT Foundations: Standards and Ecosystems, Become a Software Quality Assurance Engineer. This makes sense – while the rate of change is fast across all industries, it’s particularly rapid in the ever-changing field of tech. Just give me a pathway. I did whatever I could to help them out when they were looking for people, and made good connections because of that. You'll probably want to specialize in a highly coveted field of CS: think Data Analytics, or High-Frequency Trading. What is big money and can you make it as a software engineer without becoming a vice president, director, or entrepreneur? I had heard of people quitting their jobs and attending a bootcamp, but the more I read about it online, the more I realized that you can totally learn it all on your own if you are committed and focused. That's actually not that high. I spent over 15 years of my life as an electrical engineer before I decided to make a career transition into application software development. "If you have only a bachelor's degree and want to get on a data engineering team, I recommend you make a personal project that shows what you can do, not just what you can talk about." When they emailed me I would just quote a ridiculous rate like $200/hr and be polite about it. The Good News. Yesterday. The first thing you're gong to want to do is start developing. I know a lot of people on HN and Reddit aren't too fond of them but I love them. But all software engineers aren’t created equal and there are cities in America that pay software engineers significantly more than others. Eh, I'm treating it like, "How do you make money in this industry as fast as possible?". Senior software engineers at Google make an average total compensation of $210,000. Not only would they be able to make money, but they could get the work experience they needed to land a high paying job at the same time. You know what I'm fine with this. What can you get in San Francisco for $2,500? Like embedded and application engineers, 77 percent of infrastructure and cloud professionals have more than 10 years of experience. A good engineer bills out between $120 and $350/hr. Junior software engineer: $133,000. Test and Quality Assurance Engineers: The most gender-diverse group – and yet even there, women represent only around 30 percent of its talent pool. Anything else? There are 1.3 million people, total in the United States, who made at least $350,000 in 2016. Most online salary data is suspect due to self-reporting and selection bias. And a year or two as a "Microsoft Technical Evangelist" will do wonders with finding new job opportunities. Overall, the average “engineer” will make slightly more money than an average finance major. To top it all off, survivorship bias exists. Right in your inbox. I heard CS + MBA is a good way to get to the top. According to U.S. News and World Report, 2016 is a great year to be a software developer. Productivity tips. A huge portion of that money goes to your employer. Software engineers are highly sought after. Associate Software Engineer: Under the direction of a Senior Software Engineer, Associate Software Engineers write code, support their senior boss, and ensure software performance by running tests. I, personally, learned React before I knew what the hell I was doing. Are you looking to become a software engineer? Hey, Jesus could totally come back and he obviously would be in IT. However, I do something they cannot do, so they depend on me to make the devices that make their job easier. Now, because I speak at meetups about it, people think I'm a goddamn expert, and I've literally gotten job opportunities from it. You need to have the knowledge of a 5'th year CompSci student in your second year, a fully loaded portfolio, and potentially some freelance work done in your spare (hah) time. But all signs suggest demand is about to vastly increase – tech experts agree that cloud engineering is a must-have skill for technologists moving forward. Quite a few people get hired at companies like Microsoft simply because they're prolific and recognizable. I make a point of NOT blindly copying and pasting others code. whats a good way to get into the field. Then are are possibilities to earn much more. It’s also the least gender-diverse. One thing’s immediately clear from the Reddit data: If you’re starting out as a software engineer at Amazon, you can expect to pull down $108,000 in base salary, $70,000 in stock options, and anywhere from $64,000 to $44,000 as a bonus (which averaged to $51,142, based on the total number of … Infrastructure and Cloud Computing Engineers: They tend to be more experienced. A subreddit for those with questions about working in the tech industry or in a computer-science-related job. I'm applying as a CS major because (a. I like it more than the other option I have from my parents - medical school and b. the degree makes a lot of money). The big trade off is job security. Consider Seattle – not only is the median salary high at $132,000 annually and the cost-of-living less than the San Francisco area, it’s also the fastest growing area in the country for software engineers. Cut out the middle man if you want to get rich. if you can make it to icpc worlds lots of finance companies will want to interview you and questions like leetcode hards will be easy. The lowest specialty on the list – test and quality assurance – still has a median salary of $103,000 a year. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the cscareerquestions community. There's a lot of advice in this thread and every single one has the same problem: it doesn't come from people who actually make 350k. Salaries estimates are based on 24,997 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Software Engineer employees in Seattle, WA. What does a Software Engineer do? And you can make a lot of money. don't bother with a massive portfolio. Here is how the supply of software engineering talent stacks up relative to demand from organizations, by the six specialities: There’s the most demand for software engineers who specialize in machine learning and data science, and yet there is also the least supply. I have engineer friends who do technical consulting. Here are LinkedIn Learning courses for each one of the six main areas: Front-End Engineers: Become a Front-End Developer, Embedded and Application Engineers: IoT Foundations: Fundamentals, Securing the IoT: Designing and Testing, IoT Foundations: Standards and Ecosystems, Infrastructure and Cloud Computing Engineers: Become a Cloud Developer, Machine Learning and Data Science Engineers: Become a Data Scientist, Mobile Engineers: Become an iOS 10 App Developer, Become an Android Mobile App Developer, Topics: Quite a few people get hired at companies like Microsoft simply because they 're generally not giving away advice... Bay Area, software engineers with that speciality are often swimming in opportunity technical... Survivorship bias exists but certain specialties tend to be a software engineer is 92,046! To self-reporting and selection bias the long hair he 'll probably want to do software engineers make a lot of money reddit is start.! 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