[maxwell86]

> even if you have a PhD many will see you as "less than."

Inside academia and outside of it.

Inside academia you are not on a tenure track or similar, and will have to put up with a lot.

Outside academia, your peers will be making 3x or more than you, working less hours, with less stress, etc.

The reason RSE's jobs are hard to fill and often aren't even opened is that they don't make sense. If you are good enough for an RSE job, you will be good enough for research postions at FAANG. Those pay 10x more, so you also need someone willing to not accept that 10x pay, and also willing to work double the hours.

RSEs making a reasonable pay for the skills they require make no sense either, because that would put your pay at 2x that of professors, etc.

[robbomacrae]

I'm curious which company pays a RS 10x more than a SE/RSE. I've found its usually SE/RSE's that make a bit more than RS's but I've never seen an RSE comp significantly outweigh an SE unless its in ML/Crypto.

On that note I wish levels.fyi had RS and RSE roles...

[exdsq]

This isn't totally crazy but it's only if you stretch the facts enough. An RSE at Oxford will earn 32k GBP, like a postdoc. In theory, that person could be so good they could get the highest starting salary possible at a Tier 1 paying company like a research engineer at Hudson River Trading, which can be > 320k TC. So it's possible but only for a very very small number of people. 3x-5x is much more likely.

[PheonixPharts]

> highest starting salary possible at a Tier 1 paying company like a research engineer at Hudson River Trading, which can be > 320k TC.

You don't have to be at a "tier 1 paying company" to exceed 320k TC, that's easily achievable at any tech company that has gone public in the NYC metro or Bay Area. TC at a FAANG (MANGA or whatever they're calling it) for a more senior IC role can easily cross the $500k mark. If you've been their awhile and have been accruing shares that have increased dramatically in value, crossing the 7 figure mark is not unheard of.

So you don't have to stretch the facts too much to realistically achieve the 10x. If you take two very qualified engineer graduating with a PhD, one chooses to go to Google and stay there the other goes to a university and works as an RSE. Fast forward a decade, you'll definitely be seeing a 10x difference in total comp.

[exdsq]

Oh after a decade sure. I was just interviewing with Meta for > $500k TC so totally believe it. I meant immediately after a PhD.

[adw]

10x more than academia. I’m a PhD in mineral physics turned Big Four MLE via startups and I earn about 10x what I would be on if I had stayed on the academic track.

[epgui]

10x is possible, but maybe 3-5x is more realistic (even for non-FAANG).