[scarface_74]

And I would still recommend any early career person to “grind leetcode and work for a FAANG”. The money is too good to give up.

I would also tell them to live below their means and save like crazy while they were there and to immediately sell their stock once it is vested and diversify.

FWIW: I didn’t get into BigTech until 46. It served its purpose and I have no desire to go back to any large company. But again, I’m 50.

https://news.ycombinator.com/favorites?id=scarface_74&commen...

[reaperducer]

The money is too good to give up.

Not everyone is motivated by greed.

[scarface_74]

But surprisingly, as far as I know, no one has found a treatment for people’s addiction to food, clothes and shelter.

The reality is that there is a huge difference between what your average CRUD/enterprise developer makes - which describes the vast majority of the 2.7 million developers in the US - and what you can make working at BigTech.

Your average CRUD developer in most major cities in the US is going to top out at $160K - $170K. That’s about what I saw returning interns get as full time offers when I was working at Amazon. Amazon pays less than Google

[asadotzler]

Those can all be had, even decent quality, for far less than a Google salary.

[scarface_74]

Yes, and I did just that. I had my first house built in metro Atlanta making $70K in 2002, it was $170K and my second house built in the north metro area in the “good school system” - 3200 square feet - in 2016 for $335K. I was making $115K when I qualified for it.

I bought my 3rd place - a condo in a resort area in Florida 2 years ago and this is the life we live now - thanks to being able to sell our house that doubled in value in six years.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36306966

Good luck with doing any of that now.

But unless you’re working for a non profit, you’re working for a company whose only motivation is profit. Why wouldn’t you work for BigTech and exchange as much money for your labor as possible?

Especially when you’re young and you have the time value of money working for you?

Right now, I’m only making about $30K more than an entry level dev at BigTech makes and I’m 50. But I don’t have kids to put through college or ever have to think about kids or starting a family (we are empty nesters), my own student loans, trying to buy a home in today’s real estate market etc.

But I also wasn’t able to max out my 401K plan and HSA at 22 years old like a 22 year old that I mentored when they were an intern when they came back the next year.

[mgarfias]

I’m feeling the same