
Ask HN: What does the path to being a $250k developer look like? - beamatronic
If you are a typical developer, and let say you are in the $150-160k range, what does it take to get to the next level?<p>You&#x27;ve probably already done some professional networking, written some technical articles for your company or customers, gotten a ton of recommendations on LinkedIn, contributed to visible projects on GitHub, and survived some production deployments&#x2F;Go-Lives.<p>At that point is it more about &quot;who you know&quot; than &quot;what you know&quot;?  Is it self-promotion that really makes the difference?  Into what areas would you direct your energies?
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hcho
>You've probably already done some professional networking, written some
technical articles for your company or customers, gotten a ton of
recommendations on LinkedIn, contributed to visible projects on GitHub, and
survived some production deployments/Go-Lives.

None of that really. At least the ones I know don't do any of that.

Here's what they do. They negotiate hard. Every job move, every annual review,
they negotiate tooth and nail. Over time they become expensive. The more
expensive they are, the more critical stuff gets assigned to them. The more
critical stuff they handle and successfully deliver, the more chips they have
on the next negotiation.

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philjr
The quickest way to get to that money is contracting, but it is possible
through more traditional employment but you're going to have to probably do 2
things, unless you're willing to wait for some good luck

1\. Find yourself a niche. Expert in X where X isn't just a programming
language. Build relevant domain expertise which means people who are hiring
you are hiring your experience as well as your skillset and you get to stop
them running down rabbit holes. e.g. Java programmer who's built large real
time streaming systems with Spark. Find a niche that's hot where lots of
companies are looking for that expertise.

2\. Be fairly mercenary with pay and job. Holding out for higher offers,
setting expectations with recruiters early in the process about your salary
expectations etc. Ask for exactly what you want.

If you're on $160k now, walk in and ask for $190k with a view to taking that
for a year or two and then looking for $220 or $240k. Don't wait for the
employer to give you a figure. Set that expectation with the recruiter early
so they're not wasting your time. Be aware on that kinda money, employers are
going to expect big things and in lots of cases will expect more than just
coding.

I realise this is may be very obvious, but you will literally be optimizing
for money. That could lead you in to shitty situations / companies. Personally
I'd caution against that for most people. However, I understand money can
sometimes be the most important hole in peoples lives with certain personal /
debt situations, so I don't mean to judge.

If you are assessing your self worth against your paycheck though, this route
won't satisfy you!

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ForHackernews
Are 'typical' developers really in the $150-$160k range? I'm apparently
shockingly underpaid.

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dangrossman
The average software developer in the US earns $86K. The "$150-160K" range is
more than even the top 10% highest paid developers average according to Labor
Department reports. HN's userbase is atypical.

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Jeremy1026
I'm still underpaid apparently.

~~~
dangrossman
Perhaps. Half of all software developers earn less than average. Cost of
living isn't uniform.

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Avalaxy
> Half of all software developers earn less than average

No, less than median.

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dragonwriter
The median is an average, and either it or the mode (but _not_ the mean,
arithmetic or otherwise) is an average that makes sense with the words used as
to which "average" is referred to when someone says "the average software
developer in the US makes $X per year". (Any of the three, including a mean,
would make sense if someone said "the average annual pay of a software
developer in the US is $X". Of course, this is one way in which people are
sloppy with language, so even though it doesn't make sense, people will still
use the first construction and mean the arithmetic mean.)

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seasoup
Get a job at Google, Apple, ms, Facebook. Salary is in range with what you
list plus RSUs make up the difference.

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MortenK
High-end contracting within not-so-common software and / or specific business
domains.

The contracts are often very long (some many years) and the rates are
sufficiently high to get you to 250K and beyond, even after accounting for
sickdays, medical insurance, pension, vacation etc.

You can get there through experience in specific technologies like SAS CRM,
SAP, Salesforce etc, meaning tech's that are not so common without necessarily
being completely niche. You can also get there as a generalist developer with
exceptional experience in a business domain like automotive, finance, retail
or whatever.

The rates can get extreme when the developer is specialized in both a specific
technology and business domain.

A specialist in marketing automation + finance for example or datawarehousing
+ retail etc.

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JSeymourATL
>Into what areas would you direct your energies?

Classic advice from Richard Hamming on life & work. What are the most
important problems in your field? Are you working on one of them? ... Why not?

Here's a video presentation from 1995>
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zDuOPkMSw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1zDuOPkMSw)

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gavanwoolery
Sometimes (albeit rarely) it is luck. I was offered $400k/year to be a CTO at
a big (yet relatively unknown) company. Most of my other job offers have not
been above $200k.

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gadders
Get a good level of experience and knowledge of what you do (not necessarily
guru level, but solid) and become a contractor in an investment bank.

For a decent C#/Python/Java developer, £600/day is not exceptional. If you
know a niche business, trading system or quant-level maths you can get more.

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gesman
Being high-paid "pure" developer is possible but not recommended. Developers
from the top management perspective are seen as expense/liability, not an
asset (surprise!).

That means that as soon as things go south for company, business or industry -
you'll be the first to let go with heartwarming "You're great, but sorry - we
cannot afford you any more".

You'll need to establish your uniqueness, expertise and visibility within
industry and within the company (and in this order) to have solid foundation
behind high income.

Otherwise luck of getting high salary offer may run out soon.

Also - try to stay above the head of your immediate managers and be in direct
connection and communication with decision makers and present yourself as
unique problem solver and solution builder to them.

Quite often developers are too narrow focused on technologies and neither
seeing nor participating in bigger visions.

