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Progressive JPEG posted:I've been told before that to break even, a contract position should pay twice as much as a salary position.
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Sep 23, 2015 10:16
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Plorkyeran posted:GWT is close to ten years old and is still being used for new projects at Google, so worrying about it being canceled is pretty dumb. Well it isn't just GWT - I'd rack up Google Closure and the Closure Compiler, Go, and Angular in the horrible google tools category as well (allthough I'm going to give Angular 2 a try most likely because it looks like they agreed with me about the problems with Angular 1.x)
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Sep 23, 2015 12:30
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Vulture Culture posted:Benefits make up ~31 percent of someone's total compensation on average, according to the BLS, so it's really more like an extra 50% to break even. I don't suppose they break that down by hourly rates, do they? I'm guessing there's going to be a big difference in benefits as percentage of comp between $45k/y and $150k/y
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Sep 23, 2015 14:49
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Vulture Culture posted:Benefits make up ~31 percent of someone's total compensation on average, according to the BLS, so it's really more like an extra 50% to break even.
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Sep 23, 2015 16:05
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One thing you can do is look at your W2 for last year. Look for an extra under Box 12, code DD. That number is how much your employer payed for their share of your health insurance. It's not taxable (the number is included for information and compliance purposes only) but you can use that as a data point to figure out what a health insurance plan costs, which is usually the biggest single cost in covering your own benefits. The other thing to look at is Health Sherpa or your states ACA exchange because that's probably how you want to get health insurance as a self-employed contractor. There's usually a bunch of other information in box 12 and 14 on what the employer payed for benefits if you look up the codes.
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Sep 23, 2015 16:19
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Cicero posted:They may be factoring in job instability. You can't necessarily count as much on a contract position continuing indefinitely.
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Sep 23, 2015 19:13
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So this recruiter setup a 1st round interview and the company sent me all this information about how it was a tech screen using HackerRank and how VERY IMPORTANT it was that I have access to a computer with internet access and could talk on the phone at the same time, blah blah blah. Then the guy calls me and goes "oh yeah we're not going to do that, HR sends that to everyone but we don't really care about it." Also the job isn't even really development, more setting up and babysitting servers for this organizations bold new push into using Jenkins, Jira, and Github. I think I'm gonna have to dump this recruiter.
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Sep 24, 2015 16:50
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mrmcd posted:So this recruiter setup a 1st round interview and the company sent me all this information about how it was a tech screen using HackerRank and how VERY IMPORTANT it was that I have access to a computer with internet access and could talk on the phone at the same time, blah blah blah.
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Sep 24, 2015 16:55
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Post a review on Glassdoor? If companies don't get compelling (read: punishing) feedback they tend to not change processes.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:52
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Cicero posted:Post a review on Glassdoor? If companies don't get compelling (read: punishing) feedback they tend to not change processes. Though half the time "change processes" translates to "force-march your current employees into glassdoor to spam the site with obviously fake positive reviews."
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Sep 24, 2015 20:19
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I interviewed for my dream position a week and a half ago. Great company, interesting work, and smart people on a great team using tech I want to get in to and learn. I thought I blew the interview since they didn't get back to me immediately and I received no response after sending a short thank you to the team lead 2 business days after the interview. They got back to me today and asked for my salary requirements. I broke my own advice not to reveal numbers and told them what I make, saying my objective is +5k. After conferring, they got back to me. They want me, but can only offer 25k less than what I make now. Their other senior engineers either don't make as much as I do or make just as much as I do and have worked hard to get to where they are now, so it wouldn't be fair to them to hire me even matching my current salary. What the hell? I offered to send them paystubs and documentation of bonuses if they needed proof of my current salary. I also asked if they couldn't match my salary because I performed poorly during the interview and they said no - they only had praise for me on the technicals, so doing better on the technical assessment wouldn't change anything. It really is just because the rest of their team isn't making as much. I guess if they're really transparent internally about compensation then this could be a legitimate reason. Has anybody else ever got this kind of response before? Do you think they're really actually trying not to stir up poo poo by paying the new guy a lot of money while screwing current employees, or do they really just not want me and this satisfies some requirement to say I turned the position down? Based on how smart the team seemed during the interview and the kind of stuff they're doing I thought senior devs there were making 130-150 for sure if not higher. However, glassdoor seems to suggest it's all 90-120. I don't know, but they're getting screwed. It's for a position using Scala too. I would have thought the esoteric stack would command a higher salary.
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Sep 25, 2015 00:13
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Really interesting report. Out of curiosity: If it doesn't give away too much information, what stage company is it? Are they doing well or have a lot of public exposure in their market? And is it in the Bay? I wonder if the devs there are just diehards who really believe in the mission or something.
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Sep 25, 2015 00:29
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sink posted:Really interesting report. Out of curiosity: If it doesn't give away too much information, what stage company is it? Are they doing well or have a lot of public exposure in their market? And is it in the Bay? Earlier devs may have equity/options to compensate for lower salaries. Even if they don't, I've heard it's common for growing companies to pay new hires more salary than early hires. It's easy; they can afford to now, they need more labor, and often enough the early hires never find out.
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Sep 25, 2015 01:32
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bartkusa posted:Even if they don't, I've heard it's common for growing companies to pay new hires more salary than early hires. It's easy; they can afford to now, they need more labor, and often enough the early hires never find out. Yeah, I get this feeling too. I imagine that situation is standard for any small company transitioning to bigger shoes.
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Sep 25, 2015 02:17
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How much suffering is actually caused by paying the new guy more than the more senior employees? I can't think of a reason why they'd deny that to you, unless they just plain ol' don't have the money.
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Sep 25, 2015 12:41
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The moment the senior engineers find out the new guy is making more after having "put in" less time is when they become even more disgruntled. While I don't like co-workers discussing salaries, it does happen with some regularity.
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Sep 25, 2015 12:54
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Cryolite posted:They got back to me today and asked for my salary requirements. I broke my own advice not to reveal numbers and told them what I make, saying my objective is +5k. After conferring, they got back to me. They want me, but can only offer 25k less than what I make now. Their other senior engineers either don't make as much as I do or make just as much as I do and have worked hard to get to where they are now, so it wouldn't be fair to them to hire me even matching my current salary. What the hell? Well, if you can't afford to lose 25k, then just tell them and leave it at that. You say "dream position", though, so maybe it would be the money (e.g. they're doing Good Deeds or they're expecting 30 hrs/week, etc). Since they said they thought you were great, you've got leverage to talk to them more openly. Ask how much they're bringing in, where that money goes, and how much the executives get paid. Ask how much stock the older employees got and how much you'd get. Talk to one of the engineers and then ask them why they work at a company that pays so far below market rates.
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Sep 25, 2015 12:56
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Cryolite posted:It's for a position using Scala too. I would have thought the esoteric stack would command a higher salary.
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Sep 25, 2015 14:56
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Pollyanna posted:How much suffering is actually caused by paying the new guy more than the more senior employees? Then, as part of hiring they bring on a new guy who makes 30% more than the folks who've been there for years waiting for things to get better. That's a sudden, shocking realization for these kinds of folks that they're definitely being abused (intentionally or not). This also has a tendency to happen as those underpaid guys (who were probably hired in their early-mid twenties when they were willing to take such a risky opportunity) are starting to reprioritize their lives to focus on a house, family, etc. That salary difference means not being able to afford as nice of a house (or a house at all), waiting longer to have children, etc. So, it can turn into a mess, fast. The best thing the company can do is raise salaries across the board, but they may not be able to afford to do it just yet--then what?
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Sep 25, 2015 17:39
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It may not apply here, but "market rate for developers" isn't one number. Systems engineering, mobile development, and embedded all have different ranges. Doesn't even get into what a ME or EE is worth. I you're joining as the first software resource, or first of your flavor, it can be odd to be asking for 30% more even when the market rate difference is a lot higher.Doh004 posted:While I don't like co-workers discussing salaries, it does happen with some regularity. ExcessBLarg! posted:Sometimes talented folks find themselves working for a company where they're doing really enjoyable, interesting work, but they're also simply being underpaid--especially at a startup that's in the breakthrough phase where revenue goes towards hiring to cope with workload increases. Although these folks are probably aware they could command higher salaries elsewhere, the work is less interesting, they like where they are, and it's "fair" in the sense that all the engineers at that company is in the same boat and the expectation is that once they pass the growth knee they'll all get raises and it'll work out.
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Sep 25, 2015 17:56
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sink posted:Really interesting report. Out of curiosity: If it doesn't give away too much information, what stage company is it? Are they doing well or have a lot of public exposure in their market? And is it in the Bay? This particular division operates and feels like a startup but it's part of a big company with thousands of employees, so it's not like anyone on this team is an early stage employee who had to give up salary and got equity in return or anything like that. The company is well-established and makes boatloads of money. I'm afraid of giving away too much information, but it's in the Chesapeake Bay area. It may also just be the cost of living of that particular area rearing its head. I don't know. The DC/MD/VA area seems strange to me. I'm starting to think the same position can be 90k in one place and 150k 30 miles away which I'm not sure is common elsewhere.
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Sep 26, 2015 02:40
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Cryolite posted:It may also just be the cost of living of that particular area rearing its head. I don't know. The DC/MD/VA area seems strange to me. I'm starting to think the same position can be 90k in one place and 150k 30 miles away which I'm not sure is common elsewhere. I think that's almost standard for the whole Northeast. Working in CC Philadelphia vs the Lehigh Valley is a 20-30k bump in salary despite the latter being a suburb of the former.
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Sep 26, 2015 02:47
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Philadelphia's a little bit weird in that it's much more common for people to live in the city and commute out to the suburbs than to go the other way.
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Sep 26, 2015 02:57
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Looking to apply to a VR company before expanding my search parameters. Can I get some resume feedback, please? Resume 1 (first variant) Resume 2 (second variant) (Names and companies minimally anonymized.)
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Sep 26, 2015 22:14
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ultrafilter posted:Philadelphia's a little bit weird in that it's much more common for people to live in the city and commute out to the suburbs than to go the other way. This is true. I'm (until I start my new job in NYC on Oct 1) part of a company of in Ft Washington (north suburbs) and 5 people (of the 11 total employees) live in Philadelphia.
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Sep 26, 2015 23:17
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ExcessBLarg! posted:folks
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Sep 27, 2015 03:09
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ultrafilter posted:Philadelphia's a little bit weird in that it's much more common for people to live in the city and commute out to the suburbs than to go the other way. Philly also has a really lovely tech industry compared to other cities, especially considering it's the fifth largest in the nation. If you don't want to work for Comcast or some Fortune 500 type company out in the Norristown/King of Prussia area, your local options are super limited. Commuting out into the suburbs loving sucks, too, because 76 was already obsolete by the time it was completed.
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Sep 27, 2015 04:20
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So I got called up by Google again, last time I wanted to interview for a Front End position at Google and I ended up with a bad taste in my mouth for their interview process for FE developers. Essentially the process was split into 3 interviews related to front-end/javascript and then 2 interviews with CS algorithms. I didn't really have a problem with it except for the fact that they forced you to do the CS algorithms interview in python or java, languages I haven't while the FE stuff was obviously javascript/DOM/HTML/CSS related. Anyways they've apparently changed their process for this position, so I'm seeing if anyone has gone through this new interview process where it's all entirely about their FE stack, which includes Closure, and AngularJS, and discussions about web security, event handling, etc.
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Sep 27, 2015 06:48
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For me, it was 4 algorithm and 1 open ended "design" problem which i must have done the worst on.. Design as in "conceptualize the frontend and backend for this difficult problem (involving lots of data of course) in a performant way". I just floundered for 20 minutes then shot questions back and forth with the interviewer. Although I still did the 1st 2 in python, they didn't have a problem letting me use javascript with lodash to answer the other 2. One interviewer who was not familiar just asked me how the closure syntax of javascript worked and was then okay with it. I didn't realize they differentiated the frontend position though. My interview position was just "engineer".
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Sep 27, 2015 07:05
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I've got a hiring process/etiquette question. I signed a job offer last week and, pending background and reference checks, will be starting at a new job on October 26th. I'm taking a week off, so my absolute last day at my current job will be October 16th. I was hoping, given the breadth of my current job, to give 3 weeks of notice and let my boss know I was leaving today. However, I haven't heard back about the background check or reference checks. I spoke to one of my references who told me that the company contacted them and they spoke, but I'm wary of announcing my departure with any uncertainty in the air. I have no doubt that I'll pass the checks (my current employer is a gov't contractor and I've been background checked for them at least 5 times in the 6 years I've been here) but it feels like a bad idea to give my notice while they're still unresolved. Am I thinking about this the right way or should I just go ahead and give my 3 weeks? What's the protocol for me? For the new company?
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Sep 28, 2015 12:53
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Blinkz0rz posted:I've got a hiring process/etiquette question. Having just done this, call the new company. I actually had to go to a meeting at the new place (head of all the software dev teams across the country) while I was still waiting for bg check and I asked HR while I was there and they said it was good to go (it had been like a week or so). I gave my notice the next day.
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Sep 28, 2015 13:36
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Do not give notice before any contingencies are resolved. 2 weeks of notice is acceptable but if you would rather give 3, whatever. Your new company needs to understand that your start date must be at least 2 (3 if you must) weeks after when your paperwork is finalized, which hasn't happened yet. If you give notice before hearing back you are exposing yourself to risk for literally no reason. And tbh no one at your current company will care whether you give 2 or 3 weeks.
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Sep 29, 2015 03:07
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Welp, I'm being let go. Commence the "told you so"s. Their main concern is that I didn't have the independence and reliability they needed from their engineers, which translates in my mind to "you're too much of a fuckup". They cited missteps like using my own credit card to test CC payment and needing too much back and forth on my PRs and them not feeling comfortable with giving me production access, and made it clear that it was a pattern of these occurrences that led to the decision. At this point, I don't really care if I was set up to fail or what - its clear that the blame ultimately lies with me, and I'm tired of fighting it. They're going to work with me for a couple weeks to help me find a new place, which is infinitely more than I deserve, so I'm not totally screwed over. Just gotta work fast. If impostor syndrome is supposed to improve as I continue my career, this only cemented it. It's really making me reconsider whether this career is a good fit for me, since I've struck out twice already, regardless of circumstances. Unfortunately, it's all I have.
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Sep 30, 2015 23:35
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You asked for severance, right? Should've mentioned this before, but being fired ought to be downright exciting. Ask for severance right then and there, they've got sympathy in that moment that won't persist once y'all leave the room. Them being on board while you're explicitly looking for a new place is pretty nice though. Most places try to set up those discussions for Monday, as you can immediately act on getting your next thing lined up without the awful gulf of a weekend. Wednesday is indicative of their general disarray. Start working on your narrative now. There's some element of this where they really dropped the ball in bringing you up or providing learning experiences, you just need some little story for why you're leaving on those grounds instead of the obvious. I didn't have mine ready for my last transition and made the huge mistake of giving a legitimate gripe to some other engineers at lunch instead of the blameless cover story. You know what you need to do. You're probably better at job hunting than most of us  No moping, no questioning, get your boots on the ground and start looking for a place that will do a better job managing your growth than they did.Pollyanna posted:If impostor syndrome is supposed to improve as I continue my career
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Sep 30, 2015 23:49
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Pollyanna posted:Welp, I'm being let go. Commence the "told you so"s. The impostor syndrome gets better when you are comfortable with it being there, it never goes away. Like being afraid of tigers, even if you are an expert tiger tamer, you just get more comfortable with the fear, but it would be stupid to NOT be afraid of tigers. It sounds like you are struggling much more with the soft-skills that surround being a developer, not the actual act of writing code to solve problems. I don't have a lot of advice for you there (as I suck a lot at it as well and simply have a mountain of failure behind me to help not make further mistakes), other than to acquire your own mountain of failure. Don't let this get to you though, they clearly had no idea how to manage a junior engineer and had no interest in helping you improve.
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Sep 30, 2015 23:59
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Pollyanna posted:Welp, I'm being let go. Commence the "told you so"s. s/blame/responsibility – you didn't necessarily do something wrong; maybe their expectations and your way of working just didn't match. If you pick yourself up and think hard, you'll definitely do better next time. All things considered, giving you a couple of weeks to land on your feet is pretty considerate of them. It could have gone way, way worse. Pollyanna posted:If impostor syndrome is supposed to improve as I continue my career, this only cemented it. It's really making me reconsider whether this career is a good fit for me, since I've struck out twice already, regardless of circumstances. Unfortunately, it's all I have.
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Oct 1, 2015 00:44
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Pollyanna posted:If impostor syndrome is supposed to improve as I continue my career, this only cemented it. It's really making me reconsider whether this career is a good fit for me, since I've struck out twice already, regardless of circumstances. Unfortunately, it's all I have. Imposter syndrome doesn't go away, you just learn how to handle it better. I'm 10 years deep and I still sometimes feel like I'm out of my depth. But you squash it down and keep plowing forward. Moral of the story: don't give up.
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Oct 1, 2015 00:52
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Doctor w-rw-rw- posted:I am convinced that we all suck in our own ways and we're all trying to hide it. Dunning-Kruger affectees, the lot of us. Dunning-Kruger effect doesn't mean that we actually, objectively suck. It's that the more capable you are in a given field, you are more aware of how much MORE there is to know and your own shortcomings. Thus, you will underestimate your overall abilities, whereas someone who knows next to nothing will overestimate their abilities. "It's just writing code, can't be that hard".
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Oct 1, 2015 01:00
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Blinkz0rz posted:Imposter syndrome doesn't go away, you just learn how to handle it better. I'm 10 years deep and I still sometimes feel like I'm out of my depth. But you squash it down and keep plowing forward. Yeah, this. It's not that I feel omni-capable, it's that I've mostly stopped giving a drat about the fact that I'm inevitably going to do things imperfectly. Just do it and if it doesn't work, adjust and try again.
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Oct 1, 2015 01:07
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Skandranon posted:Dunning-Kruger effect doesn't mean that we actually, objectively suck. It's that the more capable you are in a given field, you are more aware of how much MORE there is to know and your own shortcomings. Thus, you will underestimate your overall abilities, whereas someone who knows next to nothing will overestimate their abilities. "It's just writing code, can't be that hard". Dunning-Kruger actually means that literally everyone rates themselves between a 6 and a 7 regardless of if they're a 1 or a 9 or a 6.5. http://www.talyarkoni.org/blog/2010/07/07/what-the-dunning-kruger-effect-is-and-isnt/
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Oct 1, 2015 03:04
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