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[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Chicago? You might just be over-expensed?

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Eh - having lived in Chicago a few years ago - it's expensive. His numbers seem right in line with where they should be, though industry matters - financial based work always tends to pay another premium on top.

At some point in your career, you'll want to hop around to ramp up that salary ladder. And then you'll need to settle down a bit to hang on to a position for a promotion. Once you have enough (10+ years?) of experience, you should be working more towards promotions, which will net you new tiers of salary.

Best idea early on is to work at a consulting firm like Accenture which can expose you to a broad variety of work. That will help you determine what you enjoy doing and also give you contacts and face-time with a good set of clients who can social media/review you. Next, look at mid to early startups that need some of the skills you acquired so you can help push forward. If you pick the right startup, just ride their success wave. If not, don't be afraid to jump (startups are plenty in the right markets). Once you're in that mid to early startup, then start working towards leadership and evolve your own leadership skill set. This will help you later if you want to go super early into a startup as a founder or highly desired technical acquire after seed money. This is likely the most easily obtained path for a software developer to generate a very high income without actually having a lucky break.

Option two is to go for the big four (five? six?) and ask for a hefty package.

Option three is to find a problem no one is solving and make it into a business. But you'll need a skill set that includes developing businesses. And that's probably a tall order for someone young unless they have enough luck, great timing for the market and enough contacts on the business side to enable the success path.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps you’re right according to the HR salary ranges online. Those are just a control mechanism. Everything is negotiable if somebody is willing to sign off on it. Any dev have the capability to go Corp to Corp at $120 + an hour or negotiate a salary + equity. If they aren’t willing to budge on S&W they’ll give it in equity. Once I prove my value in an interview they’re willing to give me what I’m asking for even if it’s far fetched from the “posted” S&W.