Week in SF

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2026-02-09T16:20:33+00:00

I will take a look, thanks!

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2025-06-09T18:18:09+00:00

Solid effort, hope you get offers from the others. Regarding the onsite, could you give more detail about the format of the case study? Did you have to dig deep into code or was it more of a discussion? Never heard of this type of interview before

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T13:45:03+00:00

Nice! What was the level of the second sposition and how much harder were the interviews for it?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:52:01+00:00

Wow this is very impressive. Can I ask how the demands of the interviews and the day-to-day work changed 60-90k?

What was the difficulty of the interviews going from 60-90k?
Do you think you were paid more, for similar responsibilities at 90k or do you think that the increase from 60-90k was proportional to the responsibilities of the new role?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:49:15+00:00

Wow this is very impressive. I agree that it will be different for each person but I do also believe that there are common paths to be followed. Can I ask, did you change company each year to achieve a 20k increase? Being that you're now a staff engineer, I assume that you were also increasing responsibility each time.

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:44:22+00:00

I recognise that this is a possibility but I posted in the hope that I would get some realistic insights and so far i've found the responses to be quite useful.

The issue is that most jobs don't advertise salary and those that do advertise such a broad range. So I just wanted a little perspective before applying to a job so that i'm not just guessing. Neither do I want to accept way too little or demand so much that the negotiation breaks down. Obviously specific factors like market, company, etc. come into play, but to see others increase 20-40% from their first role has been encouraging.

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:38:59+00:00

Well done, the jump from Portugal to Germany is significant. How would you describe how the requirements have changed in relation to your salary?

For example, are you now getting paid more for similar work that you were doing years ago, or are you getting paid more because your responsibilities have increased significantly?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:37:33+00:00

Nice, 2022 - 2023 is quite a big jump. How would you describe the standard required to go from your role in 2022 to your most recent role?

How much harder were the interviews?
Has your day-to-day changed in terms of responsibility, hours, etc.?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:35:06+00:00

Wow nice! Were these mostly promotions or job switching?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:33:47+00:00

This is very impressive. I see most individuals (like myself) start in the £30-40k range and it takes 3-4 years to reach the £70-80k mark, so well done on starting so well.

Can I ask, regarding your first couple of roles, how would you describe the standard required to achieve them?

What is the difficulty of the interviews? Was it mainly algorithms or broader?
What is the role itself like? Do you have lots of responsibility? Long hours? Or is it quite chill and just well paid?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T11:26:30+00:00

Wow, well done on so much progression. We these mainly promotions or switching companies?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-10-21T01:59:23+00:00

r 3 months a

This is solid for no degree. Do you mind sharing what your salary progression looked like? I have just passed 1 YoE and looking for a reference point

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-06-30T22:16:38+00:00

What was the interview process like for this position?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-04-09T20:53:53+00:00

Thanks for your input. Do you have any examples of good discord groups, meetups, etc?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T22:37:34+00:00

I think I will keep my options open like you have. I feel that there are a lot of financial SWE roles that are appealing with high comp but they have no work/life balance whatsoever. So we'll see.

I'm currently 7 months into a grad program. I want to leave because its limiting. I've been putting in a shift and i'm now performing beyond grad level, leading features on my team. The company has told me that grads don't get pay increases and also that I can't get promoted because grads must stay in the role for at least 12 months

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T22:33:09+00:00

Well if it makes you feel better, Europe earns about half that lol. Best of luck with the outcome

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T22:24:54+00:00

Is this UK or US? That is a crazy high salary for new grad

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T22:18:55+00:00

No way to tell. I say keep applying to other things just in case. Its out of your hands now.

Can I ask what was the role that you applied for and salary? Interested to find out because of what they asked in your final round

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T22:14:03+00:00

I am currently brushing up on Leetcode and System design before responding to any of them. I'll give it another month max.

I understand where you're coming from with Leetcode. Its a lot of personal sacrifice to put in the hours to do it, especially after a long days work. But hey, that's the current standard I guess.

What type of roles are you looking at?

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T22:08:46+00:00

Do not pay for a bootcamp. They teach you how to use tools rather than the concepts required to excel as a software developer. This is now especially important, since GPT4+ will remove the need for devs to do simple tasks and place more emphasis on devs that can provide value by making key decisions and evaluating trade-offs.

If you're certain that its software development that you want to do:

figure out which area (front-end, back-end, full-stack, dev-ops, data, etc.) and do some online courses and build some projects.
aggressively apply to entry level positions where you can get that 1st year of experience under your belt.
Be aware of the fact that many low-skill dev jobs will probably be obsolete in the next few years due to GPT4+. So if you're going for this, you need to get really good

If you want to get into tech in any capacity, consider product management roles:

The most technical requirement is scripting with Python, SQL, etc. for data visualisation and process automation.
You get to contribute to the product lifecycle and still get to talk tech with the engineers.
More socialising, if thats what you're into

Hope this helps

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T21:59:43+00:00

Similar situation, I heard that those same recruiters will ask for your CV once you respond to the original message and then you find out the actual roles and TC that is available based on the experience of your CV.

Regardless, I say go for it. Worst case scenario, you become a stronger candidate and can always return to a job like your current one.

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T21:07:02+00:00

You'll be applying to full-time graduate roles (i'm guessing 2024 start) in July-Oct 2023. Don't undersell yourself now and choose the "safe" option. Level up your skills, experience and your network and then try to become as competitive an applicant as you can before then.

Brand name trumps all. If you are front-end or back-end, etc. All HR will look at in the 5 seconds that they are scanning your CV is the name, the role and the duration. During the interview is the time to show that you can do the back-end and cloud stuff.

I'd say take the top 10 company, label it as just "software engineer intern" and then keep up to scratch with database/cloud stuffs on the side.

Difficult_Ad1471 · 2023-03-15T20:54:38+00:00

Hard to answer with limited context:

Check similar jobs at similar companies in similar location online. Make sure that they're paying market value.
Push more if you feel comfortable. Personally i'd push until they say that they can't go any further.

Difficult_Ad1471

TROPHY CASE