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0 pointseropple11y ago0 comments

I got $85K at a Boston company not known for paying top-of-market, just out of college, in 2010. A junior dev not getting $100K right out of college in SF is being underpaid even worse than is normal in this industry.

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lsc11y ago· 2 in thread

if you think it can be normal to be underpaid... you are using words differently than I am. In this context, by 'underpaid' I mean "getting paid less than the prevailing wage for the work you are doing" - and by 'normal' I mean 'average or median- usual'

Using my definitions, it's impossible for it to be normal to be underpaid. You are only underpaid if you are getting less than the normal wage.

Some people use 'underpaid' to mean something that has to do with the cost of living, and some people use 'normal' to mean "correct" - but that makes for a very different sort of conversation.

eroppleOP11y ago

It is normal to be underpaid in this industry relative to the astonishing value a software developer creates, yes. This should not be controversial. $85K is low, even taking that into account, for a new college graduate.

lsc11y ago

>It is normal to be underpaid in this industry relative to the astonishing value a software developer creates, yes.

Your opinion of how much value a software developer creates is irrelevant, except to the extent that it influences wages you are willing to pay to others, or wages you are willing to accept, and only that matters to the extent that there is demand for you and/or how many developers you can hire.

In the real world, median starting salary doesn't even break 70K, much less 85K, according to salary.com, even in silicon valley.

http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/Software-Developer-I-Sala...

My point, with this thread, is that while yes, there does exist a group of developers who make bank right out the gate and continue to do so throughout their career, for most of us? most of us are median. For most of us, $200K+ a year is purest of fantasy. And $85K right out of school is not bad at all.

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