Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

(Of course, the original question was "not FAANG or HFT", so this still may not be what they were looking for...)

I don’t recommend it.

Anecdotally I've heard that the larger chinese tech companies love exFAANG, because 'American engineers are better'. Maybe the Silicon Valley Mythos is another export?

TBH that's one of the reasons I chose the company I'm at now. I had other options, but having a team that I love and very healthy PTO won me over. To each their own!

For people with family, I believe a good insurance plan and flexibility in hours also mean a lot. Especially hours.

If it’s coming from a peer, especially one whose been round a few more blocks than you, may just be an observation about life.

The only difference is that I get paid out any remaining PTO, should I leave, whereas with unlimited, there was no expectation that it will be paid out on departure.

10 years later, the car is paid off, you've got a sizable savings, and your increased salary over the years means your mortgage payment represents a much smaller portion of your salary, and you're already capping out the 401(k) contribution limit. At that point, you're ready to start relaxing a bit. You'd rather have the PTO. Alternatively, your savings account is now a decent safety net and you're ready to take a job that has a lower salary in favor of more stock, or even play the startup lottery.

I had an offer recently where it was online, it had gone through one of those ridiculous LinkedIn recruiters and it had been completely “missold” (not sure what the English word for misleading a “sale” is) to me. I figured this out after about 5 minutes of me asking them questions about their place and the work they wanted me to do, at which point I flat out said something along the lines of “I think I’m the wrong fit” to which they agreed, but they wanted to offer me another type of job in architecture and management. I didn’t want that, but the process of them being very open to me interviewing them helped us both out immensely in not picking each other.

It’s obviously only something you can really engage in if you don’t “need-need” a job.

The signs I've picked up so far:

  - Privately owned by the founders (engineers)
  - A sense of carefulness when hiring
  - Few employees quit the company at all
  - Either entirely engineer-run or a few soft-skilled workers with high EQ and social status

- The people you speak with have been at the company for a long time

- The fairness and quality of the interview process (especially w.r.t. the tech screen)

If multiple people you speak with have been with the company for more than 10 years, it's a great sign. And if the interview is really high quality and fair (such that it is an accurate representation of your skills), it's a really great sign for company quality in the intangibles.

The company I just joined is like this, and I can totally understand why people don't leave to try to continue up the total comp pyramid elsewhere.

I'm guessing working for a credit union is a textbook example of a stable company.

> "yeah, but person could have made a more money-optimal deal elsewhere."

I mean, this entire post is about how to maximize money so I shouldn't be surprised, but this response just made me shake my head in sadness. Hope you're able to find joy and feel you have enough with your choices.

In France its basically like they don't want a tech sector. Employee's rights are skewed so far to the left that Employers are often hamstrung and startup-culture is completely stagnant. Even running a Cafe you can end up paying an employee for a year or two who literally can't or won't show up for work.

In short though, Ireland/UK/Belgium are the highest paying areas for tech in Europe outside of a few select Financial/Banking enclaves in Geneva and Zurich, with the majority of non-FAANG Seniors capping out at €120k or thereabouts without going into the niche areas like SRE or Algo or Cloud Architect.

There's the argument that salaries are opaque so someone within wouldn't feel bad about getting a lower salary, but this is only really the case is someone is paying a L6 differently in US vs UAE vs India or something. But they know what market they're in.

Can be an apples-to-oranges comparison for some other companies with large stock appreciation (e.g. Meta), where a lot of the comp number are vested TC rather than granted TC.

The numbers accurately reflect longer term employees W2s, but not the offer you’d get if you joined today.

I suppose the point is, these jobs exist but it's quite hard to replicate as it's not common with large firms that are regularly hiring.

I have a friend who went from being the form to the latter and immediately doubled his salary, despite the consulting firm making it clear that he was at the bottom of the totem pole, despite his being 5 years or so into mainframe work.

People in these roles don't want to draw attention on their sweet comp packages which is why you won't see them crow about who/where they work.

But why should I risk being identified by mentioning the company's name for no gain other than the fleeting thought of appreciation from a random anonymous HN user?

Companies give the option to either go Management Track (Manager, Director VP) or Technical Track (Principal/E6, Fellow, Distinguished Engineer)

In public companies, most Engineers will peak at the L5/L64/SDE3/E5 level by their 30s.

> Plenty of data on other companies offers there

Plenty of companies offer that kind of compensation, but the competition is intense as the number of roles paying that much are limited, and WLB is atrocious as it's basically a Architect/Team Lead role.

If anyone thinks they deserve a L6/L7 role with less than a decade of experience at peer companies they need to adjust their expectations or remain unemployed