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Highest paying developer jobs (4 years exp, no contract & no management)

4 points by chris2930 ↗ HN
I'd like to get some opinions on what the highest paying developer jobs are please. Here in the UK, there seems to be an average of £45,000 ($65,000) for Java and C++ jobs, with PHP faring about 25% lower, on average.<p>Also, please could we avoid the unique & specialist jobs which pay well into the six figure range as they are irrelevant to most developers.<p>To confirm: These are developer jobs, not management or contract projects where the rewards are much greater. This is pure "employed developer".

7 comments

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ig1
Investment Banking and domain specific consultancy (ERP/CRM/BI/etc).

London salaries have a premium.

actionbrandon
finance in london is moving stateside
ig1
You're talking about an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people, not some small start-up. It's not going to disappear anytime soon.
jasonkester
Strange that you've correctly identified that a "unique & specialist job" would more than double your salary, yet you make a point of saying you don't want one of those.

In other words, you have all the information you need in that paragraph you wrote to double your salary, but you don't seem interested in doing so.

Why is that?

There are lots of specialties, most of which are quite easy to become an expert in. Some of which can be accomplished simply by describing yourself to your next potential employer as a "___ specialist". If you're smart enough to have learned to program computers for a living, you're probably smart enough to learn to program (for example) iPhones for a living.

I'd say that's a much better idea than describing yourself as an "employed developer" and seeking out the sort of place that pays market average wages for average people.

JimmyJenkins
I started in Investment banking tech for $50k/year + benefits, ultimately adding $20k bonus after 6 months. By year 4, my total comp rose to $125k + benefits. Currently, looking for a substantial increase of 50% or more. I have experience in C++, C#, Java, Python, SQL and lots of out vendor software systems with actue knowledge in front to back financial derivative trading. Mind you, this all transpired from a couple years before the recession until recently.

I am somewhat of a specialist now, but didnt start off that way. Truth is working harder and often smarter than the rest got me half. way here - the other half came from standing up for myself and taking a leap of faith here and there. But at 4 yrs, you've got bargaining power on your side so if I can suggest anything, generally getting more base salary is better than bonus (with some very notable exceptions - ie. Startup stock options) simply for the time value of money and more peace of mind. But more importantly, always work as if you're being paid more than you deserve - its your own blood, sweat and tears that will actually bring what you deserve

chris2930
This wasn't a question for 'me' per se, I'm trying to get a feel for the industry on a wider scale, if you will. The reason I asked to exclude 'specialist jobs' is because I think they distort the information I was attempting to garner.

Thanks @JimmyJenkins = that's the type of information I'm after.

Thumbs down @jasonkester for your 'troll type' response.