My statement was based on fact. We start quality developers at $80,000 and they can quickly move up to $100,000. If a developer starts at $40,000 and they demonstrate over two years (which is an eternity in tech) that they're talented and hard-working, I can guarantee they'll be bumped up to be in line with their colleagues. In tech, pay isn't based on years experience. It's based very simply on skill.
I think your numbers are off. One you seem to be speaking only of developers in the San Francisco and valley area. $100K for 2 years of experience is by no means a norm for 99% of the country.
Also, you seem to be saying that after some high school courses you're going to be dropped into a job immediately. I don't think so. One, it's a huge hurdle to bypass college. You're going to have to spend a lot of time refining your skills and then more time building some portfolio if you don't go to college.
Also, it's not normal to get 60% raises your first and second year in the workforce. You have to be exceptional and changing jobs. More likely the student will be earning $42.5K the third year if they stay at the same job. Even transitioning jobs, it's going to be hard (outside of the valley microcosm) for any hiring manager to give you a 60% pay raise for an entry-level position.
I think a better sales pitch and more realistic one is that after your courses and with several hard years of refining your programming skills, you can expect to make the median US household income your first year ($50K). And that with changing jobs, you can expect to be in the top 35% of income in a few years ($70K). (edited: percentiles and clarified I mean household... and doing some pot odds of failures rates of 66% never grasping advanced programming, their expectation is $16K/yr, or, right where they were headed anyway)
> you seem to be speaking only of developers in the San Francisco and valley area.
Nope. Our app team is distributed across the USA and we've been paying $80k from the start and several of those folks have earned raises that have brought them up to $100k+ in under two years. Every tech startup I've spoken to has similar patterns.
> Also, it's not normal to get 60% raises your first and second year in the workforce.
The tech industry is not a 'normal' sector.
> More likely the student will be earning $42.5K the third year if they stay at the same job.
Nope. I've interviewed many non-valley based startups and they've verified they will pay $40k for an entry-level, young developer.
But that's the big "if." It just doesn't seem realistic that any but a tiny minority of students would be qualified for even an entry-level position at that salary right after graduating from such a short vocational program.
There's nothing wrong with saying that this training program can well prepare them for an eventual career in tech, but selling it as, "You'll be able to make $40k/year as soon as you graduate." seems quite disingenuous unless you honestly believe it to be true. If so, I hope you're right. I am very doubtful.
Comments
My statement was based on fact. We start quality developers at $80,000 and they can quickly move up to $100,000. If a developer starts at $40,000 and they demonstrate over two years (which is an eternity in tech) that they're talented and hard-working, I can guarantee they'll be bumped up to be in line with their colleagues. In tech, pay isn't based on years experience. It's based very simply on skill.
I think your numbers are off. One you seem to be speaking only of developers in the San Francisco and valley area. $100K for 2 years of experience is by no means a norm for 99% of the country.
Also, you seem to be saying that after some high school courses you're going to be dropped into a job immediately. I don't think so. One, it's a huge hurdle to bypass college. You're going to have to spend a lot of time refining your skills and then more time building some portfolio if you don't go to college.
Also, it's not normal to get 60% raises your first and second year in the workforce. You have to be exceptional and changing jobs. More likely the student will be earning $42.5K the third year if they stay at the same job. Even transitioning jobs, it's going to be hard (outside of the valley microcosm) for any hiring manager to give you a 60% pay raise for an entry-level position.
I think a better sales pitch and more realistic one is that after your courses and with several hard years of refining your programming skills, you can expect to make the median US household income your first year ($50K). And that with changing jobs, you can expect to be in the top 35% of income in a few years ($70K). (edited: percentiles and clarified I mean household... and doing some pot odds of failures rates of 66% never grasping advanced programming, their expectation is $16K/yr, or, right where they were headed anyway)
> you seem to be speaking only of developers in the San Francisco and valley area.
Nope. Our app team is distributed across the USA and we've been paying $80k from the start and several of those folks have earned raises that have brought them up to $100k+ in under two years. Every tech startup I've spoken to has similar patterns.
> Also, it's not normal to get 60% raises your first and second year in the workforce.
The tech industry is not a 'normal' sector.
> More likely the student will be earning $42.5K the third year if they stay at the same job.
Nope. I've interviewed many non-valley based startups and they've verified they will pay $40k for an entry-level, young developer.
> If a developer starts at $40,000...
But that's the big "if." It just doesn't seem realistic that any but a tiny minority of students would be qualified for even an entry-level position at that salary right after graduating from such a short vocational program.
There's nothing wrong with saying that this training program can well prepare them for an eventual career in tech, but selling it as, "You'll be able to make $40k/year as soon as you graduate." seems quite disingenuous unless you honestly believe it to be true. If so, I hope you're right. I am very doubtful.
How many developers have you hired who have no college degree, and moved up quickly to $100k?