IT/Software career thread: Invert binary trees for dollars.

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
<Gold Donor>
47,482
130,903
Preface: I am not a Coder. At all. The most I ever did in that regard was write batch files as a Windows Server admin 2+ decades ago now, in the before time, but I just wrote my first app in the modern era with a UI using ChatGPT/Claude (My team's Tools guy swears by Base44 but I already have 4ish different AI subs, I wasn't adding another one this weekend).

That being said, reportedly there have been a number of changes to Claude in the last 6-8? months that can affect token usage, so if you are relying on pre-existing Claude specific knowledge of how to limit token usage/expense; it may be worth brushing up on the latest tips/advice(latest being from earlier this summer, amazing how quickly this field is moving/changing/advancing) in that regard.
You're going to want to explore using tools like this Introduction - RTK (Rust Token Killer)
 

Gutterflesh

Parody Account
<Gold Donor>
11,069
60,870
I have always known there is a lot of title inflation going on. I have never hunted for titles. But from what I gather right now the trend is work some place for 3-4 years then demand a senior engineer title despite not having the experience for the role. Then apply to other senior positions. Probably getting a title upgrade in lieu of getting a large raise.
The title chasing is becoming a much bigger issue than it was 10 to 20 years ago in engineering. Titles get thrown around so much they are almost meaningless. It always happens in start-ups where they can't pay enough, so everyone gets a VP title and they try to milk that for all they can.

Bro, you were a "VP" of a department with 2 people and one of them was a part time contractor. :rolleyes:

There has been an influx of grifters that can't hack it as an engineer weaseling their way into manager/lead roles and expecting to get paid the same as a good engineer. The corporate ladder climbing know-nothing fuckers are the worst. They bring nothing to the table other than being a good bullshitter and knowing their corporate speak.

In my world a good engineer will always make more than some dope managing tasks in Azure.
 

Nija

<Silver Donator>
2,232
4,551
Okay then I would describe the issue as identical in tech. Lack of curiosity and work ethic resulting in a total inability to work autonomously. Which is what I expect for a senior or staff position.
What role are you hiring for? It would be a lateral-ish move for me, but I’m looking for something new.
 

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
39,950
18,771
Have an interview at Qualcomm this week for a software integration engineer. Not fully sure what that means so well see but the role does sound interesting. Pays much more too.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Haus

I am Big Balls!
<Aristocrat╭ರ_•́>
21,472
88,560
The title chasing is becoming a much bigger issue than it was 10 to 20 years ago in engineering. Titles get thrown around so much they are almost meaningless. It always happens in start-ups where they can't pay enough, so everyone gets a VP title and they try to milk that for all they can.

Bro, you were a "VP" of a department with 2 people and one of them was a part time contractor. :rolleyes:

There has been an influx of grifters that can't hack it as an engineer weaseling their way into manager/lead roles and expecting to get paid the same as a good engineer. The corporate ladder climbing know-nothing fuckers are the worst. They bring nothing to the table other than being a good bullshitter and knowing their corporate speak.

In my world a good engineer will always make more than some dope managing tasks in Azure.
At the little start up I'm at I am the anchor of an SE team, and the general plan seems to be that once we have something like 3 SEs other than me I'll be elevated to Director of Solution Engineering. I won't complain. Building a program/team from ground up was one of the only things left on my bingo card, so that would say I had reasonably done that.

But yeah, you go to a small shop because you want fast movement, fast title acquisition. You go to a big shop when you want big company stability and benefits, while accepting that promotions/advancement will probably be slow.
 

TJT

Mr. Poopybutthole
<Gold Donor>
47,482
130,903
What role are you hiring for? It would be a lateral-ish move for me, but I’m looking for something new.
This is a data platform role. So the person in question must have a lot of experience with 2 or 3 of the following: Snowflake, Azure, Airflow, and DBT.
 

Gutterflesh

Parody Account
<Gold Donor>
11,069
60,870
At the little start up I'm at I am the anchor of an SE team, and the general plan seems to be that once we have something like 3 SEs other than me I'll be elevated to Director of Solution Engineering. I won't complain. Building a program/team from ground up was one of the only things left on my bingo card, so that would say I had reasonably done that.

But yeah, you go to a small shop because you want fast movement, fast title acquisition. You go to a big shop when you want big company stability and benefits, while accepting that promotions/advancement will probably be slow.
To be clear I'm not shitting on start ups.

I'm shitting on all the phonies running around.

It was a start up that set me down my career path back in 2000. I joined as a sales engineer, but was offered a position in product management after the first year. No fucking clue what it meant to be a product manager, but I knew the product and I knew our customers. After a couple years of learning shit the hard way the CTO left the start up for a bigger company and took me with him a couple months later. Under the bigger company I was able to legitimately grow my resume and it took off from there.

I also met my wife at that start up back in 2000. She's worked in corporate HR her entire career...
1787648792357.png