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Silicon Valley provides a lot of tech-related jobs for qualified individuals. But you might be wondering how you can get these job opportunities. You can search job boards that focus on remote jobs seekers. Job boards that focus on remote workers in tech are:

  • WeWorkRemotely
  • remote ok
  • Jobspresso
  • Nomad List
  • Working Nomads

You can also network with companies and see if they will hire you remotely. Sometimes, your network is your best source of a job. From a company perspective, referrals are always the best hires.

Many large companies such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft even hire remote workers, but you typically have to have a unique skill-set to convince them. There is no reason that with 10 years of PHP experience that you wouldn’t earn over 6 figures. You might need to learn a new language as PHP is on the decline.

  • Can You Work Remotely as a Software Engineer?
  • How Much do Software Engineers Make in Silicon Valley?
  • How Much do Remote Programmers Make?
  • How Much do Remote Silicon Valley Programmers Make?
  • Can Software Engineers Become Millionaires?
  • Is it Hard to get a Software Developer Job?
  • Can Engineers Make 500k?
  • What is The Lowest Salary at Google?
  • Is it Hard to Get a Remote Programming Job?
  • Is Coding a Good Career?
  • Do Programmers Get Paid Well?
  • Who Pays The Most in Silicon Valley?
  • Which Tech Company Pays The Most?
  • How Much Does The Average Person Make in Silicon Valley?
  • What IT Jobs Pay The Best?
  • What is The Highest Paying Job at Microsoft?

Can You Work Remotely as a Software Engineer?

Remote jobs are rapidly becoming more popular in nearly every industry, growing by over 173% in the past decade. This phenomenon is sweeping the US, Canada, and most of Europe as millennials demand a better work-life balance. Over 3% of US employees work from home at least half of the time, and over 5% of the US works full-time remote jobs.

Whether you want to work from home, become a digital nomad, or have a more flexible schedule, becoming a remote developer can help you find the job of your dreams.

Read Also: How to Make Money Through Job Portal

Remote work and remote coding boot camps open a wide range of possibilities, including better salaries (remote software developers make an average salary of $66,000), less time spent commuting, and a better work-life balance. 

Step 1: Learn the Skills You Need to Be a Remote Developer

With over 75 online full-stack coding boot camps and courses out there, your first step is to choose the best coding boot camp for you. Of course, you don’t need to attend a remote boot camp in order to become a remote developer, but learning web development online is actually great preparation for a remote career because you’ll become an expert in remote tools like Slack, Trello, Zoom, etc. Also keep in mind that as a result of COVID-19, many coding boot camps have moved their curriculum fully online, such as LearningFuze, DevMountain, and Lighthouse Labs. 

The online learning portal will be your classroom! Attend an online info session, read the school’s mission, and ask yourself if this is the right fit for you. Also, look into what the online school can do for you if you run into a roadblock.

Will you need and get one-on-one attention? Will you get support from a community on Slack? Make sure that aligns with your needs. The proper foundation for will set you up with both relevant technical skills and with soft skills needed to become a remote developer. 

Step 2: The Remote Job Search

Remote software engineer jobs come in many forms. You’ll find part-time, full-time, contract, and freelance developer jobs. If you do best in a stable team environment with employer motivation and a mentor, you’ll want to look for a full-time employee position. These often come with benefits like paid vacation and healthcare too! 

There is more flexibility in contract or freelance work including the ability to make your own schedule, set your own rates, and be your own boss.

Just remember that you’re the only one responsible for your pay and success in these situations, and you’ll probably want to find your own mentor. You would also need to set up business systems for yourself including invoicing, scheduling, and insurance. Online freelancing platforms like Upwork and TopTal can handle those for you. 

Remote employers are also looking for bootcampers with soft skills fit for online communication, a portfolio of projects, and how you plan to continue learning after boot camp. Since you’ll most likely be applying and interviewing remotely, your portfolio, resume, and LinkedIn need to showcase your personality as much as possible.

You can show personality in the projects you choose to work on and include them in your portfolio. Use your personal summary to show what you were doing before boot camp, how some of the experiences might transfer to remote developer jobs, why you love coding and chose to change careers, and what you are looking forward to in the future.

Remember, just because you won’t be working in an office in person together doesn’t mean you can’t seek mentorship from your future employer! 

Step 3: Ace the Remote Developer Interview

You’ve graduated from coding bootcamp and polished your application materials. Now for the hard part! Online interviews can be tricky and they’re different for every position so we’ve rounded up answers to the most common questions.

What to expect in an online interview

Every hiring manager is going to ask you different questions, but the questions will typically be geared toward learning how you problem-solve, your work-life balance expectations, and your communication style. Remote jobs will also want you to demonstrate how you will fit in the remote work environment. 

Questions to expect in a Remote Developer Interview 

  • What tools do you use to collaborate? How would you remain productive if one of those tools were to go down? How will you communicate effectively using those tools?
  • Describe your communication style.
  • Will you be able to stay motivated without an in-person supervisor? How will you combat slumps in productivity?
  • How will you schedule your work?
  • How would you go about solving conflict or disagreement with your team?
  • If there is a time-sensitive problem and the rest of your team is offline, how will you handle it?
  • Explain a challenge you had with a project that you worked on from start to finish and how you overcame it. 
  • Why do you want to work remotely?
  • Can you describe your home office setup?
  • What do you anticipate being your biggest challenge as a remote worker? How do you plan to deal with it?

Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

  • What are your expectations for this position? What hours do you expect me to be online? Will I need to be located in one city, state or region? Do I need to come into the office occasionally?
  • What does communication look like on your team?
  • Where is everyone on your team located? Will I need to be mindful of time zone differences?
  • What does a successful remote worker look like in your opinion?
  • How will feedback be given to me?
  • Is there an onboarding process or ramp-up period?
Step 4: Be a Great Remote Teammate

Employers are looking for proactive team players with the demonstrated ability to collect information, read the context of a group chat, know when to step back and support your team, and implement regular feedback. Taking the initiative to find a solution, do your research, and showing that you’ve thought through your role’s duties will help you thrive. 

Here are some ways you set yourself up for success on a remote team: 

  • Keep in touch with your boot camp and your cohort. These connections could be your foot in the door for a remote job, the solution to a problem you’re having, or the emotional support you need down the road. 
  • Prepare your home office during the job hunt so that it’s ready to go on your first day. Do you live with roommates or family members? Inform them you’ll be working from home. Either establish a do not disturb schedule or an indicator of when you shouldn’t be disturbed. The most important part of your home office is the tech. Can your laptop handle the workload you’ll be putting it through? Will you need a second monitor? Do you have a solid internet connection? 
  • If you can help it, don’t completely rely on coffee shops and public library wifi. While these are fine places to go when you have cabin fever, they’re more likely to distract you and reduce your productivity.
  • Take communication seriously: As Tech Elevator’s Lead Career Coach Kelly Brucker says, “Communication is key. Whether you’re working remotely or in-person, communication is always important, but when you’re working remotely, communication becomes imperative. Find out how your co-workers prefer to communicate (Slack, email, Zoom meetings, phone calls, etc) or if your company has a preferred method of communication when employees are working remotely. If you’re able to communicate with your co-workers quickly and effectively while working remotely, it will make your day-to-day role flow smoothly in a remote environment.”

How Much do Software Engineers Make in Silicon Valley?

The estimated salary for a software engineer is $117,689 per year in Silicon Valley, CA and $5,000 cash bonus per year.

Years of experiencePer year
Less than 1 year$109,971
1 to 2 years$112,984
3 to 5 years
6 to 9 years$129,230
More than 10 years$148,054

How Much do Remote Programmers Make?

The average annual pay for a Remote Programmer in the United States is $81,726 a year.

Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $39.29 an hour. This is the equivalent of $1,572/week or $6,810/month.

While ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $154,000 and as low as $22,000, the majority of Remote Programmer salaries currently range between $51,000 (25th percentile) to $104,500 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $135,500 annually across the United States.

The average pay range for a Remote Programmer varies greatly (by as much as $53,500), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.

How Much do Remote Silicon Valley Programmers Make?

Programmers make between $150k and $250k per year, some of that being bonuses and some being their base pay. That does not include the benefits they reap such as healthcare, PTO and at-work perks such as daily lunch orders and Foosball tournaments in between doing work, short, flexible hours and oh yeah, a commute usually available by train.

Silicon Valley stretches from San Jose all the way to San Francisco now, and so the City has contributed to the raise in salaries in the Silicon Valley. The benefits afforded to tech. seem to be much greater than in other industries located within the same geographical region.

Can Software Engineers Become Millionaires?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2012, the average salary for an application software developer was $93,000, with only 10 percent of such developers making more than $139,000 in salary. Clearly, then, any Google engineer making $3 million per year is getting most of that in bonuses and/or stock.

Most programmers don’t become millionaire (at least not because they’re programmers). People who can program and have an urge to build things have a higher chance of becoming millionaires. In the beginnings of Microsoft, Bill Gates definitely was a programmer, but he changed to become a business people soon after that.

You can become a millionaire and a billionaire by doing anything of your choice in the best possible manner. Excellence leads to great work which in turn helps you earn money. So, you can become a millionaire by becoming a software engineer, but it would depend on how good a software engineer you become.

Is it Hard to get a Software Developer Job?

The first software engineering job is hard to get. After 2–3 years of experience, getting a job is actually pretty easy, though you may have to apply to a number of different positions.

The problems with the first job are numerous:

  1. Building code for production and building code on your own are very different. That’s why many companies who hire new developers have to account for the fact that a new developer is going to need to spend a lot of time learning. Not all want to provide this time.
  2. Consequently, new developers also need a lot of mentorship. Not all companies want to provide this investment. Also, strong developers don’t necessarily make good mentors so a company may not have the staff to help a new developer succeed.
  3. Software development is not an assembly line. A developer can easily do negative work if a companies process isn’t equipped to catch that and many aren’t.
  4. There is a fairly valid notion of “hiring up” as in bringing in someone with skills your existing team doesn’t have. This helps make your whole team stronger. A new developer is not going to provide this.

There are a couple other issues that go beyond that first job.

One is that the skillset for interviewing is not the same as the skillset for being a strong developer. Getting good at something requires practice AND feedback. A lot of places have developers conduct interviews solo, which provides zero opportunity to get feedback and becoming a better interviewer. It results in a lot of people having to “prepare” or “study” for interviews because the interview has very little to do with what’s required for the job.

The other is that there are lots of different types of skillsets for a developer and they’re not all clear cut. It’s not important to get a job offer from every interview. Interviews are about making sure a candidate is a right fit for a company AND that the company is a right fit for the candidate.

Maybe a company needs a hire to do tasks that a candidate is not good at and has no interest in learning to be better at. That candidate is probably not going to get the offer, but they wouldn’t want it anyway. With experience comes specialization in certain areas of software development and it may take some time to find a position that fits those specializations.

Can Engineers Make 500k?

The only place you could make that much money is in the Bay Area where cost of living makes $500K seem like way less than anywhere else in the US. You are better off getting paid $180K-$200K somewhere else in the US where you can have a much better quality of life. I would take $180K in Texas or South Carolina over $500K in Silicon Valley any day!

So the real question is how do you make $500K as a software engineer somewhere that is NOT Silicon Valley? Basically, you don’t. Not as a base salary for sure. Maybe if you own part (or all) of a small app development company, provide software development professional services and get a few other people working for you, etc.

It’s really rare in technology to get above $180K-$200K anywhere outside Silicon Valley by being an individual contributor. You want to crack $200K you’ve got to have equity in something, run a larger organization, run a small business, etc.

What is The Lowest Salary at Google?

Google is a multinational technology firm specializing in Internet-related services and products based in Mountain View, USA. Google was founded in 1998 by Sergei Brin and Larry Page in Menlo Park. Google.com is the most visited website in the world.

TitleAverage Salary
Executive – Head of HR$200,000 
Senior Developer$150,000 
IT Architect$135,000 
Senior Manager$132,000 
CTO$123,000 
Designer$115,000 

The highest paid Google employees are Executive – Head of HRs at $200,000 annually. The lowest paid Google employees are Entry Levels at $51,000.

Most Google employees using Emolument work in Poland for an average salary of $120,000. The best-paid Google employees work in Switzerland for an average salary of $149,000.

Is it Hard to Get a Remote Programming Job?

With an increasing number of web developers seeking to work remotely, especially in today’s world of flexible, mobile working, securing a remote position can prove tough.

Jobs aren’t scarce in web development. That’s a great thing for recruiters and hirers, but not so great for web developers. The amount of work available far exceeds the number of developers working in the field.

You can look at it as a simple case of supply and demand. The supply far exceeds demand, and so many developers, unfortunately, find themselves left out of work.

One of the key reasons it is so difficult for developers — both aspiring and seasoned professionals — to secure remote jobs is because employers and organizations have an infinite choice of professionals to choose from, in the form of agencies, development studios, freelancers, and the option of in-house recruiting.

The sheer amount of choice that employers have literally has no end, which means that whoever they do end up selecting for the job has successfully competed against a multitude of other equally capable colleagues.

Employers are bound to be choosing candidates who particularly stand out from their competition — and in no small way. A multitude of factors such as cost, capability, and location are all at play here. Additionally, recruiters are looking at delivery time, flexibility in the payment schedule, and the past experience that the developer is able to offer.

All of these points work together to determine how eager an employer is to enlist a suitable candidate for their job. As you are competing with so many others, it’s vital that you show off your skills and explain what makes your work different.

A simple motto to follow when you’re struggling to find remote work as a web developer is to slightly undercharge and largely overdeliver.

A long-term position of employment is arguably more secure as a source of steady income in what has become such a volatile industry. But when you are working remotely, your key to success lies in just how well you can communicate what makes you likely to exceed the capabilities of your competing colleagues.

Maintaining a remote position for any period of time is a feat, particularly because hirers are typically looking to hire remote web developers over the short term, most of the time.

To summarize, here are our top tips for increasing your success as a remote web developer:

  • Keep your online profiles current
  • Ensure that your personal portfolio is kept up-to-date
  • Keep learning new skills and be sure to list them on your freelance profiles and portfolio
  • Clearly define your skills

Is Coding a Good Career?

Yes, coding is a good career because there is opportunity, and much of that opportunity is well-paid. Coding can also be a rewarding career given its impact on the everyday world, and can be fun for those with interests in a wide-ranging list of topics.

Here are detailed explanations of the the different reasons why coding is a good career.  

Coding is a good career if your child will enjoy it

With every day that passes, the opportunity for someone to do something they love doing as a career becomes more and more real. Our parents weren’t afforded that luxury. There were only so many different types of jobs to do because the world was much simpler, for lack of a better term. I don’t have to detail how things have changed since then, but you get the point. 

So, if your child is showing an interest in coding, and they start becoming passionate about coding as a hobby and an area where they want to spend their free time, then you might be on to something in terms of coding being a good career. 

Coding is a good career because there is opportunity

The fact is that—only about 1% of the US population can write code. 

Now, there are a lot of people in the US, so that works out to about 3+ million people in total, which is no small sum. 

But when you also consider how much time we all spend wrapped up in a digital world that is powered by coding, that figure seems low, right?

For confirmation, just take a google around. You’ll see there are 1M unfilled IT jobs in the US. And that tech-related jobs in the US have increased by 200K every year since 2010. And that tech job opportunities are emerging across a wide range of industries, from cloud computing to AI to the next big thing (which isn’t far off, whatever it may be). 

This all points to the fact that there is opportunity…and it’s not because we are in tech infancy, either. We all went digital a long time ago, and there are plenty of advancements and innovations to come. 

Coding is a good career because it pays well

Indeed recently identified the 25 best jobs of the year, stacking opportunities up across three metrics including “average pay, the share of the job title’s growth on the site in the past three years, and the number of postings for the job for every 1 million total listings on the site.” 

The top job? Software architect—a role that commands an average salary of $119,715 per year, and tends to require a degree in CS, software engineering, or a related field. 

The second-ranked job? Full stack developer—which commands an average base salary of $94,164 annually, and requires a diverse coding skillset. 

Other tech entries include:

  • Development operations engineer #5
  • Electrical engineer #6
  • Java developer #7
  • Data scientist #8
  • IT security specialist #9
  • Data engineer #12
  • Cloud engineer #20
  • IT technician #23

In other words, the list is dominated by tech, with many positions requiring some form of a coding skillset.

Coding is a good career because it’s impactful

Closing the loop on some of the points made in the intro, coding is a good career for those who want to leave a visible mark on the world around them. 

Meaning, some people are totally OK with the fact that the hours of work they put in each day go virtually unnoticed by the outside world. They prefer to be behind the scenes and don’t need any sort of visible or tangible validation that what they are doing is consumed or required by others. 

But for those who do want to be able to say “See that thing right there? I helped build that,” coding is very much that career. 

For example:

  • Java is at the core of Android app development
  • Python forms the backend of Instagram, Spotify, Netflix, and more
  • C++ was used to develop the latest Microsoft Office suite and Unreal Engine
  • JavaScript allows for users to interact with web pages

Do Programmers Get Paid Well?

While an entry-level computer programmer in the US is expected to earn a minimum salary of $60,000 per year, more experienced programmers sometimes break $150,000 per year.

Being a programmer isn’t just about writing code. It’s about problem-solving. Although job salaries depend on a number of factors, a very strong factor is how much impact the role has.

For a burger-flipper working at a restaurant, there is a limit to how many people that you can serve on a daily basis. No matter how hard you try, there are physical constraints that make it impossible to serve 20 customers in 1 minute. Well, if you could do that, you’d likely break bones in the process.

But computer programmers can leverage the power of computers to serve hundreds of customers per second! No physical labor is required in the digital world.

Software is a critical part of job automation. It allows for repetitive or complex tasks to be either automated or made more efficient. The impact of automation on modern life has been so substantial that it has been met with controversy because it causes some jobs to become obsolete for humans.

Who Pays The Most in Silicon Valley?

Silicon Valley the hub of all small, medium and large software industry is in South of California’s San Francisco Bay. There is always a curiosity among peoples about the best companies to work for in silicon valley.

Everyone wants to know about the company and their paycheck as Silicon Valley is famous for the corporate houses of some of the top IT industries of the world.

1. Juniper network:

Juniper network is the best and highest paying company in Silicon Valley. The Juniper network focuses on networking and works to improve networking, routers and make it simple, without the complexity.

Juniper network deal pays very well to its worker and the median annual base salary is near $150k which is higher than any other company in Silicon Valley. And Juniper network is the name people want to associate with and its most employees recommend it to their friends and family.

Juniper network handles network issues around the world and makes sure that there is a secure, open and simple network for people to use.

2. Google:

Google does not need any introduction; people know Google around the world and know what it does. People know the name and want to work with the organization, its employee recommend it to their friends and family for the work.

Google is famous for their largest and most popular search engine name after the company’s name but there are other products as well and they are pretty popular too because Goggle is the heart of the internet and without Google, most people even can’t imagine the internet.

Google is one of the highest or you can say one of the best paying companies in Silicon Valley and the median annual base salary is near $130K.

3. VMware:

The leader of the cloud infrastructure and business mobility VMware is one of the top companies in its field. VMware offers virtualization technology, which allows IT industries to spread their wings without problems and support to innovations and tools to develop.

The employees of VMware got a median base annual salary of approx $130K which makes VMware one of the highest paying companies in Silicon Valley as well as one of the best companies in Silicon Valley.

Software engineers die to work with VMware as they got not just world Class Company as their employer, but also get so many benefits because VMware takes care of its employees.

4. Amazon lab126:

Amazon lab126 was well known for the Kindle the eBook reader and world-famous e-commerce website has its headquarters in California.

Amazon wants to make the reading on Kindle a worldwide evolution where every book no matter the time, the date they were written would be available on Kindle, boundless by any boundary.

Amazon headquarters is a place people want to work and make their career, the median base annual salary of Amazon is approx $135K. Amazon is one of the highest paying companies in Silicon Valley and people love working there.

Almost in a decade, Amazon has changed the world of reading and now more and more people love reading digitally as well as hold the pride of one of the most popular eCommerce websites around the world.

5. Guidewire:

The Guidewire is a software publisher based in California. The Guidewire is a sole leader in magic quadrant report for property and insurance.

The Guidewire works for the P&C insurance industry to boost the speed-to-market to give more freedom to their agents in the market. The Guidewire is one of the highest paying company in Silicon Valley with the median base annual pay of approx $138K and its CEO Marcus Rys is one of the most appreciated CEO by their employees.

The employees of Guidewire love to work for the company as the benefit is too good to pass on. People love to work with the Guidewire and recommend to their family and friends.

6. Cadence Design system:

Cadence Design Systems a name people recognize around the world due to their cutting edge electronic products and located in San Jose, California.

Cadence deals with the camera, Smartphone, tablets, gaming device and cloud infrastructure around the world in 17 countries. The cadence Design system is a company people die to work for due to healthy work-life balance working systems and many incentives company provide to its employee.

The median base annual salary of the company is approx $140K which make the cadence design system one of the highest paying companies in silicon valley. Cadence design is a company people recommend to their friends because it is also best among its competitors.

7. Visa:

‘Visa’ a name that doesn’t need any introduction because it is the name that speaks volumes itself and people recognize it by its name. Visa is an American based company headquartered in Foster City, California.

Visa is a multinational financial services corporation which provides electronic fund transfer around the world. The ATM cards we use, the shopping via credit and debit cards and other money related work we do with our cards are part of the Visa, a financial service corporation.

Visa does facilitate card and service, but other works are handled by the corporations providing Visa card services to their customers and the prime example is banks.

Visa is one of the highest paying company as well in silicon valley by giving a median base annual salary of approx $127K and other incentives as well. People love to work with Visa.

8. Facebook:

Facebook, one of the most famous companies of Silicon Valley doesn’t need any kind of introduction, we know all about Facebook, headquartered in Menlo Park California.

Facebook helps people around the world to connect, there are billions of users of Facebook around the world and provide a platform for business as well. Facebook took pride in its service and the impact it has on people’s life, constantly work to make a difference in social norms.

People love working with Facebook not just because it is famous, but because Facebook takes care of its employees by providing many incentives and benefits with around $130K median base salary per year.

Facebook employees recommend it to their friends and family and love that they are part of a company who is loved by people all over the world.

9. Twitter:

Just like Facebook, Twitter doesn’t need any introduction; the name is enough to tell you about the grandness of the organization. Twitter is an organization based in San Francisco, California and uses by billions of people around the world to share their views and thoughts.

Twitter gives freedom to express thoughts and share them with the world by providing a platform used by billions of people around the world. People use twitter to voice their thoughts, concern, happiness, sadness or just to share a few words with the world.

Twitter is not just famous for the platform it provides but also for being one of the highest paying companies in Silicon Valley by giving a median annual base salary of approx $133K with other benefits and incentives.

10. Box:

Box headquartered in Redwood City, California is a company that helps other organizations. The box is a dedicated company that helps other businesses to grow and become more successful.

The box is like guidance for the start-up and in this case for already established companies that need guidance to become more flexible, competitive and productive.

Box not just only takes care of other businesses by providing expert guidance, but also took care of its employees by providing so many benefits and incentives as well as the median base salary of approx $133K per year.

The Box is one of the highest-paying companies in Silicon Valley with attractive benefits and plans for its employees. People love working with the Box and recommend it to their friends.

Which Tech Company Pays The Most?

As Artificial intelligence (AI) and Business intelligence (BI) have moved from concept to reality, top tech companies in every segment (e.g., Internet services, Hardware, Software, etc.) are offering exciting opportunities for MBA graduates.

The average salary range of MBA graduates from the top business schools in the Tech is between $54,989 –$2,00,000, and the best-paying jobs in technology include Data Scientist ($130,000), Site Reliability Engineer ($200,000), and Machine learning engineer ($189,000).

The tech giants, also known as “Big Tech” – Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet, heavily recruit MBA graduates with robust knowledge in technology. Besides, every year since 2010, 20,000 new tech-related jobs have been created in the US alone, and due to the shortage of Tech workers with relevant skills, many business schools are incorporating tech-inspired MBA curriculum (e.g., STEM MBA programs).

Moreover, the lack of skilled tech workers tells us the scope of opportunity for MBA graduates.

A few of the top tech companies to work for in 2021 are Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, eBay, Apple, Cisco, Google, and Microsoft, according to Vault Technology rankings.

But how do employees of these top technology companies rank their firms? Also, which are the highest-paying tech companies?

Here is the list of Top tech companies to work for in 2021:

  1. Facebook
  2. Google
  3. Microsoft
  4. LinkedIn
  5. IBM
  6. E-bay
  7. Adobe
  8. Amazon
  9. Apple 
  10. Cisco
  11. HP
  12. Intel 
  13. Oracle
  14. Salesforce
  15. Samsung 
  16. SpaceX
  17. Tesla 
  18. Qualcomm

How Much Does The Average Person Make in Silicon Valley?

People who work in tech are rich. But ever since a new law came into effect that requires publicly traded companies to report the median pay of their employees, we know exactly how rich.

Silicon Valley led the pack. As reported to the SEC, Google employees are the most made of money: their median annual pay in 2018 was $246,804. That’s an increase of nearly $50,000 from what Google employees made in 2017.

Facebook came in second place, with a median pay of $228,651 in 2018. However, this number fell by nearly $12,000 from 2017. A spokesperson told WIRED there was “no specific reason” for the decline, although Facebook suffered multiple crises last year, including a massive data breach that caused its stock prices to plummet.

Meanwhile, it’s not too rough to work at Twitter, Square, Workday, or Nvidia, either, where employees all made on average over $150,000 in 2018. That’s more than enough to afford rent for the average San Francisco “modest two-bedroom” according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s “Out of Reach” report (they reported you’d have to make at least a cool $127,000).

However, working at Amazon doesn’t look so hot: the median salary in 2018 was only $28,836. But that’s because the majority of its workforce doesn’t consist of highly-paid software engineers — it’s blue-collar workers managing inventory and filling warehouse orders. Conversely, Google’s median pay was highest because it didn’t include any of its many temporary or contract employees.

If it seems to you like Silicon Valley tech employees are especially loaded, you’re not imagining things: the average wage for a software engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area last year was roughly $140,000, while the national average was $104,000. No wonder there are so many Bay Area transplants.

What IT Jobs Pay The Best?

Take a look at the following list and you might just find the perfect opportunity to pursue a career of your dreams.

1. Director of Product Management

As a product manager, you may rake in a decently high salary, but as a director of product management, you can’t even imagine how high the salary could be. The average annual salary for a director of product management is $179,935, which means that you can earn a whopping $86.50 per hour (assuming you work 8 hours a day).

Read Also: Job Seekers here’s a Step by Step Guide on How to Write a Good Resume

A daily allowance of $692 seems almost too good to be true. So if you are a product manager with the right qualifications and enough experience, don’t miss out on this job. Send a job application, portfolio, and CV as soon as possible. 

2. Product Development Engineer

If you are a product development engineer, you’re also bringing in the big bucks. The average annual salary for product development engineers is around $173,241. If you work 40 hours per week for 52 weeks yearly, your salary per hour will be approximately $83.30. This job is generally well paid worldwide but it looks like you can earn much more on this position in Silicon Valley. 

3. Data Warehouse Architect 

Jobs in data warehouse architecture require an analytical mind with a flair for handling huge data infrastructure. With such a complex skillset required, it is no wonder that this job comes in at third place on this list with an annual salary of $167,521, which is $80.50 hourly.

4. Platform Engineer

The average yearly salary for platform engineers is about $158,283, which means you can earn $76.10 per hour. Considering this role is vital in bridging the gap between the software and hardware industries, it explains the generous compensation you could get as a platform engineer.

5. Senior Software Architect

Although this job takes a lot of time and needs you to focus and be amazingly creative and innovative, you’ll be properly compensated for your time. The annual salary for senior software architects is $157,137, which is $75.50 hourly. This job is perfect for you if you are a software architect.

6. DevOps Manager

The annual salary for DevOps managers is about $151,000,  which is $72.60 hourly. If you are good at strategizing and have experience with operations and management, you might get lucky enough to work for a company that needs to fill this role. 

7. Senior Architect 

A senior architect might earn $147,081 per year. The average weekly salary is almost $2,828, which is $70.70 per hour. If you are an architect, it won’t cost you anything to send a job application and try to work online from home. Many architects from other countries are working for big companies in Silicon Valley. No harm in considering this option. 

8. Principal Software Engineer 

Software engineers are quite known to have one of the best-paid jobs worldwide. With an annual salary of approximately $144,559, principal software engineers earn about $69.50 per hour in Silicon Valley. This lucrative role is an excellent opportunity for all aspiring software engineers. And if you’re an expert, why not give a try at applying to some of the best companies at Silicon Valley.

9. Senior Solutions Architect 

Yes, we know, architects again. Senior solutions architects can earn up to $136,882, which is $65.80 per hour. Amazing, right? Architects are indeed very relevant in the IT industry and occupy much of this list. 

10. Principal Java Developer

Java developers have high salaries worldwide, but in Silicon Valley CA, their average annual salary is $134,406, i.e. $64.60 per hour. Although this is the last job on the list, can you imagine life with a daily salary of $517?  

What is The Highest Paying Job at Microsoft?

At Microsoft, the highest paid job is a Group Engineering Manager at $392,872 annually and the lowest is a CS Rep at $44,959 annually. Average Microsoft salaries by department include: Finance at $117,987, Business Development at $184,599, HR at $132,988, and Legal at $207,079. Half of Microsoft salaries are above $162,818.

1954 employees at Microsoft rank their Compensation in the Top 5% of similar sized companies on Comparably (based on 6342 ratings) while 1866 employees at Microsoft rank their Perks And Benefits in the Top 5% of similar sized companies on Comparably (based on 2171 ratings).

Salaries contributed from Microsoft employees include job titles like Principal Engineer, Lead Engineer, Senior Developer, and DevOps. Comparably data has a total of 921 salary records from Microsoft employees.

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