Ask HN: How to move up in career in mid 30s?

[tlabs]

Hi HN,

I am hoping to tap into wisdom of all brilliant people here. I am mid 30s male. I work for FAANG but not compensated well enough to call myself upper middle class by any means.

What has happened over last three years is truly phenomenal and sad at the same time. If you look at Blind app, where people discuss compensation and offer numbers, I feel I am way behind. It took me 10+ years to cross 200k mark. My post tax comp. is still below 200k. Now, most people get 200k with 4-5 years of experience. Here at FAANG and at start-up alike, 200k or more is very very common.

A typical household TC is well above 350k or more in Seattle metro and in Bay area.

I feel stuck at my job. I can't jump immediately due to visa uncertainties and algorithmic interview hell going on right now. It takes good 4-6 months of preparation. I don't know how others are able to do it so quickly. It's possible I have slowed down. Haha!

How to grow in career as male in mid 30s? On long term, I want to enter executive management. I don't think I have any mentors or anyone honest (without agenda) to help out. What do you suggest?

Edit - I am not a software engineer. I am managing a small team of 8 engineers.

[hhs]

Along with income, have you thought about building your assets (e.g., stocks, relationships, things you make) to generate wealth?

Paul Graham's essay is useful: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html

[muzani]

Wealth comes from owning things that become more valuable, rather than a stream of income. You can put effort into earning that $350k compensation. Or you can try to invest that effort into building or owning other things that get more valuable. A lot of things don't actually become more valuable passively, though stocks are an exception.

[volk13]

Oh boy, wish I could move to the U.S. and have something near your actual income. I'm on my thirthies, married with an almost over the minimum wage stuck web dev job on Brazil :/

[sethammons]

Being at a FAANG, I'd assume there is a career track and progression guide. Consult that. If not then that is really fantastic as you can work with others to make one. Manage up: talk with your manager and find how you can help them grow. Asked them how you can grow. These should be happening in regular one on ones. Are those not happening? Another opportunity to advance the org and yourself. Finding ways to work at the next level.

Also, as for salary, are you factoring in benefits and equity? Most who report over $200k are factoring those in. Have you had comp discussions with your manager? Also, it may appear that others are making more when they are not. Some people falsely report earning, either by inflating the numbers or by remaining silent. As a data point, I'm a principal developer at a fast growing publicly traded company and my base salary is under what you are reporting.

Also, algorithm questions for a manager interview? Really?

[JSeymourATL]

> I don't think I have any mentors or anyone honest (without agenda) to help out.

Self-awareness might be helpful. How are you perceived by the Higher-ups? What do you need to work on to get better?

What are you doing to mentor/develop/influence those junior to you?

[mjmj]

If you’d consider non fang, not all companies use algorithmic interviews. So you should definitely be interviewing elsewhere if that’s what you want. Excluding visa issues.

Also seems strange you put your age in the title, mid 30s isn’t exceptionally old at FAANG companies in my experience.

Also continually comparing yourself can be toxic so maybe take a break from blind.

[x0hm]

You tell us.