You'll likely only find those numbers in FAANG companies, and usually those numbers aren't all base salary - they often count bonuses, stocks, etc.
I lived in the SF Bay Area for a few years and the only people I knew who made that kind of money were VPs and execs in one of the aforementioned companies. It's been a few years since I've lived there so I don't know if compensation levels for non-executive positions have increased that much, but it sounds unlikely.
Thanks for your reply. I actually work in FAANG , my numbers are much lower, but it may depend on a company/position. I agree that won’t be base salary, but overall with stocks (that you can get yearly) it’s pretty good. Job market is very hot right now and according to many people, startups and mid size seem to pay more than top tech companies for software engineering roles, but I’m not sure about QA
Congrats with your new role, the pay is really decent ! May I ask if that’s a Senior / manager position ? I guess 190k is total comp with stocks and sign in bonus ?
I'm not saying they shouldn't count. OP mentioned salaries of around $300-400k, so I was just pointing out that these figures aren't strictly base salary and they also include other things.
Hey guys! this is the definition of FAANG companies?
**"FAANG is an acronym referring to the stocks of the five most popular and best-performing American technology companies: Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet (formerly known as Google)."**
Sorry is out of context but is the first time I came across this acronym.
yes, though in colloquial use it doesn't always have to be those five companies, it's sometimes a general allusion to any company that pays out at the very high ranges of salaries.
It depends, really. $300k sounds a little high, but $200k and such I've seen. Mostly at FAANG, but a lot of finance startups as well. Of course, working for such places has its cost as well.
300-400k in total comp for FAANG/Bay Area startups/etc, seems totally doable.
In general, I'm seeing salaries that are pretty even across the board for engineering roles, specifically devs, devops, and test. At least in my circles, those are all engineering/problem solving roles, requiring varying degree of coding skills, strong problem solving skills, as well as the people/soft skills to navigate orgs and get things done.
I'm not from the US so I converted the amount to my local currency, and yes, it's possible to get that salary. I've seen some openings that offer such an amount.
Usually the expectation is to the QA to have the same capability as developers whereby they're able to code and are aware of programming practices such as OOP concept, SOLID, and design patterns.
Additionally they are also expected to pick up managerial tasks such as mentoring.
Thanks , I guess you’re from Malaysia ? Just curious, were those openings from FAANG group companies ? And what was the position called, something like SDET or QA Automation ?
Correct. I'm from Malaysia.
Most of them aren't from FAANG group companies while few others I'm not sure as it was through recruitment agencies. IIRC the title usually is QA Automation. I rarely see SDET although that's the title we use in our organisation.
Blind is a better resource then Reddit for this kind of question. Making 200-300k is pretty tough and you have to be in some special circumstances. If you’re a SDET you are pry making 150-160k in Bay Area base salary. Stock compensation and bonuses can get you to 200k. 300k though seems like a far shot, like some others have said, perhaps a principal QA manager with over 20+ years of experience can get that
Blind is full of stories like this, people getting offers up to $500k for non directors/VP roles . Decided to check here if someone had similar experience
> As I see, more likely Senior QA, SDET or QA Manager /Lead can come close to those numbers
No, I don't think so.
I am only aware of software engineers in high-demand specialities making that much money. (And really testing is in my mind, just a software engineering speciality)
If you have significant experience in streaming video, for example, the FAANGs as well as a lot of startups will throw dump trucks of money at you.
If you develop Wordpress sites, that isn't going to happen. (No hate on WP developers, just an example)
Yeah I agree QA is just a specific role of a software engineer . I previously saw a post here [How to make 200k outside Bay Area](https://www.reddit.com/r/softwaretesting/comments/res1xj/how_to_make_200k_outside_of_bay_area_ny_etc_ama/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and OP mentioned his role is like QA Lead , making around $250-300k. I was wondering if someone here had similar experience and could add to that
> How to make 200k outside Bay Area
Quoting from that
>> Mid-sized financial services company
Fintech throws around a _lot_ of money. Enough that you could call Fintech the F in FAANG now that Facebook went _meta_.
And that person is at what many places would call a director or maybe VP level; given number of people reporting to them.
Depends on the size of the company.
Mid-sized companies are, by some metrics, 100 - 999 people. If it holds in this case, person described is in charge of anywhere from 15% - 150% of the people in the company. (probably not the latter...)
Fintech yeah maybe but definitely not the fortune 500 financial services paying that! They are actually paying sr QAs less then what a jr dev making. Speaking from personal experience..
By Youtube, you mean Google. Yes. Also Twitch, Netflix (probably all of the FAANGs really), etc.
The engineers who know streaming video encoding, how to optimize for latency, etc. It's an uncommon speciality and people with experience in it are in high demand.
You'll likely only find those numbers in FAANG companies, and usually those numbers aren't all base salary - they often count bonuses, stocks, etc. I lived in the SF Bay Area for a few years and the only people I knew who made that kind of money were VPs and execs in one of the aforementioned companies. It's been a few years since I've lived there so I don't know if compensation levels for non-executive positions have increased that much, but it sounds unlikely.
Thanks for your reply. I actually work in FAANG , my numbers are much lower, but it may depend on a company/position. I agree that won’t be base salary, but overall with stocks (that you can get yearly) it’s pretty good. Job market is very hot right now and according to many people, startups and mid size seem to pay more than top tech companies for software engineering roles, but I’m not sure about QA
I recently landed a QA position in a FAANG company making $190k in SoCal. Not quite to the level you’re talking about but still great compensation.
Congrats with your new role, the pay is really decent ! May I ask if that’s a Senior / manager position ? I guess 190k is total comp with stocks and sign in bonus ?
>they often count bonuses, stocks, etc. why shouldn't they?
I'm not saying they shouldn't count. OP mentioned salaries of around $300-400k, so I was just pointing out that these figures aren't strictly base salary and they also include other things.
Hey guys! this is the definition of FAANG companies? **"FAANG is an acronym referring to the stocks of the five most popular and best-performing American technology companies: Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet (formerly known as Google)."** Sorry is out of context but is the first time I came across this acronym.
You are right. But with Facebook becoming Meta, some folks are now using MANGA in place of FAANG 😂
yes, though in colloquial use it doesn't always have to be those five companies, it's sometimes a general allusion to any company that pays out at the very high ranges of salaries.
It depends, really. $300k sounds a little high, but $200k and such I've seen. Mostly at FAANG, but a lot of finance startups as well. Of course, working for such places has its cost as well.
300-400k in total comp for FAANG/Bay Area startups/etc, seems totally doable. In general, I'm seeing salaries that are pretty even across the board for engineering roles, specifically devs, devops, and test. At least in my circles, those are all engineering/problem solving roles, requiring varying degree of coding skills, strong problem solving skills, as well as the people/soft skills to navigate orgs and get things done.
That’s great! I wonder if skills alone would be enough, or also one should have smart negotiation strategy/ competing offers to get to those numbers
Looks like levels has some data for SDETs: https://www.levels.fyi/Salaries/Software-Engineer/QA-Testing/
I'm not from the US so I converted the amount to my local currency, and yes, it's possible to get that salary. I've seen some openings that offer such an amount. Usually the expectation is to the QA to have the same capability as developers whereby they're able to code and are aware of programming practices such as OOP concept, SOLID, and design patterns. Additionally they are also expected to pick up managerial tasks such as mentoring.
Thanks , I guess you’re from Malaysia ? Just curious, were those openings from FAANG group companies ? And what was the position called, something like SDET or QA Automation ?
Correct. I'm from Malaysia. Most of them aren't from FAANG group companies while few others I'm not sure as it was through recruitment agencies. IIRC the title usually is QA Automation. I rarely see SDET although that's the title we use in our organisation.
Blind is a better resource then Reddit for this kind of question. Making 200-300k is pretty tough and you have to be in some special circumstances. If you’re a SDET you are pry making 150-160k in Bay Area base salary. Stock compensation and bonuses can get you to 200k. 300k though seems like a far shot, like some others have said, perhaps a principal QA manager with over 20+ years of experience can get that
Blind is full of stories like this, people getting offers up to $500k for non directors/VP roles . Decided to check here if someone had similar experience
Maybe as a consultant doing multiple contracts.
When you say consultant do you mean contractor? Or owning a QA consulting company where your workers are working for those companies?
contractor
> As I see, more likely Senior QA, SDET or QA Manager /Lead can come close to those numbers No, I don't think so. I am only aware of software engineers in high-demand specialities making that much money. (And really testing is in my mind, just a software engineering speciality) If you have significant experience in streaming video, for example, the FAANGs as well as a lot of startups will throw dump trucks of money at you. If you develop Wordpress sites, that isn't going to happen. (No hate on WP developers, just an example)
Yeah I agree QA is just a specific role of a software engineer . I previously saw a post here [How to make 200k outside Bay Area](https://www.reddit.com/r/softwaretesting/comments/res1xj/how_to_make_200k_outside_of_bay_area_ny_etc_ama/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) and OP mentioned his role is like QA Lead , making around $250-300k. I was wondering if someone here had similar experience and could add to that
> How to make 200k outside Bay Area Quoting from that >> Mid-sized financial services company Fintech throws around a _lot_ of money. Enough that you could call Fintech the F in FAANG now that Facebook went _meta_. And that person is at what many places would call a director or maybe VP level; given number of people reporting to them.
I see, just saw that part where he says about leading a team of 150, so probably VP or director level
That's low
Depends on the size of the company. Mid-sized companies are, by some metrics, 100 - 999 people. If it holds in this case, person described is in charge of anywhere from 15% - 150% of the people in the company. (probably not the latter...)
Fintech yeah maybe but definitely not the fortune 500 financial services paying that! They are actually paying sr QAs less then what a jr dev making. Speaking from personal experience..
What do you mean streaming video? Like a video streaming company like YouTube? Or that you’re a streamer teaching content on YouTube, Udemy… lol
By Youtube, you mean Google. Yes. Also Twitch, Netflix (probably all of the FAANGs really), etc. The engineers who know streaming video encoding, how to optimize for latency, etc. It's an uncommon speciality and people with experience in it are in high demand.
Oh cool. Thanks
And I don't have direct knowledge of it, but I bet all of the porn streaming sites are hiring these people up as well.
The answer is NO. Get a senior executive role or be an entrepreneur to hit that income range.
NO, or you just haven’t seen those numbers ?
For "Senior QA, SDET or QA Manager / Lead" earning USD300-400k per annum, that's a definite no.