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Old 01-27-2013, 11:08 AM
 
248 posts, read 700,634 times
Reputation: 105

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I'm a software engineer.

In the DC area, what should I be earning with 5 years of experience (predominately in Java and associated technologies), no clearance, and a very solid work history (all of those 5 years were at one company with good to exceptional performance evaluations each year).

I would appreciate if the answer is based off hard facts (preferably your own experience or what you actually saw at where you work or used to work) rather than uneducated guesses.

Thank you and have a nice day.
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Old 01-27-2013, 01:06 PM
 
1,256 posts, read 4,194,278 times
Reputation: 791
Assuming you have a degree in Computer Science or equivalent you should be sitting pretty - $70k+ minimally, IMHO.

======

In another lifetime I got a couple degrees in Computer Science and have put in 25+ years of programming. I call myself "a programmer". Why? Well, (1) there's nothing wrong with being a programmer and (2) in that other lifetime I read somewhere somewhen that the title "engineer" is reserved to those who actually are licensed as engineers - in fact, it might even be a Virginia-legal-thang: Engineer Defined

Note - my $70+K was apparently a lowball figure based off the salary.com numbers: Software Engineer III

Last edited by sullyguy; 01-27-2013 at 01:15 PM.. Reason: Added Note
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Old 01-27-2013, 02:37 PM
 
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
14,129 posts, read 31,238,974 times
Reputation: 6920
A relative of mine got a software coding job down in the Tidewater area right out of college last year for about $60K. He loves his job as the company does a good job keeping young folks motivated.
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Old 01-27-2013, 05:25 PM
 
1,636 posts, read 3,164,627 times
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Just from working around engineers, I'd say 70-95k wouldn't be too unreasonable.

Are you job hunting? If so, I can double check with my HR manager tomorrow with what she would typically start someone like that at.
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Old 01-27-2013, 05:41 PM
 
248 posts, read 700,634 times
Reputation: 105
Quote:
Originally Posted by lmw36 View Post
Just from working around engineers, I'd say 70-95k wouldn't be too unreasonable.

Are you job hunting? If so, I can double check with my HR manager tomorrow with what she would typically start someone like that at.
Thank you very much!!!

If you don't mind, I would really really appreciate that.

As far as if I'm job hunting, not actively right now but I'm having constant thoughts of hitting the market.
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Old 03-03-2013, 11:35 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
8 posts, read 43,726 times
Reputation: 21
From the replies you've gotten ... I'd say it's time to move. A good Java developer in the Denver area will get $100k+ as an employee, $70+ an hour on a 1099.

If you've been with the same company for 5 years it's time to move. Unless your company does a large variety of things your skills will become stagnant and you'll only know a certain set of technologies. Right now, what's hot to know is REST (JAX-RS), the Spring stack, Maven or Gradle, and be an practitioner of an agile process (XP or Scrum).
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Old 03-03-2013, 05:22 PM
 
Location: DMV
10,125 posts, read 13,979,004 times
Reputation: 3222
^^I would say it depends on how the job market is out in Denver. You won't find too many places that have as many IT jobs as we have in this region.

I'm also a software engineer with roughly the same amount of experience. Based on the jobs that I have been offered or eligible for, $70k - $95k sounds about right. Of course going to the private sector means more money.
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Old 03-03-2013, 09:01 PM
 
Location: Fairfax, VA
173 posts, read 497,507 times
Reputation: 164
Quote:
Originally Posted by tsuric View Post
I'm a software engineer.

In the DC area, what should I be earning with 5 years of experience (predominately in Java and associated technologies), no clearance, and a very solid work history (all of those 5 years were at one company with good to exceptional performance evaluations each year).

I would appreciate if the answer is based off hard facts (preferably your own experience or what you actually saw at where you work or used to work) rather than uneducated guesses.

Thank you and have a nice day.
If your offer is < 80k you are underpaid.
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Old 03-03-2013, 09:12 PM
 
47 posts, read 109,827 times
Reputation: 46
From my quick research on salary.com and indeed.com, I found the following average salary in DC area:

Software Engineer: $100K
Senior Software Engineer: $115K
Principle Software Engineer: $130K
Software Architect: $125K
Senior Software Architect: $140K
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Old 03-04-2013, 08:40 AM
 
248 posts, read 700,634 times
Reputation: 105
Thanks for the replies all.

Yeah I'm at 70k with good benefits. I'm really ticked off that the salary is THAT low.

While the job has been great in almost every other regard, it seems like the salary issue has finally crossed the line.
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