There are many people who sling code who make as much as a doctor or partner at a law firm. More than a few people on HN fit that description, actually.
A partner at a law firm is a businessman first and an individual producer of lawyering second. He has people to do that for him. Many - but not all - ways to do extraordinarily well as a programmer involve becoming a businessman first and a code slinger forty-second. There are many people on HN who run consultancies. If you're unaware how the numbers shake out, ask them what percentage of the money they get came in from billable hours programming and what percentage came from e.g. the delta between what they charge for consultants and what they pay them, or the line-item fees which have no associated hours.
I keep giving this advice: stop calling yourself a programmer. You're right, it is anomalously highly paid and low status. So call yourself something else. If you sling code and make businesses serious money and are sophisticated about extracting that value, you will be quite highly paid indeed.
With regards to social status: most white collar laborers don't really have it. You could be a payroll clerk, so count your blessings. If you want it, either a) find a peer group where you have it or b) use code slinging to achieve something society values. You know how teachers have status? Try the line "I helped X million kids learn to read last year" out some time. (Helpful if it is true, obviously.). Or you can just wait until society moves in the direction of Programming is Sexy. (Not as far fetched as you might think. My girlfriend and her circle of friends loved Social Network. If I had reputational stock I'd be IPOing right now.)
My girlfriend and her circle of friends loved Social
Network. If I had reputational stock I'd be IPOing
right now.
In a relationship, IPO equates to "marriage". Note that the time/money requirements to satisfy each level of advancement in that arena (marriage, child1, child2, ...) grows exponentially.
The relationship Cost/Benefit ratio works remarkably similarly with a business ipo actually. If you're headed in that direction, I strongly recommend performing in-depth due diligence particularly around the areas of money-management, child-rearing.
"If I had reputational stock I'd be IPOing right now." I love that! lol
I'm sure that I'm a little biased living in Silicon Valley but here being a geek and being sexy is not mutually exclusive. Being a "programmer" is respectable but being a tech entrepreneur is respected much more.
That's right. The top "programmers" are entrepreneurs. Or in New York, they're portfolio managers. So it should be obvious that anyone who wants to make lots of money as a programmer should join a start-up or a trading firm.
Or AmaYaGooBookSoft, if you're capable of reading a quarterly earnings statement and an org chart.
I have no special knowledge of the internal organization or compensation schemes at Google, but a blind ferret could tell you that good things happen to key employees on AdWords.
A partner at a law firm is a businessman first and an individual producer of lawyering second. He has people to do that for him. Many - but not all - ways to do extraordinarily well as a programmer involve becoming a businessman first and a code slinger forty-second. There are many people on HN who run consultancies. If you're unaware how the numbers shake out, ask them what percentage of the money they get came in from billable hours programming and what percentage came from e.g. the delta between what they charge for consultants and what they pay them, or the line-item fees which have no associated hours.
I keep giving this advice: stop calling yourself a programmer. You're right, it is anomalously highly paid and low status. So call yourself something else. If you sling code and make businesses serious money and are sophisticated about extracting that value, you will be quite highly paid indeed.
With regards to social status: most white collar laborers don't really have it. You could be a payroll clerk, so count your blessings. If you want it, either a) find a peer group where you have it or b) use code slinging to achieve something society values. You know how teachers have status? Try the line "I helped X million kids learn to read last year" out some time. (Helpful if it is true, obviously.). Or you can just wait until society moves in the direction of Programming is Sexy. (Not as far fetched as you might think. My girlfriend and her circle of friends loved Social Network. If I had reputational stock I'd be IPOing right now.)