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Need some advice here. I am a fullstack developer with 5 yoe in Angular and Python. My aim is to crack FAANG companies.Now I got an offer from HSBC in a credit risk model monitoring role using Python.It is close to a data engineer role.
My question is that will it be a good idea to shift from development role to a model monitoring role if I want to move to FAANG in the future?Or does FAANG not prefer people who are not in core development roles?Amazon Microsoft Google Adobe PwC EY Citi Barclays JPMorgan Chase
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I went from $220k to gov’t at $99k. I barely lasted a quarter with that pay cut. Left for in-house gig at $190k including guaranteed bonus and generous PTO, which is much more doable for me. I’m married with children so it’s a different situation but probably still a considerable change of lifestyle for you. I definitely wouldn’t do it again.
Someone mentioned reducing your expenses before taking the cut. That’s great advice that I did not have or implement. I was technically living beneath my means but losing the cushion and savings wasn’t going to work long term. I also was not in love with the government work or the environment.
Hi! I’m a former biglaw associate. I went from 200k plus bonus to 100k recently. I moved to a boutique firm that is doing purpose driven legal and consulting work in an area I’m deeply passionate about. No more billing hours - everything is flat fee. No more ignoring what is important to me in terms of values in favour of being a hired gun (even if it’s a well paid hired gun with lots of other friendly people around at the office). I have absolutely no regrets. I feel fundamentally different about life and the future. I have a new, ever present spring in my step. I’m proud of what I’m doing. There is no longer a sinking feeling in my gut on Sunday nights. I have my evenings and weekends. Only after stepping off the treadmill of biglaw for purpose driven work did I see how much it was affecting my happiness. Yes, I will no longer get Botox and facials (lol). I stopped going to a personal trainer. I go to group classes instead. I cook at home more. But it feels undeniably worth it. Best wishes to you whatever you decide!
My friend, i was barely making it (with saving, funding a Roth, and expenses) on $75k in flashy Scranton, PA and I am not a big spender. Do not do it unless you intend to make your hobbies walking and sitting on benches outside.
Make sure you adjust your monthly expenses before you take the other job. One can afford a nice lifestyle on $250k (nice apartment, car, other subscription services, etc.) but not so much on $75k in a major metro. Are you ready to take a big reduction in this type of living?
This kind of input is what I’m looking for, though—just want to make sure that I’m not skipping any considerations. Thank you!
I went from 305k to 155k so not as big of a cut, but one of the biggest things I did was refinance my student loans. Went from paying 4k a month (trying to aggressively pay) to about 500 a month by putting my term out 10 years.
Thankfully, I have no loans to pay! Thanks for the input, though.
75k is barely subsistence wages unless your hobbies are bird watching and your idea of eating out is collecting unsold bakery products that need to be thrown out at the end of the day.
I'm exaggerating. But the point is, 75k is really not a lot of money and you wouldn't be able to afford to do anything after rent. Forget ever buying a home.
On top of that, dating? That will be rough too. And forget ever coming back to a biglaw job after this if you decide you hate it. As a FYI, burnout at some of these public interest places is unreal. I used to work for Legal Aid in college and the attorneys there were doing more work than their peers at firms because the cases they were assigned were so demanding.
This is one of those life changing decisions you have to think through carefully.
I’m not weighing going to legal aid or anything similar. Think education/public works.
Honestly, I'm pretty early in my career but have always made less than 75K. I don't find its a problem at all, but I've also made some pretty conscious career moves (NEVER working more than 38-45hrs/wk, choosing an organizations that pays my student loan payment etc. - I'm also single and don't have a family to support. So there's that.).
I'd say that the biggest expense at this income range is not your time, but your emotions. Working in public interest or government, you run into a LOT of situations that are emotionally taxing. Sometimes you can help, and sometimes you have to acknowledge your limitations. And those limitations can be really heartbreaking. Especially if you work for an LSC org that ties your hands (for the record, I do NOT recommend working for a LSC org. Choose an unaffiliated if you can.). In a perfect world, we'd be financially compensated for this emotional labor, but that's not happening.
So while you're probably financially prepared to tighten your belt a bit, make sure you give some thought to the unpaid emotional labor you'll be doing. At the end of the day, I feel it's worth it, but I know its a personal decision. Good luck! We need all the good work we can get!
I live in Chicago and went from 2nd yr associate to federal clerk making about 100k. Noticed no significant change in lifestyle. Probably explained by being able to cook a lot more food instead of eating out. One big change is my retirement savings are much much lower now. But I could see myself wanting to retire much later in life if I do something other than big law, which means my retirement savings don’t need to be as high
I did something similar. Got comfortable with it by tracking all my expenses for a few months to get a real gauge for what my monthly spending was, and determining whether I could maintain or would need to cut things if I took the pay cut. Ended up cutting some subscriptions, money towards savings, and went down a level in gym membership. I also live pretty frugally, and the most major change was that I couldn’t buy whatever I wanted anymore, particularly when it came to presents for friends and family, and thinking about vacations and attending weddings. Ended up leaving after 1.5 years because I wasn’t getting the easier schedule I expected I would with the big pay cut.
Phew that’s a huge cut!
I mean, only you can determine if you can handle the change or not. You know your current monthly expenses/lifestyle and you can calculate what 75k will be every month after taxes. Is there alignment? Are you comfortable with that change in income? Are you even able to live off of it? Will the job be worth saving and having less?
No one can figure that out but you.
I would try to negotiate that 75k up to at least 100k. As someone who has gone back and forth between the public and private sector, it is much more comfortable when you do it with six figures. The only thing that I can say is to ask key questions when making the move to a lower salary - just because it pays lower, doesn’t mean the hours are better. Be sure to also know whether it’s an area you are passionate about or at least willing to take a chance to make less to learn more. Other than that, lifestyle choices are totally yours. Retirement will be less. It will take longer to own a home. But if you do it right, you may have more joy!
Yeah this seems pretty low. Also factor in taxes
I know a guy who made the salary cut you're mentioning but his job took him to a city that's more of a medium cost of living. So (to my knowledge) he didn't have to make many cuts.
Make a budget to see how the new salary will look and try to stick to it for a few months. I imagine it'll impact your dating life and social life the most.