Work and Salary History, Part II

Software Engineering Career

The Apprentice

These numbers for the first job are probably a bit off as I can't remember exactly.

Software Contracting / Programming - Part-time - equivalent of $18,000. However, I didn't get that amount each year, as I was only working like 12 hours a week. Maybe it was something like $12 or $13 an hour. I was working 7:30am to 3:00pm reaching each day, and then drive over to the software place and work there about 3 hours a couple days a week. After going to school for computers and then going to school for teaching, and then actually teaching for 1.5 years and 3 months of part-time programming, I realized that I definitely wanted to be an engineer long term and engineering and creating was what made me happy.

Software Engineering - Year 1 - 4 days a week. $24,000 a year. I quit teaching and proceeded to work 4 fulltime days a week for the first 6 months so I could finish my (now unneeded) Masters in Secondary Education. When that was done, I went fulltime programming and never looked back. In addition to the salary, I got a $2000 bonus and maybe $4000 to invest in a SEP-IRA.

Software Engineering - Year 2 - $30,000 a year. I was now fulltime and taking and handling projects on my own. And, learning lots of techniques and knowledge. Our projects were usually focused on real-time control and processing systems. Excellent experience. Additionally, $3000 bonus and $5000 in a SEP-IRA.

Software Engineering - Year 3 - $35,000 a year. $3500 bonus and $5000 in a SEP-IRA.

Software Engineering - Year 4 - $50,000 a year. Senior Engineer leading projects. I invested a little and owned 2 shares ($5000) of the privately held company (the investment never worked out - I lost $2000 on it). About $3000 bonus (company had a bad year) and $4000 in a SEP-IRA.

Software Engineering - Year 5 - $60,000 a year. Senior Engineer leading projects. Never saw the bonus or SEP-IRA investment that year as I decided to change jobs. I wanted to learn more (hard to learn when you've been there the longest and are mentoring all the new employees) and I wanted to learn a new domain (inside software of course). The internet boom was just starting to happen, so naturally, why not learn internet technologies (something I was very deficient in)...

The Dot.com ERA

Software Engineering - Year 1 - $77,500 a year. A typical Dot.com company. I was employee number 60. All the great worktime perks: at-desk massages, pet insurance, etc. It was great to be able to learn internet technologies since I was very deficient in them (I had been doing all real-time, multi-threaded, low-level C/C++ programming and designing). In my first review, I got no bonus - just stock options (which were ultimately worthless). Also, no extra retirement like the SEP-IRA I had been receiving at the previous job. Instead, we had a 401K and that could be donated into (included in the salary).

Software Engineering - Year 2 - $85,000 or $88,000 a year. The Dot.com company. We now had over 300 employees. I soon got a raise to 92,500. But, 6 months later, like all dot.coms (outside of google, yahoo, amazon, and ebay) the company was in the red. We started laying off hundreds. We operated with about 20 employees for a month. When it was all over, there were 7 of us left. I was one of those 7. We worked another month like that. When it was announced that we too would be out of a job in 2 weeks, I didn't really care.

The 7 of us had already been approached to continue developing the application for the asian market. The partner company that still had solid sales though. 4 (manager, 2 developer, DB/DBA) of us decided to go (for the money or the adventure?).

Japan

Small Startup - 10-15 employees. $100,000 + housing (about $25,000). I was paid as a contractor in American dollars for 6 months so I really only made $50,000 of it.

After the first 6 months I got a 3 year Engineering VISA to live in Japan and was converted into a fulltime employee and paid in yen - 12000000 yen per year. At the time the exchange rate was about 125 yen per dollar which would equal $96,400. But, I was also given some other perks commonly referred to as an ex-pat or ex-patriot package: $1000 moving expenses, free Business Class flight once a year, 100000yen per month for rent (equal to $800 a month which was nice but not sufficient considering the cost of aprtments in Japan).

It was decent but not the best ex-pat package I have ever heard of - the big banks know how to do that.

So, to sum it up I was making about $107,000 a year. But, if you were to take into account tax laws (my Japan yen income was only taxed at like 19%), I was getting the equivalent of $140,000 before taxes and $87,400 after taxes. Before you say that the equation is not that straightforward and is wrong, please actually know the ex-pat tax laws. Plus, I am account for everything (health insurance, etc) and am calculating based on final money deposited into my bank account each month.

I did that for one year and then they had to let us go (or cancel the contract depending how you say it).

I realized I liked Tokyo and decided to try to find another job.

The only way (not the only way but pretty much) to get a job in Tokyo is through introductions via friends or recruiters. I had a friend recommend me for a position at the Tokyo office of a small, but public multinational hardware/software computer listed on NASDAC. The pay was not that great but it enabled me to stay in Tokyo.

I think I'm turning Japanese: Yen Employee

Public Multinational Hardware/Software Company

Senior Engineer - Year 1 - I got 8000000 yen per year which was equivalent to about $66,000 at the exchange rate at the time. Looking back on it, I should not have accepted such a low salary. Oh well, I learned. The job was so easy though, I'm not sure if I could have contributed anything above $66,000 a year. The equivalent salary, after taxes and heathcare costs, etc would have been a American Salary of $90000.

Senior EngineerYear 2 - I got a small $1500 raise. As the yen-dollar exchange rate moved in my favor, I was making about $75000 a year. The equivalent salary, after taxes and heathcare costs, etc would have been a American Salary of $95000.

In addition to that I started doing consulting/contracting on the side for a small private company that needed help and made another $10000 a year.

Finance

Team Lead (of a team of 4)

Depsite the title, it's still mainly Software Devleopment - about 50% development, and 50% management and bureaucracy. I was not very challenged (aside from improving my Japanese) at the Software/Hardware company and there was nowhere in the company to go. I found a job at a huge, multinational bank and took it. I have been here about 7 months. 11000000 yen per month plus 25% of that is untaxed and goes towards housing costs. The equivalent $ rate of that is about $130,000 per year. The tax laws really do help me living here.

In addition to that I am still doing consulting/contracting on the side for a small private company that needs help. I make about $20000 a year from that.

So really, I am making like $150,000 a year, but I choose just to list the main job right now.

And, I still hate getting up in the morning.