Play big-tech SWE: cash + equity ceiling
Strong engineers who will grind interviews. Highest ceiling employment deck on many boards.
First dollar: After you clear interviews. Prep is months; the offer is the first real dollar jump.
Exact steps. Ship the smallest unit of paid value before you gold-plate.
Target companies and levels that match your experience. Levels.fyi for ranges, not as destiny.
Daily DS&A, weekly system design, mock interviews. Treat it like a sport season.
Impact metrics, scope, leadership signals. Referrals beat cold apply.
Base, bonus, equity, sign-on. Competing offers matter.
Equity is volatile. Keep skills sharp and options open.
Not the median. These are rare winners so you can study a real decklist.
Related decks if this one is working or if you need a stronger wincon.
What you do on paper: Software engineering at a top-tier company where total comp = base + RSUs + bonus. The real high-ROI tech deck hidden inside the $133K 'software developer' median.
Frequency: Subset of the ~1.7M developers (BLS)