How I Quadrupled My Developer Salary in One Year

"What does a developer actually do working at a company?" The most common question among developers in training or job seekers. It was also a big reason for my imposter syndrome back then. It's indeed scary when you don't know what might be waiting for you.

There are hundreds of different developer jobs out there, each with their own unique requirements depending on the project. While I can't tell you this is the exact thing you can expect, I can share with you my own experience starting as a frontend developer to give you a rough idea about it.

Paid Test Work (First 2 weeks)

Even if it's not your first job, as a new developer at a company you'll start from the simplest tasks they have. This is so you can get familiar with their projects, and they can make sure about your skills and see if you are a fit for their team. These are tasks that if you can't finish on time or properly, they can still cover for it on their own.

For me I was responsible for updating some features on their existing websites. And eventually completing 2 other websites for their clients. Nothing too difficult. They were happy with the quality and the speed of my work, so we moved forward to sign an annual contract.

Onboarding (First 2 months)

At this point, I was officially part of the team. We didn't really have any documents and onboarding was like… Someone handed me a bunch of projects and asked me to figure them out Yeah, that was it. In fact that's the case in many companies.

Still I managed to figure them out. I was still responsible for working on their clients' websites and didn't have any tasks on their CMS. I was a frontend developer, working on the simplest tasks possible, with the lowest salary possible for a dev. To be honest I was super happy and grateful about it. Even though I could see that most of my peers weren't.

Many developers get disappointed after landing their first job. It's not the glory they expected at all. Low salary, simple tasks, small teams, and eventually they lose their passion for making a difference with their work. I didn't, and that was what made all the difference for me.

I worked from the bottom of my heart on those simple tasks. I remember I wouldn't take breaks for lunch to finish our clients' work as fast as possible, with the best quality possible. My clean work made our clients super happy (see I made a difference in a position someone else would say wasn't important at all). And happy clients means → Happy Employer. My work was seen there and I was able to prove myself that way.

First Promotion

Soon after getting seen as a capable frontend developer, a crucial role got empty. The senior full-stack developer working the night support position left all of a sudden, and I was offered to take that role temporarily so they could find an alternative.

My salary got doubled, so did my work. Night support was a demanding position. Other than working at night (8pm - 4am), you had to handle twice as many tasks as you'd do in the morning in real time. For each task there was a real customer waiting for the results, so mistakes could cost customers.

I accepted the challenge, and managed to handle the heavy workload and the pressure of that position very well. So well they were surprised actually. All the other developers in that position had quit within 2 - 4 months, and none had the performance I had. So the position that was supposed to be a 1-month temporary position became my permanent position.

Our company was working on a CMS for Canadian businesses. Technical base was in Iran, sales and marketing in Canada, so to technically support Canada in the morning someone had to work at night here (in Iran)

Second Promotion

Night support position was originally a full-stack position and I'd receive backend tasks I could not handle at that point. This was frustrating. I wanted to be able to support the job as much as I could, so I started learning backend there.

It wasn't that hard. I had some prior experience with backend and I was passionate to learn. Also the company fully supported me in this. While I was working at night, each morning I'd head to the company to learn backend from our senior backend developer.

I'm not going to lie to you, it was hard. Working at nights and learning in the morning. Still I was more than eager to learn. All I wanted at that time was to learn more and do more and become a better developer.

In 2 months, when I could eventually handle the backend tasks at night, I got my second raise.

Third Raise

By then I understood the game. Improve processes and bring more value → make customers happier → make your employer happier → ask for what you deserve. It sounds simple.

I was a solo developer in that position. And I was aware of everything going on in that company. Challenges, inconsistencies, processes and systems that could be improved. I took one of the most costly tasks in our company and implemented some new guidelines for the development process.

Those guidelines improved the process speed and quality and eventually our customers' satisfaction regarding the software by 70%. And I'm guessing you already know what happened next.

Fourth Raise (I'm leaving)

As the only night support developer who had stood in that position for more than 4 months (close to one year by that time) I could see the value that I was giving to the company. And honestly I felt it didn't match. Part of it was because I had less than 1 year official experience, and in my opinion, that was totally unfair!

So a few months after the third raise, I asked for the fourth raise. But this time I didn't let them decide what I was worth, I gave them the minimum number that I knew I was worth. Which was still twice as much as they were paying me at the moment. This request was immediately rejected though. And they received my immediate resignation letter.

Staying firm on the number paid off. Apparently I was actually worth the amount I had asked and even more for the company. Because in the end they offered me more than the amount I had asked + a new contract just to stay :)

My take on this

You know who believes it all starts with luck? Those who are not willing to put in enough effort to improve themselves first. Ask for those challenges that no one dares to accept. Do your best to create the best results. After giving the results, ask for what you know you deserve. If you don't ask first, no one is willing to give it to you. And never be fully dependent on your job. Make it so you can leave any time you desire. This is what you should call job security, not the ability to stay at a job for 30 years.

In the next part, let's see when you know you need to quit.