What is it like working in Silicon Valley?

I've heard a lot of horror stories about the place. Do you get paid a lot working there? If employees are being treated so badly, there must be some reason why there are some people who still want to work there.

• It really depends on the company and the role. I'm a software developer at a larger public company and while it's stressful at times and there is a lot of internal politics, I get paid 6 figures and generally don't work much more than 40 hours a week. It is pretty nice living in the Bay Area as an experienced developer - recruiters reach out to my on LinkedIn all the time. There is a glut of roles for good developers and not enough people to go around - especially since American schools are so horrible at STEM education. The small startups generally skew younger and demand much more of your time. Frankly it seems that the VCs (venture capitalists) just seek out the youngest people possible for startups - they have a lot of energy (so they work 60 hour weeks) and are inexperienced so they don't know what they're really worth. A lot of them burn out after a couple years.

• At a late-stage startup now, but was at one of the big Internet companies before this. Good pay, good benefits, work from home 2-3 days a week, flex time, good cafeteria.

• What is STEM?

• Pay is high, but the cost of living is higher. Be prepared for an outrageous rent/mortgage payment, or an outrageous commute.

• STEM = Science Technology Engineering and Math

• Echo what R4 said. The Bay area is beautiful and diverse but it's expensive and you need a good car.

• You wouldn't like it. San Jose is for all the normal hard working people and visionaries. San Francisco is what you want, where all the AIDS infested people who think that being a human toilet is correct behavior.

• Most men like that space in between my titties.

  Pammy Anderson