Software in the Auto Industry - What has been your experience ?

[mmta1234]

Hi all,

I'm interested in working with software in the automotive industry and I would like some advice:

1) What has been your experience as a Software Developer/Engineer in the automotive industry - especially the Big 3 (If you feel comfortable, you can state which company you worked for ) ?
2) How was the career and salary progression ? If you give salary data, please give region too.

[mmta1234]

No replies - bump.

[iamlindoro]

Maybe slightly better form to give longer than 8 hours before bumping your own topic.  You're also dealing with a very particular niche on a site that isn't about anything related to that niche, so it may be tough to find a response from someone with one of this small number of employers.

I can tell you as a Software Engineer that taking a job in the automotive industry would be fairly low on my list.  It's an industry that has had a lot of recent problems, and there are just *so* many lucrative SE jobs out there, even at entry level, that unless there's something about this particular industry that fascinates you or makes it sound better than others, you should at least keep your options open.  With all the big US software employers pushing for more H1B visas, it's obvious that the desire is to bring in cheap engineer labor and drive down salaries ASAP.  It's one of the industry forces that has me pushing aggressively to FIRE.

[raffmaster]

I work as a database developer for one of the Big 3, graduated last year with a CS degree. I started out as an intern at a manufacturing plant in the same city as my college ($19/hr, 40 hour week), and they hired me full time ($71000 + 9% possible bonus + OT in the Northeast) when I was halfway through my internship. I'm in kind of a weird position in that I am the only dev for my facility rather than working in my company's tech center, so it's been difficult but I've also been able to name my terms for a lot of things. A year after starting, I negotiated 100% remote work and have been doing that since January.

The work is challenging and constant, but I can set my own pace. Sometimes it's high stress because I am on call and it is expected to work some weekends (but I have paid overtime). Career prospects at my current facility are not good--I'm the only one, so what would they promote me to? They do have a set progression for raises and promotions, and it's possible I could move to a different facility in the company with better opportunities.