A woman has revealed how much she really made while working in tech for Google, Meta and LinkedIn – and the statistics may surprise you.
US-based Michi Nguyen spoke with Insider to chart his six-year career to date, which has seen him rise through the ranks at the industry’s biggest corporations.
The rising star, who studied sociology and media at college, said she found it difficult to get a job at first because it was ‘really hard to convince companies to take a chance on her’.
But after finding his feet he was able to climb the ladder and soon secured a $196,000 job – but has since turned his back on bumper salaries.
Michie Nguyen, of the United States, spoke to Insider to chart her six-year career, which has seen her rise to the ranks of the industry’s biggest corporations.
Mitchie had no prior experience in technology or the corporate world, but set up a club in college called DiversTech to gain skills that would help her get her foot in the door in the industry.
That ultimately helped land her first role at LinkedIn after joining their business-leadership program in 2017.
The scheme saw those enrolled rotate across customer operations and recruitment roles before eventually being offered a position as a sales associate, which came with a base salary of $50,981 and a $17,000 annual target bonus.
Michie revealed it wasn’t the highest paying position available to graduates, but said he was keen to have a big name on his resume early in his career.
But realizing he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about sales, he began looking elsewhere.
Mitchie then took a job at Google as an associate product-marketing manager, with a base salary of $91,000, a 15 percent annual bonus target and a $64,000 stock package vested over four years.
And, on top of that, there were business trips to 10 countries a year, including Japan, Austria, Australia, Italy and Spain as he explored how to run a business in each location.
However, Michi revealed that in 2020 Meta approached him about joining their secret product-marketing team, which turned out to be an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Mitchie revealed his time working in technology for corporations including LinkedIn and Google (stock photo)
Mitchie rose to pay and was on a huge base salary of $196,000 when he stepped down in June 2023 (stock image)
Mitchie’s career path in technology to date
Business-Leadership Program and Sales Associate Position: $50,981 base salary and $17,000 annual target bonus
Associate product-marketing manager: $91,000 base salary, 15 percent annual bonus target and $64,000 stock package vesting over four years
meta
Product-marketing manager: $150,000 base salary, $15,000 target bonus, $80,000 four-year stock package and $20,000 signing-on bonus
After ‘aggressively negotiating salary and securing a promotion’, he ended up with an extensive list of benefits that included a $150,000 base salary, a $15,000 target bonus, an $80,000 four-year stock package and a $20,000 signing-on bonus.
Speaking about his time at the tech giant, he said: ‘I’ve had the opportunity to be at the forefront of emerging technologies and work on some really cool early product development.’
Michie rose through the ranks and was on a whopping base salary of $196,000 when he stepped down in June 2023.
Despite his impressive pay packet, the rising tech star told the publication ‘the number one reason and motivation has always been to gain a breadth of experience.’
He continued: ‘When you’re starting your career, it’s important to explore roles and build a network at new companies.
‘Through all this work, I gained confidence and skills from sales to product marketing.’
Michi has since decided to turn his back on the corporate world entirely and quit his high-paying job to build his own startup in the ‘creative economy’.
He concluded: ‘If I were to sum up the biggest learning of my short, six-year career, it would be to not be afraid of change and take a chance on yourself – trust that everything will work out.’