After graduating from NC State, I will be in need of a job. Per my expected degree and experience, I decided to choose an entry level game server engineer position at Epic Games, located in Cary, NC. The position requirements are as follows:
- Experience shipping networked multiplayer games
- Excellent C++ skills, with a familiarity of scripting systems like Blueprint, Lua, Python, etc.
- Experience in a cross-disciplinary development environment, with excellent communication skills
- Strong grasp of game networking concepts
- Experience developing in a large codebase at a fast pace, making trade-offs between usability, performance, and memory
- Self-motivated, strong work ethic, and able to work independently
- Keen interest in games
I expect to have all of these things and more after graduating from college with a BS in computer science, so I believe this job would be obtainable for me.
According to levels.fyi, the salary of someone in a
position similar to this at Epic tends to be around $91,613, and salary.com seems to
generally agree. This is a very good salary to have just out of college, and the job also includes benefits to help me pay for other needed things (financials
are covered more extensively on the budgeting page)
| Taxes | Pay Deduction |
|---|---|
| Before Taxes | $0 (0%) |
| Federal Income Tax | $12,923 (14.11%) |
| State Income Tax | $3,935 (4.30%) |
| Payroll (FICA) Tax | $7,008 (7.65%) |
Total after tax: $67,747
The position's many benefits include:
- 100% coverage of insurance premiums
- Coverage includes medical, dental, vision, long term disability, and life insurance
- 401k with competitive match and profit share
- Robust mental well-being program offered through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching
- Events and company-wide paid breaks
- Unlimited PTO and sick time
Reading through the list of benefits my jaw was wide open like "wow, they actually care about their employees". As the developer
of Fortnite, Epic Games can sometimes get a bad rap for some poor choices they've made with the game and its systems, but as a
developer myself I see them more as the creators of Unreal Engine (a game development engine), which has dominated the game engine
market recently (especially with Unity alienating their userbase with unexpected price changes and added fees).
At Epic, I would likely be working a lot every week according to reviews from people who are employed or have been employed there, but
with all the other benefits of the position I believe it would be worth it, especially for my first job after college.