Outcomes Report: Fellow placements in the first half of 2024

Our mission at Formation is to build a more diverse and skilled engineering workforce, drawing talent from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. While 2023 proved an especially difficult year for tech job hunters, we’re starting to see movement away from hiring freezes and layoffs. 

Last year, we made several significant changes to our Fellowship to account for the evolving tech landscape. Formation’s placement data for the first half of 2024 reflects the power of those adaptations and shows notable improvements in Fellows' outcomes.

Our goal is to present our placement data in a way that everyone can understand and use to make well-informed choices. If you’re considering joining our Fellowship, we hope our clear and simple data helps you decide if it's the right choice for you. Our team is happy to talk to you more to see if it’s a good fit.

That said, we're excited to share key data and trends from our Fellowship in the first half 2024*.

Fellowship data insights

Formation’s mission is to create the diverse engineering workforce we want to see in the world. That means training engineers with existing full-time software engineering experience from all walks of life and educational backgrounds. We’re proud to support all kinds of engineers in landing their dream roles. Here’s a glimpse at who landed outstanding new roles in the first half of the year.

• $127,286 was the average increase in first-year total compensation for our Fellows. On average, Fellows were placed at jobs that paid significantly higher than their previous role—often resulting in a six-figure increase.
• 75% of this year’s placements were at top-tier tech companies. We define top-tier companies as those that are innovative, engineering-driven organizations. This year, over 50% of our placements have been at tier-one tech companies, including FAANG companies and best-in-class high-growth tech organizations. This percentage is up significantly from last year, when growth slowed due to FAANG hiring freezes. You can check out where our Fellows placed below. We have a wide variety of Fellows with a range of experience, and this transparent list shows the full range of company placements. So far this year, Meta was the number one placement, with several Fellows receiving full-time roles.
• $243,525 was the average first-year total compensation for our Fellows. This figure is an increase from previous years and showcases the high earning potential and career growth our Fellows experience.
• 53% of our placed Fellows didn’t have a CS degree. We remain the go-to place for people without CS degrees to level up their careers and learn how to turn hard skills into technical interviewing expertise. 29% were self-taught with non-computer science degrees, and 24% were bootcamp grads.
• 43% of our Fellows placed identify as being from one or more underrepresented backgrounds in tech. This diversity enriches our community with a wide range of perspectives and experiences and reflects our dedication to creating opportunities for historically marginalized groups in tech.
• 50% of placed Fellows had 3+ years of full-time software engineering work experience (YOE). Our Fellowship provides rigorous opportunities for current software engineers to uplevel their skills and gain the tools they need to land roles at top-tier tech companies.

Fellows’ average first-year compensation after placement

One benefit of having a completely remote Fellowship is working with a diverse group of Fellows who live all over the country. Their compensation can vary depending on where a Fellow lives or accepts a role. Below, we've averaged out all placed Fellows' first-year compensation packages based on their years of full-time software engineering experience. For this data, years of experience only includes full-time software engineering work experience, not internships, contract work, or other experience that might be considered in a job hunt. Aggregating compensation in averages and medians doesn’t tell the entire story but helps preserve the anonymity of each Fellow. 

The first-year total compensation ranged from $80K to $766K. This is a significant improvement over last year—the average TOC for senior roles has nearly doubled so far in 2024.

Tech industry trends

Taking key insights from our own Fellowship and combining them with the latest news in tech, here’s what we think are the important trends that emerged in the first half of 2024.

• The job market is still tough, but not as bad as 2023. Tech workforces are largely back to their pre-pandemic levels. While we’re still seeing layoffs across the industry, fewer roles and companies have been impacted than this time last year.
• Early-career roles are still more significantly impacted, but improving. More than 50% of our placed Fellows had at least three or more years of experience. There are still a limited number of entry-level roles available. However, the average TOC for Fellows with less than one year of experience increased to $155K, up from $113K at the end of 2023.
• FAANG hiring is increasing, but the technical bar remains high. While FAANG-level companies are hiring again, competition is fierce. It’s more important than ever to sharpen technical skills to prepare for interviews at companies with a top-tier hiring bar.
• The average 1st-year total compensation for Fellows with 3+ YOE increased to about $325K. This is up significantly from last year when the average TOC for the same group was about $189,000. This number is even up from 2022 when the average TOC for this group was $274K.

Get holistic interview prep with Formation

Despite the challenging economy, we've been able to help our Fellows land life-changing roles. Formation’s Mentors come from some of the best tech companies in the world, and the personalized career coaching and supportive community make for a great support system.

 If you’re having trouble navigating your job search on your own, apply here and get unconditional support from a team of engineering mentors, technical recruiters, career coaches, and more.

*These numbers are accurate as of our last update on July 8, 2024, and are based on Fellows who submitted placement data in 2024 up to July 2, 2024. See the full details on how our numbers are calculated and other important disclosures about outcomes here: https://formation.dev/terms/#outcomes