Nobody wants your unwavering loyalty... mentorship is a part of any job. From bagging at your local grocery store, to the CEO of a Fortune 500.

No offense, but it just sounds like you don't really like being around/interacting with people. Theres not necessarily anything wrong with that, but it's not really conducive to long term success... whether that success be in your job, or life in general.

Not that I agree with humbleMouse ,as I view mentoring juniors as something I should pass on for having been mentored when I was a junior, but there are lots of companies I've interviewed for that do want unwavering loyalty. Ones that view <5 years at a job as job hopping even when they give 0% raises every year

Sorry, but if your 6-figure rate is a joke, go get a higher rate, or even better, go out and start your own company. If you build your own company you will understand the value that other roles have and get away from the arrogant mentality that good code is the most valuable thing. The fact is, you aren't in a position to evaluate the value that all the other roles are bringing to the company.

There's a reason that very few companies have a strong technical track, and managers tend to get paid more than ICs. It's because managing personalities and orchestrating teams to operate efficiently has a huge magnifying effect on productivity. On a purely technical track, you can have an even bigger impact if you are a highly skilled architect, but only if there are technical challenges of that scope, which is not the case for most companies.

A cognitive trap that programmers can fall into is that their work is the hardest and most valuable because of its exacting nature. Given the details you have to understand and reconcile, it's true that you can't bullshit your way very far as a developer the way that some managers can, but that said, since no one else is probably taking the time to understand your work in great detail, it's very easy to spin a self-serving story of your own superiority. Don't make the mistake of thinking that because you are technical your self-assessment is objective, it is not.

Also, a large part of being an architect is basically shuffling and convincing people to get on board with your vision, since you're not going to write much of the code yourself. Being personable goes far, being difficult means people tend to not actually do what you need and make fun of you after the meeting. I've witnessed both.

> The justification for my high pay is because I integrate complex systems with shitty vendor web service api's and automate the transmission of sensitive data. The work I am doing has a huge impact on profitability of my company - much more than the joke of a 6 figure rate they are paying to keep me around.

be that as it may, mentoring, helping others, and setting examples are high-leverage. you may become 10x more valuable if you do your job while being effective at those.

these things are only at odds with your engineering work in that they take time, but a highly skilled professional knows how to manage their time to maximize impact.

they are also not at odds with working outside of the office -- there are many ways to communicate, you can be at the office only some times, etc.

I completely disagree about him becoming 10x more valuable. That only works if he's actually evaluated on these things. He probably isn't, nor are most technical workers. Now, if he were a manager/team leader, this would be very different: those are absolutely core aspects of the job and things to be evaluated on in your performance review.

Then take a job that has a strong remote policy?

Each company has different priorities. Some value face to face and direct team interaction. Others flexibility. Find one that suits your values.

Well, you can disagree, but every engineering manager I've ever worked with would be surprised to hear you say that.

Small test - what would happen if you shared these thoughts with your boss? Maybe you work for a company that doesn't care about mentoring newbie employees, but I'd be surprised if that was the case.

Out of curiosity: if you are a contract employee, what does 6 figure rate mean? Contractors are usually paid an hourly rate.

i assume he means once calculated for yearly, it would be that of a 6 figure rate

Yes, this is a normal assumption, but then 6-figure sounds like s/he is seriously underpaid for a contractor. Assuming when people say 6-figure they mean something just above 100,000. Nobody says "I make 6-figure", if earns let say 250,000.

Depends on where the contracting is done. "Highly paid" is relative.