When I'm interviewing programmers, I would define "amazing programmer" as a combination of 3 things:
1) Talented: Can they code well, even when things get tricky? This loosely correlates with things like TopCoder rank, but it leans more towards software engineering and debugging skills.
2) Driven: Are they relentlessly productive, even without supervision?
3) Solves the right problem: If there's a solution which provides 80% of the benefits for 20% of the cost, do they find it? Do they also know when it's time to turn a nasty ball of hacks into a rigorous model?
If you have these 3 things, then you will easily create 5 times more value than the average programmer. Note that you won't necessary get paid 5 times more, because that also depends on your negotiating skills, your marketing ability, and how much money your clients or employers have.
1) Talented: Can they code well, even when things get tricky? This loosely correlates with things like TopCoder rank, but it leans more towards software engineering and debugging skills.
2) Driven: Are they relentlessly productive, even without supervision?
3) Solves the right problem: If there's a solution which provides 80% of the benefits for 20% of the cost, do they find it? Do they also know when it's time to turn a nasty ball of hacks into a rigorous model?
If you have these 3 things, then you will easily create 5 times more value than the average programmer. Note that you won't necessary get paid 5 times more, because that also depends on your negotiating skills, your marketing ability, and how much money your clients or employers have.