Wagnerblog

It seems to me that there has been some sort of change in the way projects are budgeted and positions are filled in the software industry. And I believe the culprits for this climate are the go-go years of the Internet and Offhsore production. (Of course I could be wrong)

When I started my career about 12 years ago there was a succinct sense that a Software Engineer would earn a specific salary range. That range placed the person in a fairly high income bracket and did not fluctuate very much for a number of years. More importantly that range was relatively consistent across the US. An AS400 programmer earned about the same on the East Coast and the West Coast (adjusted for local cost of living differences). In contrast to that, a Software Engineer in today’s market has to evaluate positions that for the same qualifications may pay up to 25% higher or lower salaries.

It has also been my experience in the past 5 years that the managers in charge of projects and in charge of filling positions are often no longer as technically capable as they were about 12 years ago. I know that seems like an odd observation, but its true. In today’s climate many decision makers dont know a .NET programmer from a Java programmer from a PHP scripter. And to make matters worse, the go-go scripting years of the Internet boom have had sort of a “crack addict” effect on parts of the industry as a whole. When you have sloppy software that was built really quickly and is hard to maintain show up in the days business news as a model of success, many “suits” will think that their sites / projects should follow the same pattern.

Even I myself contribute to this odd atmosphere in the manner in which I conduct technical interviews. I don’t have much time and need to find out how well a person will fit into my company / team. So what do I do? I ask questions that specifically tell me how much expereince a person has in the kind of work we do. I dont spend a great deal of time plumbing the depths of a candidates experience. Consequently I might miss a wonderful programmer simply because he hasnt had exposure to a specific type of work that we happen to do in my group. See what I mean?
So for better or worse, as a manager I’m interested in how well a person can fit an opening. And thats one big contributing factor in the discrepancy between a persons salary needs and what they end up taking / getting for a position.

Maybe its always been a statistical exercise when trying to fill a position or trying to find a job. After all, out of all the companies that have openings in a given market at a certain point in time, how many would have requirements that match your experience and salary needs?

The last ingredient in this mix is the current trend in favor of offshore development. The same person that interviewed with me for a $70K year position will cost me $34K or less when offshored. And yes as a programmer I’ve been down the road of fear doubt and uncertainty with a little bit of denial thrown in. But as a manager I’ve spoken with numerous happy US managers who have engaged offshore resources and are very satisfied with the results.

A few years ago, before the Internet boom, I was working as a consultant. One of my tasks in getting projects was to sell a customer on our capabilities. Seems to me that in this day and age one would almost have to do the same in the job market. Its a numbers game. The more candidates I see the better my chances are to find someone with a good fit. And as a job seeker the more companies you interview with the better. But be sure to try and show what you are capable off and what other skills you bring to the table. Why should you earn more than the next guy and why should I look outside my little box of the opening is for XYZ project.