BorlandTalk.com

Curious George · Guest

Hi,

After reading some threads in the Jobs NG, I begin to be suspicious that I
am vastly underpaid.

I have 3 years experience with Delphi and C++ Builder. I have a 2 year
diploma from a well recognized institute in Computer Systems Technology
(BCIT) and a 2 year diploma in Advanced Technology Marketing from the same
institute. I run a small shareware business on the side that generates
*lots* of learning experiences for me and about $1-2k a month in sales so
far. I am quite successful in my current full-time position and I have the
respect of the entire team and management.

Before I say how much I am paid and influence your answer, I ask you: how
much do you think I should be paid in my full-time (40 hrs/wk) job as a
software developer?

Further, assuming I am underpaid, why is it that I am unable to find similar
opportunities using Borland products in Canada that pay more? Should I give
up in Canada and try to move to the USA? What's the going rate there? What
about the UK? (I have the legal right to work there too.)

If you are in a similar boat, please anonymously reply with what you are
paid. It will help us all to gauge our worth if several of us contribute
our salaries and relative experience to this thread.

What do you think I am worth?

What should I do to find those elusive higher paying opportunities - if they
even exist in Canada?

Thanks.
Underpaid?

Remy Lebeau (TeamB) · Guest

"Curious George" <hh (AT) jhasghj (DOT) com> wrote

Ed Mulroy [TeamB] · Guest

I think you are underpaid for most of the US and greatly underpaid for
California where the cost of living is so expensive.

Your experience only counts in that it suggests something about your
abilities.

Your age only counts in that it suggests something about your abilities.

What you are paid is for one thing and only one thing, what you can do for
the company. Years of experience, years of age, all those are but items
used to suggest what you can do for them. From your message traffic on here
it is clear that you can do one heck of a lot for them. From their
experience with what you do they now know what you can do for them.

If at some time you find yourself in a discussion of wages with the
management, I suggest that you not be shy.

.. Ed

Remy Lebeau (TeamB) · Guest

"Ed Mulroy [TeamB]" <dont_email_me (AT) bitbuc (DOT) ket> wrote

Edward Diener · Guest

Curious George wrote:

Ted Byers · Guest

Remy Lebeau (TeamB) · Guest

"Edward Diener" <eddielee (AT) tropicsoft (DOT) com> wrote

Edward Diener · Guest

Remy Lebeau (TeamB) wrote:

Randall Parker · Guest

I am amazed by the high level of programming talent among guys I know
who have been unemployed for many months. I figured only the marginally
productive would have a hard time getting new jobs. But this is not the
case.

I saw the tech recession start around March or April of 2000 when
suddenly venture capitalists starting pulling the plug on projects I
knew about. It has been downhill since then. I know people who have
moved far (even between continents) to stay employed programming.

Have you considered writing your own software and selling it on the web?
Coming up with a good idea is probably the harder part of it. I have a
friend who is currently casting around for something worth writing an
app for since he is thinking that he will have to create his own job. If
anyone has any suggestions please speak up and I'll pass them along.

Edward Diener wrote:

Remy Lebeau (TeamB) · Guest

"Edward Diener" <eddielee (AT) tropicsoft (DOT) com> wrote

Edward Diener · Guest

Remy Lebeau (TeamB) wrote:

Ed Mulroy [TeamB] · Guest

Edward Diener · Guest

Randall Parker wrote:

Remy Lebeau (TeamB) · Guest

"Ed Mulroy [TeamB]" <dont_email_me (AT) bitbuc (DOT) ket> wrote

Ed Mulroy [TeamB] · Guest

You can do a full career without a degree but, unless you manage to become a
figure commonly recognized as a guru in the industry, it limits your ability
to change job except for where you are going a place where there are people
who already have personal knowledge of you in a work environment. The up
side of it is that the main reasons they keep people are productivity and
institutional memory, two things that work against putting your name on the
layoff list.

A degree requirement is a fact of life these days. When I was in grade
school my father circled a help wanted ad and showed it to me, "dishwasher
wanted, must have high school diploma". My father went to Temple Univ. and
took a certificate program (avoided the "core curriculum" unrelated to the
specialty) and afterwards continued on to get his CPA. By the time I
graduated high school, you couldn't even register for the CPA exam without a
degree. These days employers demand a college degree for most jobs just
because they can get it.

From personal experience, employers who have non-degreed workers that do
good work typically are well aware of the lack of the degree and take
advantage of that fact in how much they pay them. That is not just for
small companies. GE-Ericsson, GE Small Appliances, GE Lighting Systems and
Burroughs did it.

If you can see your way clear to do it, I suggest that you pursue a degree.
Almost any degree is better than none. Employers (well, the people who know
what they are doing which means everyone in the company except HR/Personnel)
all understand how people study one thing and go on to pursue something else
for a living. California has a massive array of colleges, a massive public
college system and a ton of night courses offered. Consider it.

.. Ed