How much do programers make?

Strange_Fruit

Im doing a comp sci degree,and im just wondering wether to follow through with programming.How much is the salary etc

thanks

forbairt

Strange_Fruit wrote:

Im doing a comp sci degree,and im just wondering wether to follow through with programming.How much is the salary etc

thanks

depending ... 20k - 200k ... it all depends ... who you're working for .. your experience ... contracting or not .. and so on ...

Strange_Fruit

so say....i just come out of my degree,on the average salary how much would be making

Smellyirishman

Low 20s.

Strange_Fruit

:eek:

L'prof

Smellyirishman wrote:

Low 20s.

Really? I work weekends and am doing a Computer Degree at the moment too but, if I quit my course and went back full-time where I'm working I could get 29 + overtime!

Ginger

As above it depends...

I just had a few interviews in Norway and based on my experience and what I would be doing, the offers ranged from 75K to 150K. The higher end was doing mainly contracting and you may not always get that.

Depends on the market requirements how niche your market is and what you skills are.

Supply & demand is what its all about

Smellyirishman

jasonorr wrote:

Really?

Maybe not, I guess you're looking at between 20-30.

Ginger

jasonorr wrote:

Really? I work weekends and am doing a Computer Degree at the moment too but, if I quit my course and went back full-time where I'm working I could get 29 + overtime!

What are you skills?? Easier to work out.. plus if you do a graduate placement you will probably start at 25/26 +/- 5K depending on the company and location

CelloPoint

The reality of the software jobs merri-go-round in Ireland is: you'd be better off driving a taxi.

L'prof

CelloPoint wrote:

The reality of the software jobs merri-go-round in Ireland is: you'd be better off driving a taxi.

Nobody is better off driving a taxi!!!

Call Me Jimmy

If ye get lucky and come up with an idea or write a piece of software ye could make millions/billions!

CuLT

A Degree gets you the interview, your experience gets you your salary.

I understand that as a wet-eared graduate Accenture will contract you as a Java developer for ~€30,000, but I hear it's hell.

While doing your degree you'll want to be learning everything you can around your coursework to make you employable, and if possible get part time or a few contracts for small web-based jobs (or better yet for an actual software company, though it's unlikely), which will allow you to say you've several years professional experience along with your degree.

Simple answer: no computing degree magically grants you lots of money instantly. It does allow you to open doors that might otherwise be closed though.

jon1981

in my experience, software consultants, analysts and the services sector get paid better in Ireland than coders. im sure many will disagree with me, but thats just based on my experience from jobs ive done

ravydavygravy

The only guarantees for good salary are skills and experience. I'd say you'd easily find a graduate job for 24k, but to get good salary increases, you need to be good at what you do. the it sector has an abundance of crap it people - it can be very hard to get good recruits.

warrenaldo

I finished my CS Degree in 2004. I went into programming C/C++/Java for a medium size software development company. They started me on 24k basic with benefits. Which was OK - compared to others in the class (in different areas of IT) also it was above average. Most were around 22k.
However after a year i had got enough experience to bump up to 30k basic. Which aint too bad.

Trampas

To the OP.

What language(s) are you doing?

Pepare to be on low wages for a couple of years but as soon as you get to the thrid year you can start expect your salary to start edging towards the normal

Evil Phil

jasonorr wrote:

Really? I work weekends and am doing a Computer Degree at the moment too but, if I quit my course and went back full-time where I'm working I could get 29 + overtime!

went back full-time

Sorry folks but graduates are next to useless when it comes to working. Any kind of full time work experience (particularly dev work) is going to push your starting salary up.

seamus

In most areas of IT, there are really two avenues you can start your career on:
1. The "normal" company route
2. The "profit driven" company route.

Number 1 pays less, but provides good experience, a fairly relaxed environment and a pretty stable team. Your salary jumps are fair - you could be five years working before you hit €35k.
Number 2 works your ass off, in the same way that trainee solicitors and accountants get the ass worked off them. You get more money, but are encouraged to not claim all of your overtime, your day is heavily monitored and regimented and there's relatively high turnover in your team. Provided that you comply and work your ass off, salary jumps can be huge. You can be on €50k in five years, but you won't have had much of a life for those five years.

um7y1h83ge06nx

What do people think of my salary? I'm curious.

I graduated 2 years ago with a 1.1 in Computer Engineering from UL.

In my job I have coded Assembly and C/C++ for embedded apps such as MP3 players, mobile phones etc.

Written App software on the PC in VB. Also done API stuff and written my own ActiveX controls.

Currently I'm doing a site that will be used site wide and many at different company locations worldwide. It's based on a LAMP (Linux-Apache-MySql-Php) setup and I'm about to write a Java applet fro it as well.

Currently I'm on €32k.

And also, do you think I'm getting good experience?

Thanks

qwytre

A graduate would typical start on about 25-26k. That goes up to 30k in year 2. After that its what you make it. Quite often the best thing to do after year 2 is to move companies, most companies wont up your salary from 30 to mid 40's in year 3 so if you move to a new company you are more likely to get that jump.

If you keep learning, keep getting extra certifications you will be on 50k in year 5 and up to 60k in year 6-7. After that you have the potential to go to about a max of 65k -70k as a progammer.

You then need to either go into team leadership or something very specialised. Senior Technical Leads have an earning potential of 100k but thats the top end for 10 year experience.

After that you need to look to go into "Head of Development" or "CTO" type roles where you are looking at 120k-160k basic plus bonus\Shares etc

So there is good career path in IT if you want it. No one will had it to you.

Also be careful on what your first job is, make sure its the area you want to work in. You need to start building your experience in your chosen area from the start, dont just take any IT job for the sake of getting into IT.

easyontheeye

the code monkeys will never make the real money...its in requirements gathering, consulting, technical sales, supporting legacy operational scripts...they type stuff. its disapointing because i find coding more challenging..but the money just aint there, im on at least 20k more than any of my peers that graduated 2 years ago and who are coding.

warrenaldo

I dont think 32k after 2 years is that good although its not that bad. Its probably a tadon the low side. But it really depends on what your doing, how good you are - and mainly how valuable you are to the company. Anyone can write a couple of lines on their area of work to make them sound fantastic. Compare yourself to jobs on the net

qwytre

I would also say that Analysts get well paid, more than programmers. Avoid Tech Support and Testing (QA) jobs, they are usually on the lower end in terms of salaries.

qwytre

warrenaldo wrote:

I dont think 32k after 2 years is that good although its not that bad. Its probably a tadon the low side. But it really depends on what your doing, how good you are - and mainly how valuable you are to the company. Anyone can write a couple of lines on their area of work to make them sound fantastic. Compare yourself to jobs on the net

Yeah 32k in year 2 isn't great money but you need to think year 5 and beyond.

easyontheeye

qwytre wrote:

I would also say that Analysts get well paid, more than programmers. Avoid Tech Support and Testing (QA) jobs, they are usually on the lower end in terms of salaries.

i agree as thats what i do, im an analyst and although my work is interesting i can never understand why we get paid more than coders?! although lately alot of the coding has moved to India...

qwytre

easyontheeye wrote:

i agree as thats what i do, im an analyst and although my work is interesting i can never understand why we get paid more than coders?! although lately alot of the coding has moved to India...

There is a simple reason why analysts get paid more, its costs the company more to fix problems after they are coded into a product rather than if the problems were identified at requirements stage.

So Analysts need to be highly skilled in their skill domain. In a way programmers usually follow the instructions from the results from the analysis stage.

So it also follows that testers and QA get paid less because they are at the other end of the project life cycle and it costs way more to fix things identified at the testing phase. So get really good analysts on board and you reduce the possibility of costly re-writes or bug fixes. Therefore the demand for good analysts is high and with high demand comes high salaries.

Kernel32

Regardless of being a pure coder, consultant, project manager or what ever. In the tech industry if you are

1. Very good at what you do.
2. Interested in what you do.
3. Flexible in what you do.
4. Professional at all times.
5. Have a certain level of people skills.

You will make good money. It might take 2 years or 5 years, but you will eventually find that sweet spot and the money will come.

lukin

CuLT wrote:

A Degree gets you the interview, your experience gets you your salary.

I understand that as a wet-eared graduate Accenture will contract you as a Java developer for ~€30,000, but I hear it's hell.

While doing your degree you'll want to be learning everything you can around your coursework to make you employable, and if possible get part time or a few contracts for small web-based jobs (or better yet for an actual software company, though it's unlikely), which will allow you to say you've several years professional experience along with your degree.

Simple answer: no computing degree magically grants you lots of money instantly. It does allow you to open doors that might otherwise be closed though.

Yeah a guy I know started for them straight from college recently on 28k but he's not having a good time at all!

sailorfoley

qwytre wrote:

A graduate would typical start on about 25-26k. That goes up to 30k in year 2. After that its what you make it. Quite often the best thing to do after year 2 is to move companies, most companies wont up your salary from 30 to mid 40's in year 3 so if you move to a new company you are more likely to get that jump.

If you keep learning, keep getting extra certifications you will be on 50k in year 5 and up to 60k in year 6-7. After that you have the potential to go to about a max of 65k -70k as a progammer.

You then need to either go into team leadership or something very specialised. Senior Technical Leads have an earning potential of 100k but thats the top end for 10 year experience.

After that you need to look to go into "Head of Development" or "CTO" type roles where you are looking at 120k-160k basic plus bonus\Shares etc

So there is good career path in IT if you want it. No one will had it to you.

Also be careful on what your first job is, make sure its the area you want to work in. You need to start building your experience in your chosen area from the start, dont just take any IT job for the sake of getting into IT.

qwytre has it the nail on the head with this post. Also it depends on demand. At the moment there is quite a lot of .Net jobs out there so if you have the skills you may be able to get a few quid extra. Also the best advice i was given before i finished college was, in the beginning, follow the job - not the money. No point going to work for somewhere that doesn't give you opportunities for e.g. 30K and be miserable. Best to go for somewhere giving you 26K or 27K and they let you develop your skills and learn. As a graduate with a good degree and no experience all you can prove is that you can talk the talk. Those first few years of experience you need to show that you can also walk the walk. After that you'll be able to get a more "attractive financial package" as some recruiters like to put it

Strange_Fruit

Thanks for all the replies.So basically,an analyst is were its at?That would involve knowing absolutly everything about programming,and correcting others as they go along?