Good IT/developer salary?

ntlbell

daigo75 wrote: »

It's true that I can't sell myself as a "super-guru" of a specific technology, but, at the same time, I can easily move from one role to the other.

the problem is you can't earn the mega bucks

it will go from one mediocre role to the next.

There's no harm in having a specialty where you can earn big bucks while keeping your skill set more broad on the side.

e.g. You if you specialise in IT security and are a CISSP SCP etc.

You can still keep your MCSE/CCNA/CCNP/CCIE/etc etc up to date every few years so should you need to switch into a generalist again you're ready to do so.

c4sea

Hi guys,

this is interesting thread . becuase i was also wondering myself .
I have been in development for more than 8 years. i work in development ,
manager just give me requirement verbally or by project document. from then i do everything myself, no body help in the company and no training provided by company.
Guys what kind of salary should i expect in my situation.
i used java, jsp, struts, tomcat, html, javascript , databases any etc. only on windows.

BostonB

As a jack o trades myself, I'd have to agree that if you specialise you'll be able to command better salaries and roles. Same in most things in life.

daigo75

ntlBell and BostonB, I agree as well. At the moment I'm in software development, but my boss moved me to a team leader position quite quickly because he noticed that I could better use my knowledge that way instead of simply coding (also, I don't really like coding). The reason why I took a development job was that I'm quite good at that (I liked it in the past) and they were paying much more than in my country (almost 3 times more).

However, I started focusing on databases some years ago, and now I'm specializing on them. I had a big boost in job offer when I got a certification (which, at the same time, confirmed my idea that certification don't mean a lot, since I could obtain it by just using what I already knew for ages). Business Intelligence will be the next step, but I will still "keep an eye" on the rest, as it's knowledge I don't want to lose. SQL Server now, Oracle next.

Maybe I won't get rich, but at least I will work on something I like.

bobbbb

the_syco wrote: »

Ah, cool. Had to ask, as I've seen a few people giving nice figures, and then you find out that they're an agent trying to fill a spot. Esp when they ask for 5+ years on a technology that is just out (I remember reading a job spec looking for 5+ years exp in Vista in Februray 07...

Best of luck with the team.

What they mean in that case is that you have 5+ years experience under your belt, but are now in Vista / .Net or whatever they are asking for.

bobbbb

For those looking to see what they are worth at present, all i can say is, the only way to find out is to send your CV off to a few agencies. Ask for significantly more than you are on now for a start and dont settle for less - otherwise whats the point in moving.
Then if the right job comes up for the right money you can take it, if it attracts you. If not you're still where you are now. Nothing to lose.

Dont be afraid to go to the UK or Europe either. Only short flights away. Obviously there are those of us with families who cant travel, but if you dont, nothing to stop you.

The problem most employees have in any company is that the longer they stay there the more happy in their nappy they get. Your employer knows this only too well. Next thing the new employee on the team is on more money than you but with less experience. And the team just gets unmanageable because people arent happy.

I know, ive been there myself.

We have a HR dept here making sure people arent getting paid what they are worth. Thats just sad. I have to fight with them to get people paid what i feel they deserve. Otherwise i'll just lose them at a time when i need them most.

You have to make your breaks yourself. Dip your toe in the water and see how warm it is.

kayos

bobbbb wrote: »

What they mean in that case is that you have 5+ years experience under your belt, but are now in Vista / .Net or whatever they are asking for.

In a lot of cases its not this. Saying 5year exp in .NET means 5years exp in .net and not 5 years in cobol and you just picked up a .net book.

I've seen those ad's myself over the years the best being 5years in .NET when .NET was just released. The agent was very insistent that it was 5years in .NET now the only question is was it the agent or the employer who got that one wrong. Honestly they would have to hire the guys who wrote the bloody platform and they would be trying to get them at junior dev money.

arctictree

irishguy wrote: »

So what would people think a Java software engineer (Spring/J2EE/JSP/websphere) would get with 2 years java experience (Large scale high availability enterprise systems)+ 1 years PM/Implementation management experience, all in the financial sector would get?

Also would people think a masters is worth the time/effort? Specifically M.Sc. in Advanced Software Engineering in UCD

Just an observation here. I have worked as an IT contractor on and off for the last 15 years in software dev houses and financial institutions.

In general the quality of a software developer that has been trained in a software dev company seems to be much higher than in an organization where IT is secondary to their core business.

I worked for a while in a bank where I was shocked at the low competence of the IT staff. Doing major java systems dev with just notepad as the editor and no source control or team working tools. This seemed to come from the fact that everyone was in grades and no account was taken for specialities. So you ended up them only being able to hire developers for 25 to 30K.

On the other hand, I worked for a different bank who recognized the differing pay scales needed in IT and their setup was excellent.

So my main point here is that, it is not really that important how many years you have been working but rather what you have been doing in those years and under what kind of supervision etc

irishguy

arctictree wrote: »

Just an observation here. I have worked as an IT contractor on and off for the last 15 years in software dev houses and financial institutions.

In general the quality of a software developer that has been trained in a software dev company seems to be much higher than in an organization where IT is secondary to their core business.

I worked for a while in a bank where I was shocked at the low competence of the IT staff. Doing major java systems dev with just notepad as the editor and no source control or team working tools. This seemed to come from the fact that everyone was in grades and no account was taken for specialities. So you ended up them only being able to hire developers for 25 to 30K.

On the other hand, I worked for a different bank who recognized the differing pay scales needed in IT and their setup was excellent.

So my main point here is that, it is not really that important how many years you have been working but rather what you have been doing in those years and under what kind of supervision etc

Not sure what bank that was but we use regular industry standard tools/technologies/approaches. The IT department is highly skilled and the people who I worked with really know what they are doing, but this is a big bank with a very large IT department (C.1000+). Of course we have to learn other skills which you wouldnt in a pure IT organisation and are not programming the entire time. You do get a good rounded experience of IT and business knowledge working in a non technology company

dazberry

arctictree wrote: »

In general the quality of a software developer that has been trained in a software dev company seems to be much higher than in an organization where IT is secondary to their core business.

I worked for a while in a bank where I was shocked at the low competence of the IT staff.

I write software in a bank, and yes its a horror. To quote Rutger Hauer - I have seen things you people wouldn't believe.

Our problem is not the quality of the development staff as we all "cut our cloth" outside the bank, although we have had serious issues with contractors in the past. The issue is how the software development process is supported and managed.

As a side effect of delivering a system or an enhancement - our management can be seen to be innovative, useful and supporting the business. But really they just whore for credit and recognition. And the more they get drunk on this the more they want, the more they cut corners to get things done more quickly. I mean why write a proper specification or do a proper level of analysis before you write a system when you can do it while you're writing the system, save yourself loads of time there :rolleyes:... Always some excuse too, generally involves blaming the parent company.

This has been getting progressively worse over the last number of years, to the point where as developers we're completely overloaded, its like being in the last few days prior to a delivery all the time. So what do you do when the developers are being worked to the bone - hire more PMs, we now have 1 PM to every developer.

Ultimately I think alot of the issues that arise are management created so they can be seen to solve them. Either way it looks like within the next year they'll find themselves without any development staff whatsoever. I'm relishing the day

D.

c4sea

Hi Guys,

I am wondering companies names which pays above 55 k for sr. java developer in permanent role in dublin only. how is market there for this role?

Cheers,

thebaldsoprano

dazberry wrote: »

we now have 1 PM to every developer.

Jaysus!! That's unreal. They're taking a different approach where I work and getting us developers to do PM work...

c4sea

qwytre wrote: »

With your experience, if its for a straight forward developer role then 55-60k give or take.

60-65k if you are a team lead.

70-80k as architect, maybe more.

I like to make a list of IT companies that pays that much salary.
guys writedown if you know anybody.

bobbbb

c4sea wrote: »

I like to make a list of IT companies that pays that much salary.
guys writedown if you know anybody.

You're going to find it hard to get people to tell you what company we all work for here.

c4sea

bobbbb wrote: »

You're going to find it hard to get people to tell you what company we all work for here.

thanks for reply. I understand reservation about that. but do not need to write your own. if you know for sure the companies who pay that money. that would be help full .