5 ms·

As stated several times over the years, particularly on HN and by patio11 (edit: or was it Joel on Software? Perhaps both?), work for a profit center not a cost

by jrs235 11y ago

As stated several times over the years, particularly on HN and by patio11 (edit: or was it Joel on Software? Perhaps both?), work for a profit center not a cost center. The internal software to run insurance companies is a cost center. It is in managements interest to reduce and keep costs down... that's detrimental to what you do. Working on a software product or Saas is a profit center. What you are making is to be sold. It's an asset. An asset management wants to make as valuable and profitable as possible so they are willing to invest in it. That works to your favor if you're developing that asset.

OpenDrapery 11y ago
Yeah, hear ya. Anyone know of any opportunities that match this criteria (profit center) in the Columbus, OH area? I've recently moved here for family reasons, and while there seem to be plenty of opportunities, they are all within the banking, healthcare, insurance verticals, or they are shrouded in mystery behind middleman tech agents. I have not found an easy way to do a search on indeed.com to bring the "profit center" jobs to the forefront.
- jrs235 11y ago
  The majority of "profit center" software and software jobs are on the west coast surrounded around the tech giants and the bustling startups. I believe Austin Texas has a few and so does New York. As for the rest of the country... it's hit or miss. Some of the large(r) Midwest cities will have a software company that has "profit center" software and jobs. I'm further West than you but I know some companies in Madison, Des Moines, La Crosse, Rochester, Decorah exist. Being in smaller markets they don't tend to pay as well $ for $ but when you factor in COLA and QOL they are hard to beat. I know some people that live near me that work remotely for Walmart Labs and make a substantially lot more money. Appleton/Green Bay/Wausau have a lot of insurance software jobs too... the type we seem to want to avoid. I'm not sure what the rust belt has to offer. The best place to look for "profit center" positions is the monthly "Who's Hiring on HN" lists and if you can't/don't want to relocate look for ones that allow remoting. Good luck.
lgieron 11y ago
Not sure it's that simple. For example, in many places banks pay the most. Sure, they pay even more to their earners (traders, dealmakers etc.), but they make so much money on their business in general that they can shell out top dollars even for their digital janitors. Contrast that with places where you work on products such as computer vision-based gizmos, CAD software etc - even though you're bringing in the profit there, the pay is not that great.
- jrs235 11y ago
  They might pay well but the work environment and "culture" would probably leave many disappointed.
OpenDrapery 11y ago
In addition to my previous comment, I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the "consulting" gig. It seems to rule here. You know the routine. Consulting shop places an individual at a client site and charges the client $100 an hour, and then turns around and gives the consultant less than half of it. I can see the argument of the consulting firm viewing their people both as profit centers and cost centers. Why are they even called "consulting" firms? They are really just contracting agencies. And why are they so prevalent in the midwest and the insurance/banking/healthcare segments? Is it so that employers don't have to lay people off? Do they record the costs differently on their books versus full time employees? It just seems so obviously not in the interest of a company to use them with regards to culture, turnover, cost.
- wdmeldon 11y ago
  As a midwesterner who's working as a "consultant", one thing I can say is I don't get benefits, so that's an obvious plus for them.
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  My last consulting firm accounted their consultant salaries as a cost center, despite our hours worked being directly billed to the client. I left about two weeks after finding out.
  - andrewflnr 11y ago
    Does that affect you financially, or did you just think it showed the wrong perspective?
    - jsprogrammer 11y ago
      It was many. The numbers the company provided to me failed to account for a significant portion of my billed revenue. Presumably the missing money made it to the top level in some way. I also objected to the idea that someone who directly generates revenue was being labeled a cost center. I left, as did my junior consultant, and shortly after the company failed to gain ongoing contracts at the very large financial services corporation they were trying to break in to. My main problem with that job however, was that they recruited me as a greenfield .NET developer, but then had me analysing some 800 columns over dozens of tables looking for software errors that were causing incorrect results in the 401k accounts for which our client was the steward.
zyngaro 11y ago
This is how I evaluate job opportunities once I understood that: if the software is not the profit center or the competitive advantage then run away!
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

by jrs235 11y ago

OpenDrapery 11y ago

Yeah, hear ya. Anyone know of any opportunities that match this criteria (profit center) in the Columbus, OH area? I've recently moved here for family reasons, and while there seem to be plenty of opportunities, they are all within the banking, healthcare, insurance verticals, or they are shrouded in mystery behind middleman tech agents. I have not found an easy way to do a search on indeed.com to bring the "profit center" jobs to the forefront.

jrs235 11y ago
The majority of "profit center" software and software jobs are on the west coast surrounded around the tech giants and the bustling startups. I believe Austin Texas has a few and so does New York. As for the rest of the country... it's hit or miss. Some of the large(r) Midwest cities will have a software company that has "profit center" software and jobs. I'm further West than you but I know some companies in Madison, Des Moines, La Crosse, Rochester, Decorah exist. Being in smaller markets they don't tend to pay as well $ for $ but when you factor in COLA and QOL they are hard to beat. I know some people that live near me that work remotely for Walmart Labs and make a substantially lot more money. Appleton/Green Bay/Wausau have a lot of insurance software jobs too... the type we seem to want to avoid. I'm not sure what the rust belt has to offer. The best place to look for "profit center" positions is the monthly "Who's Hiring on HN" lists and if you can't/don't want to relocate look for ones that allow remoting. Good luck.

lgieron 11y ago

Not sure it's that simple. For example, in many places banks pay the most. Sure, they pay even more to their earners (traders, dealmakers etc.), but they make so much money on their business in general that they can shell out top dollars even for their digital janitors. Contrast that with places where you work on products such as computer vision-based gizmos, CAD software etc - even though you're bringing in the profit there, the pay is not that great.

jrs235 11y ago
They might pay well but the work environment and "culture" would probably leave many disappointed.

OpenDrapery 11y ago

In addition to my previous comment, I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the "consulting" gig. It seems to rule here. You know the routine. Consulting shop places an individual at a client site and charges the client $100 an hour, and then turns around and gives the consultant less than half of it. I can see the argument of the consulting firm viewing their people both as profit centers and cost centers. Why are they even called "consulting" firms? They are really just contracting agencies. And why are they so prevalent in the midwest and the insurance/banking/healthcare segments? Is it so that employers don't have to lay people off? Do they record the costs differently on their books versus full time employees? It just seems so obviously not in the interest of a company to use them with regards to culture, turnover, cost.

wdmeldon 11y ago
As a midwesterner who's working as a "consultant", one thing I can say is I don't get benefits, so that's an obvious plus for them.
jsprogrammer 11y ago
My last consulting firm accounted their consultant salaries as a cost center, despite our hours worked being directly billed to the client. I left about two weeks after finding out.
- andrewflnr 11y ago
  Does that affect you financially, or did you just think it showed the wrong perspective?
  - jsprogrammer 11y ago
    It was many. The numbers the company provided to me failed to account for a significant portion of my billed revenue. Presumably the missing money made it to the top level in some way. I also objected to the idea that someone who directly generates revenue was being labeled a cost center. I left, as did my junior consultant, and shortly after the company failed to gain ongoing contracts at the very large financial services corporation they were trying to break in to. My main problem with that job however, was that they recruited me as a greenfield .NET developer, but then had me analysing some 800 columns over dozens of tables looking for software errors that were causing incorrect results in the 401k accounts for which our client was the steward.

zyngaro 11y ago

This is how I evaluate job opportunities once I understood that: if the software is not the profit center or the competitive advantage then run away!

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]