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I highly disagree with that statement. Personally I'm a recent CS grad, and I don't know any of my classmates who is unemployed. I also wouldn't describe my cu

by btian 14y ago

I highly disagree with that statement. Personally I'm a recent CS grad, and I don't know any of my classmates who is unemployed. I also wouldn't describe my current job as "pay is bad, the benefits are worse, and the competition is high" because that would be lying. Also, we're hiring. Check out the careers section http://www.rhythmia.com/ http://www.rhythmia.com/

UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
That's odd, because when I graduated CS I myself spent a year unemployed as did many of my peers (some of which who wound up going into other fields entirely). From people who graduated after me (in particular 2008 and beyond) they talk of even longer unemployment and even worse prospects. Unless you work in a niche area it is damn hard out there.
- learn 14y ago
  Well, did it have anything to do with you or your peers? As a "new" CS student(I am mid twenties) I have seen plenty of people who clearly do not appear to belong in CS. Just pure attitude about it makes it clear, usually it is that they do not want to learn(skipping assignments, doing work before class, etc.). Not that this is something that applies to you or your peers, but it is something I find important as a core motivation to learn and succeed. However, I do find it easy to blame the market. I also find it commonly used as a scapegoat for those struggling to find a job.
- btian 14y ago
  I can only speak for myself, but as what andrewem also mentioned, I have been getting emails from recruiters too albeit at a lower frequency of about once a week. I got my current job 6 months before graduation. Won't call C++ a niche area. I don't know where you are, but have you considered moving to a place with more developer jobs?
  - UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
    I have considered it but the cost of living is a fair bit higher (e.g. London). So we're talking about a 20% cost of living increase. Even the jobs coming out of London aren't that good. My current job is better than most. As I said there is a lot of unemployed programmers around here and competition remains tight. A lot of people got thrown out when a bunch of service and or financial companies went bust, and they've been stealing all of the interesting or well compensated work.
- petercooper 14y ago
  You mentioned London so I'm guessing you're in the UK? From my POV, the US and UK markets are chalk and cheese right now. The UK is still sorely in the duldrums with lower salaries and opportunities (especially outside of London.) The US certainly has it far better for programmers right now.
andrewem 14y ago
I see you're in the Boston area, as I am. Here it's a feeding frenzy for programmers, to judge by the number of emails I get from recruiters, probably at least one a day on average, and the high ratio of people at Boston Ruby meetups (http://bostonrb.org http://bostonrb.org) who are trying to hire versus people who are looking for jobs. None of the programmers I know have had trouble getting jobs, and salaries don't appear to be falling. UnoriginalGuy said "If you go actually look at the job postings in a lot of areas it is slim pickings right now." I suspect he's right, and there are places/fields where demand is poor, but there are also others where that's not the case.
- pnathan 14y ago
  The demand for programmers is geographically based. Essentially, if you're not in SF, NYC, Boston, DC, Seattle, DFW, or Phoenix (maybe a couple other high-population areas) I missed too), it's not going to be a easy job hunt.
  - cstejerean 14y ago
    Add at least Chicago and Portland and don't forget that a growing number of companies in these cities are willing to pay for relocation or hire folks to work remotely.
TallGuyShort 14y ago
It depends on where you are. I'm in silicon valley and yes - regardless of the compensation or benefits you offer it seems impossible to satisfy the demand for programmers. I tried really hard to get a job (specifically, one that shared my interests and appeared to have good benefits) near Denver for a year and couldn't - but I get recruiters contacting me every day near San Francisco.
- eric_the_read 14y ago
  Sounds like you've left Denver already; that's too bad, because we're hiring Rails devs in the Denver area-- http://www.comverge.com/careers/ http://www.comverge.com/careers/
  - TallGuyShort 14y ago
    I'm not much of a rails guy - but I'll remember to look you up when I decide it's time to move back :)
- jlgreco 14y ago
  Among the few unemployed programmers I know, there seems to be a universal theme: either the unwillingness or the inability to relocate. I have to say, having relocated several thousand miles myself, I find it hard to sympathize with the unwilling.

by btian 14y ago

UnoriginalGuy 14y ago

That's odd, because when I graduated CS I myself spent a year unemployed as did many of my peers (some of which who wound up going into other fields entirely). From people who graduated after me (in particular 2008 and beyond) they talk of even longer unemployment and even worse prospects. Unless you work in a niche area it is damn hard out there.

learn 14y ago
Well, did it have anything to do with you or your peers? As a "new" CS student(I am mid twenties) I have seen plenty of people who clearly do not appear to belong in CS. Just pure attitude about it makes it clear, usually it is that they do not want to learn(skipping assignments, doing work before class, etc.). Not that this is something that applies to you or your peers, but it is something I find important as a core motivation to learn and succeed. However, I do find it easy to blame the market. I also find it commonly used as a scapegoat for those struggling to find a job.
btian 14y ago
I can only speak for myself, but as what andrewem also mentioned, I have been getting emails from recruiters too albeit at a lower frequency of about once a week. I got my current job 6 months before graduation. Won't call C++ a niche area. I don't know where you are, but have you considered moving to a place with more developer jobs?
- UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
  I have considered it but the cost of living is a fair bit higher (e.g. London). So we're talking about a 20% cost of living increase. Even the jobs coming out of London aren't that good. My current job is better than most. As I said there is a lot of unemployed programmers around here and competition remains tight. A lot of people got thrown out when a bunch of service and or financial companies went bust, and they've been stealing all of the interesting or well compensated work.
petercooper 14y ago
You mentioned London so I'm guessing you're in the UK? From my POV, the US and UK markets are chalk and cheese right now. The UK is still sorely in the duldrums with lower salaries and opportunities (especially outside of London.) The US certainly has it far better for programmers right now.

andrewem 14y ago

I see you're in the Boston area, as I am. Here it's a feeding frenzy for programmers, to judge by the number of emails I get from recruiters, probably at least one a day on average, and the high ratio of people at Boston Ruby meetups (http://bostonrb.org http://bostonrb.org) who are trying to hire versus people who are looking for jobs. None of the programmers I know have had trouble getting jobs, and salaries don't appear to be falling. UnoriginalGuy said "If you go actually look at the job postings in a lot of areas it is slim pickings right now." I suspect he's right, and there are places/fields where demand is poor, but there are also others where that's not the case.

pnathan 14y ago
The demand for programmers is geographically based. Essentially, if you're not in SF, NYC, Boston, DC, Seattle, DFW, or Phoenix (maybe a couple other high-population areas) I missed too), it's not going to be a easy job hunt.
- cstejerean 14y ago
  Add at least Chicago and Portland and don't forget that a growing number of companies in these cities are willing to pay for relocation or hire folks to work remotely.

TallGuyShort 14y ago

It depends on where you are. I'm in silicon valley and yes - regardless of the compensation or benefits you offer it seems impossible to satisfy the demand for programmers. I tried really hard to get a job (specifically, one that shared my interests and appeared to have good benefits) near Denver for a year and couldn't - but I get recruiters contacting me every day near San Francisco.

eric_the_read 14y ago
Sounds like you've left Denver already; that's too bad, because we're hiring Rails devs in the Denver area-- http://www.comverge.com/careers/ http://www.comverge.com/careers/
- TallGuyShort 14y ago
  I'm not much of a rails guy - but I'll remember to look you up when I decide it's time to move back :)
jlgreco 14y ago
Among the few unemployed programmers I know, there seems to be a universal theme: either the unwillingness or the inability to relocate. I have to say, having relocated several thousand miles myself, I find it hard to sympathize with the unwilling.