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"We aren't special snowflakes fighting for truth and honour, we are tradesmen settling our services for as much cash as we can get away with" That seems to ali
by kyllo 12y ago
"We aren't special snowflakes fighting for truth and honour, we are tradesmen settling our services for as much cash as we can get away with"
That seems to align pretty closely with what michaelochurch is saying--except he's saying that we're settling for less than we could get away with. The thrust of his argument is that we shouldn't sell ourselves short. We should stand up for ourselves, recognize the value our work creates, and negotiate accordingly for a bigger share of the rewards. He's pointing out a cultural problem with software developers, who accept lower pay and poorer working conditions than we otherwise would because we are "passionate" about our work and lack the social skills and confidence to stick up for our own best interests.
Calling ourselves "overpaid nerds" (even jokingly) doesn't align with that goal at all.
- nostrademons 12y agoThere are programmers that negotiate exactly for the value that their work creates. They own their own business, or they're contractors (which basically amounts to owning your own business). Pick the right industry, have decent communication skills and a track record of delivering projects on time, and you can easily make a half mil a year or so. When you take an employee position for a quarter of that, a large portion of what you're doing is reapportioning risk. Your employer gets to keep all the surplus value of the work you do - and in exchange, they bear all the risk if the product fails entirely, as many software projects do.
- kyllo 12y agoYou're right that consultants and contractors earn more money because they assume more risk. I don't think that contradicts anything I said though. I think a lot of FTE programmers earn less than they could earn (still as FTEs), purely for lack of negotiating skills.