June 4, 2012 at 7:23 am
hisakimatama (6/1/2012)
Hm, 5 to 7 years? Not too bad :-). I can suffice off of what I make now pretty well, so there's no rush at the moment. Just going to apply myself and try to learn all I can, so when I get a higher-paying job, I won't be booted out the door for being a doofus :-P.Jeff, I'm located in the U.S., actually :-D. I'm working with a company that, to put it one way, is quite past its means. I knew I could get some experience there without there being a huge burden on me knowledge-wise (and I was more right than I predicted; I learned the full workings of the company, code-wise and actual physical functions, within about a month!), so I thought it would be a fair enough way to get some knowledge. Plus, the companies I'd been applying to before this one were not accepting of me at all; being fresh out of college, good level of knowledge or no, was just not acceptable to them.
Figured I'd take what I could get, and some of the inventory management I've been able to code in has helped the business stagger back to its feet, so I feel like I'm really accomplishing something. To me, that's what counts right now; learning more and making a difference where I work.
Priorities change in the blink of an eye, especially during your twenties. I mean, you can't support a wife (much less kids) on $13 / hour here in the U.S. From what you've described, you probably wouldn't want to stay with this organization for the next 5 - 7 years. Personally, I'd give it maybe six more months and then move on to broaden experience elsewhere.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
June 4, 2012 at 8:13 am
I've got a good job at a good company, and have to keep telling recruiters that I'm thankful they thought to bring opportunities to my attention but that I'm not currently interested in looking.
I get at least 5 or 6 e-mails a month from recruiters in various nearby markets. That's not counting the ones that are completely non-sequitur (like "We need an experienced .NET developer with 3 or more years of C#, and experience in ..." when my resume clearly says "Minimal experience in VB.NET, no experience in C#"), just the ones that are actually applicable to me.
I've had opportunities for better (some much better) salary, but I'm not interested right now. I like the work environment I'm in far too much to lose it for a fistfull of dollars. (Cue spaghetti western music.)
- Gus "GSquared", RSVP, OODA, MAP, NMVP, FAQ, SAT, SQL, DNA, RNA, UOI, IOU, AM, PM, AD, BC, BCE, USA, UN, CF, ROFL, LOL, ETC
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"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better." - Anon
June 4, 2012 at 8:35 am
I definitely fall under option A. I love going to work every morning. The commute is about half of what I had a few years ago, plus I have a decent amount of flexibility if I need to alter hours or work from home.
June 4, 2012 at 12:44 pm
I think I fall into B). I would have said A) 2 years ago, but things have changed. I've found that the hard work I do sometimes goes unappreciated (or unnoticed!). You know how it is, if there are no database problems, no one knows you work there! 🙂
But I've also found that there are those who do not like to share or inform you what is going on so you look like an idiot for not knowing all of the facts (just one or two folks). I try to let it roll off my back and keep moving ahead.
I also see some of what Ron was saying. One or two with power make all decisions and you must conform to their way (or the highway!)
June 5, 2012 at 9:55 am
Jeff, I thank you for the encouragement. I certainly want to do as much as I can for this company before I move on, not the least of which includes streamlining as many of their procedures as I can, and finding a suitable replacement for my role, preferably another recently-graduated student if at all possible. It's definitely been great being able to learn at my own pace (with the occasional lurches into rapid-fire development; those are interesting and quite educational, too!), and I'm glad I found a group like this to start out in.
Eric, I fully agree with you that my current pay rate just won't cut it once I've proceeded further in life; $13 an hour is fine for now, but definitely not once I've got other people to support. At the moment, I've got a pair of great roommates that I'm living with, and they've been my pals since high school. Thanks to them, there's a much lower burden on me financially than I'd normally have to face. Regardless, though, I'll definitely need more financial strength as the years pass, and remaining with this company for the full extent of my progression towards a completely professional role isn't my intention. I'll do everything I can for them for at least a year further, if I had to guess, and then I'll try to move on if I feel that they're in a good enough place to do without me. After that, I'll look for a salary that's at least twice as good as my current one. I may have an overly idealistic view of how things will proceed from here, but there's always room for adjustment along the way :-).
- 😀
June 5, 2012 at 2:48 pm
I'm right at B. I like it here and the people but I'm underutilized in terms of my technical skill set. While not underpaid per se, I'm interested in more challenge and responsibility than what I have here as "DBA". Suggesting things that are "outside the box" here are met with push back most of the time (unless there is an immediate resource crisis and customers are being impacted.)
Our structure here is pretty static so there isn't really any growth path in terms of career. If the economy were better I might be more aggressive in terms of exploring other opportunities.
😎
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
June 5, 2012 at 2:58 pm
MisplacedChildhood (6/4/2012)
I think I fall into B). I would have said A) 2 years ago, but things have changed. I've found that the hard work I do sometimes goes unappreciated (or unnoticed!). You know how it is, if there are no database problems, no one knows you work there! 🙂
I'll second that. I've known a few people that have "job security" out the ying yang. That never happens if your designs always work right the first time out of the box: people just assume you don't do anything. The people that are out front and center being called on to fix their bugs week after week are considered "critical and important personnel." LOL
The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.
June 6, 2012 at 10:41 am
I'm an A. This is the best job I have ever had and I look forward to coming in each day. I thought the feeling would pass, but here I am a year later, still being happy on the job.
I thought c was "get me out of here"?? I've had that job, too 😉
I was very lucky to score a great job out of unemployment, but I was picky, didn't want Just Anything, but was coming down to, oh crap, I have to take anything offered soon ... when one week brought me 2 great offers for very different jobs. I took the more interesting, more challenging of the two, and it happened to have better pay and benefits.
I'm hoping to spend the next 19 years here before sailing off to a well-earned retirement. if they see fit to reward me large, maybe I can scoot in 10, but I would miss the intensity and good feelings I get from being an important part of a small company.
Love the "ridiculous salaries always considered" bit. hmmm...
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