What is Digg?47 Comments
- screwball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5As a developer, I am willing to murder a small country for a decent project manager who is knowledgable and yet not too intrusive with that knowledge. In my experience, I've dealt with either PM's that simplTy doesn't have a clue what we do, or know-it-all who has a degree in computer science but absolutely no clue what a real world programming involves.
And don't even get me started on how many supposed developer who also have a degree in computer science that can't code their way out of a paper bag... But I digress. Good project managers are a truly rare specimen that is severely undervalued. Hopefully one day they will be as treasured as a good developer. - phlyersphan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I went to an IT conference a few months back, featuring keynote speakers who described their IT needs for the next 5 years or so. (The conference was for educators and curriculum developers at the college level). I posted the top 10 things they said about the near-future of IT (in the midwest/Chicagoland area) - http://geekgoesmeow.blogspot.com/2005/10/near-future-of-it.html
- screwball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2ilyag
That's not what I mean when I complained about new developer coming into the job straight out of college. Of course I don't expect someone to have all the skillset necessary for the job the day they're hired. We're all green at one point in time.
What I'm talking about just piss poor understanding of programming concept in general. If you received a degree in computer science, I am going to assume that you understand basic resource management. For instance, you do not return an entire database table if you only need a column of information. That's it, it's all I ask. Or one of our all time favorite here: someone (who has a master's in Computer Science) decided to use 1 as false and 2 as true in his code and did comment it as such. And if I remember correctly, did not code so that the programming handles it correctly either.
This post is dragging on too long, and I'm coming off as an elitist. All I ask of someone with a degree in the field is to be able to practice some common sense in programming, and that seems to be too much in some cases. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3So if you're fresh out of college and have no experience, you're ***** out of luck as usual? The ***** work that gets sent overseas now is exactly how recent college graduates used to be able to get their foot in the door. Not any more. There are no more entry-level jobs in America.
- treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2XML/AJAX
- inactive, on 09/08/2008, -0/+1The best mortgage rates, refinance, home loan, real estate, realty http://tophomemortgageloan.com
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1First off - the article's "tech skills" summarization is pretty vague. Second, the salary range they were discussing for a PROGRAMMER in the first page is silly. Negotiating over a measely $62k?! I know PLENTY of people making $80k or even $100k or more in TECH SUPPORT in the midwest. I'm not talking about QA work or product design or programming or anything else. I'm talking about customer calls in with problem, tech reads through documentation, reproduces issue, files defect kind of stuff. If programmers are only making $60k -- I'd rather be a tech support monkey!
- BugMeNot2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Tech" is used too vaguely...
Hammer skills could be considered a "tech" skill. =P - holymoses, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Y2K could still occur
- zelig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0CoolAidGuy is trying to hyjack DIGG. Somebody please screw with him.
- tekmage3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You try to toss some tips out there for people from your own life and you get this kind of feedback.
As Homer said " Never try" - digglugg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0if you are in IT, the hottest tech skill for 2006 is not a tech skill at all, it's Customer Service.
- bonlebon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sure, it applies everywhere thanks for expanding my point.
- hypnotiq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0$80K doing tech support?
Even still, who wants to be a tech support person? !!!! You sound stupid trying to convince people of this, even if you are being honest about the 80K.
All the same, I live in Los Angeles where the cost of living is not easy to swallow. Nowhere, and I mean, nowhere in our area, can you make 80K telling people wtf their printer is doing to cause docs to look jumbled.....
woot to Teresa Noreen !!!!!!! =D - n3tfury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I know PLENTY of people making $80k or even $100k or more in TECH SUPPORT in the midwest. "
ROFL. full of crap are you. - cdthompso1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0digglugg is onto something. Customer service, people skills, and being able to break down a problem and share the workload with others collaboratively are the skills that matter when it comes time for layoffs. Of course, that is in addition to knowing your area of technical expertise inside and out.
- popetorak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0tech support is the fast food of the food service industry
- bonlebon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0nepotism still tops the list, no phd in computer sciences could match the son in law of any major shareholder period,
- anamanaman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Where you live is a huge factor in employment demand. It's obvious but deserves a mention.
Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond is a huge market for good jobs. I'm a few years out of college (CS) and doing contract in Redmond for 55/hr, full time. Searched for a job for about 2 weeks and had several offers all 100k or more.
Moving near a huge company like Microsoft, Google, Apple, or Yahoo will greatly increase odds of finding a decent paying job. - Mfrosty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Bonlebon
that's the way it is in almost any job field.... - ucg1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You can make 80k-100k doing "tech support", but it's not the job you think it is. Doing PC or Windows tech support isn't going to make you that kind of money. Doing tech support for a specialized product can earn you that easilly. But that can require way more specialized knowledge than Windows Help Desk. It all depends on what you mean by "tech support".
- Anekdoten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's no secret than anyone skilled in C++ can make a fortune.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Cool..
- kilmer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you are making that much doing tech support than you must be really good at it. Chance are that if you make that much you don't have much job security b/c I am not sure of a company that can survive paying a tech support person 80k.
- tekmage3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0" I know PLENTY of people making $80k or even $100k or more in TECH SUPPORT in the midwest" - Seumas
Where? Your lucky to make 30k in Tech Support. Hell, i need a job. I can live with $80k
*******************************************************************************************************
Seek out government contracting, lots of companies contract out to the government for support. I make in that range and I'm just doing crappy windows user support.
Tip's for user support-
Always look like you "WANT" to solve the problem ( even if you know is stupid).
Never make someone feel bad for having a problem!!
Treat them well and ask follow up questions "Do you need anything else, etc"
Be nice even if they are a jerk! ( you can make them into your biggest booster. I have done this tons of times and it works!! )
Be aware of meetings ( it never hurts to raise the profile when the budget meetings are about to hit. Do some preventive work for the users )
Be proactive ( Make contacts to you know what is coming down the pipe and your ready for it, or can say it's done before the email even comes out)
Make the users love you!! ( Sure it's fun to torture them but word of mouth is a powerful thing and they will talk. You can have them say "he is an ass " or have them say "He saved my ass" ) - FleshJoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The most important skills in 2006 are the skills that were always important and will always be important: savvy, gumption, intelligence and a will to try new stuff and learn new stuff.
- ExisKorlan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I do high end support for a banking institutions internal systems and am making 60, there are some companies out there that are willing to put out decent money for people that are good at support.. I have been doing this for about 8 years now and hope at least that there will always be companies looking for techs that can analyze and report issues properly.
Now mind you I do not mean call centers, those are a bit of a different beast and where most of the outsourcing is happening. - Th3_anOmoLy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I thought it was just going to be...
"developers, developers, developers, developers..." - kris2pe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0$80k in tech support? I doubt that, the fact tech companies are moving to 3rd world countries like India & the Philippines, where I live which makes me doubt that that you are going to earn $80k 4 just tech support! Coz in the Philippines regular employees who take night shifts only earn about P8k which is roughly around $148 a month!
- thund3rstruck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yea.. that salary is rediculous. I was recently offered an ASP.NET programmer position for a sub-contractor and they offered $27K! Ha... hilarious considering I would have to leave my current $95K a year .NET developer job to take that one!
- krynsky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Screwball...nice to see a post like that. I've never seen that opinion expressed before and it struck a nerve for me.
I'm currently a tech PM for a dotcom (and have been doing this since '96). The PM position is a strange one, in that its roles and responsibilities seem to vary widely from company to company. I do all the usual PM stuff regarding mapping out all the tasks of a project, along with assigning resources and determining timelines but my mantra has always been to be an advocate for the developers by doing everything I can to remove / reduce them from unnecessary aspects of projects (i.e. meetings) so they can concentrate on development. This can come in many forms such as working directly with product managers and filtering out aspects of a project that aren't sound during the business requirements phase, to writing portions of the functionality / tech specs.
On the tech side I'm always willing to help out the developers do menial tasks. This could include writing some sql for an ad-hoc report, to editing and deploying minor changes to pages on the site. The point is that I believe the most important thing you can do as a tech PM is to gain the respect and support of your developers. Once you've gained that it will make your job a lot easier.
I also work with QA once they get involved to help them write test cases. I also write documentation and do training for new rollouts. I enjoy being a PM where I’m currently at because of the flexibility and many hats the position allows me to wear. Of course this is all dependants on the company you work for but for any aspiring PMs out there, this can be a great gig. - hypnotiq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well with something like .net it kind of depends how critical your job is to the company. I mean, some companies could probably use a little newbie .net guy, while other ecommerce companies or large corporation not only need people badly, but they need experts. Mission critical. That deserves more pay.
BTW: Where do you live to get offered 27K that really is low even for a newbie.... - p3r4m3r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+080,000 dollars for just Tech Support is amazing what would a multi-lingual programmer make in the environment 150,000?!? I wish that was me
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0screwball, I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about the fact that the article is brushing off the entry-level positions which are shipped off to India as unimportant to the American workforce. They sure as hell are important to recent graduates who now can't get those jobs.
- popetorak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0" I know PLENTY of people making $80k or even $100k or more in TECH SUPPORT in the midwest" - Seumas
Where? Your lucky to make 30k in Tech Support. Hell, i need a job. I can live with $80k
Show me. Put up or shut up - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I know PLENTY of people making $80k or even $100k or more in TECH SUPPORT in the midwest" - Seumas
Where? Your lucky to make 30k in Tech Support. Hell, i need a job. I can live with $80k
*******************************************************************************************************
Seek out government contracting, lots of companies contract out to the government for support. I make in that range and I'm just doing crappy windows user support.
Tip's for user support-
Always look like you "WANT" to solve the problem ( even if you know is stupid).
Never make someone feel bad for having a problem!!
Treat them well and ask follow up questions "Do you need anything else, etc"
Be nice even if they are a jerk! ( you can make them into your biggest booster. I have done this tons of times and it works!! )
Be aware of meetings ( it never hurts to raise the profile when the budget meetings are about to hit. Do some preventive work for the users )
Be proactive ( Make contacts to you know what is coming down the pipe and your ready for it, or can say it's done before the email even comes out)
Make the users love you!! ( Sure it's fun to torture them but word of mouth is a powerful thing and they will talk. You can have them say "he is an ass " or have them say "He saved my ass" )
------------------
No you don't. If so, you're doing more than just Windows support. A highschooler can do tech support. Please empty your bag of *****. - freestyle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Security now is on there twice lol
- thewordwasgod, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22006 is the year of the blong
- holymoses, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1i just spilled a chai mochaccino on my powerbook now the apple logo isn't pulsing
- Uptownguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Reading this thread is like listening to the fifth grades on the bus talk about what their big brothers and sisters are studying in high school. Both SORT OF know what they are talking about but neither have any details -- it's most just made up guessing.
Just saying. - CaughtThinking, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0time to renegotiate my 17K a year!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3"There are no more entry-level jobs in America."
Don't be retarded. I saw plenty of applications sitting on the counter of the local McDonald's this weekend. - holymoses, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Circlejerking blog posts and digging are on the rise, along with my penis.
- holymoses, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I'm "hammering" on my balls right now
- republicoftexas, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Who Care!
- holymoses, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0is blogger on there? i didn't read the article my G5 has the spyware
- orabox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0More bla bla bla
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