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Good post. As an aside, here's something interesting I stumbled across recently: applied mathematicians are actually in very high demand right now and salaries have caught up with that demand.

And it kind of makes sense given what's happened in the last 20 years in finance (quant), biotech (statistics), etc. But before that it was pretty much assumed that any math major would be limited to a lower paying field like education.

http://www.forbes.com/pictures...
http://www.careercast.com/jobs...

A hole in my head.

Competent software developers are a rare commodity. Companies are the ones competing to attract the talent. We are not the dime-a-dozen crowd that can be treated poorly and compensated minimally. If we're not happy with our employer there are 50 waiting in the wings to snatch us up. If we leave our employer they lose the significant investment in both time and money that they made in us to be productive with their environment.

In 2011 software developers ranked number one for having the "best" job in both 2011 and 2012. Why the hell would any of us want to slap our employers in the face for treating us well? To suggest that we should form a union is about as stupid and counter productive as trying to suggest that every pub in Ireland should replace the Guinness taps with Bud Lite.

A hole in my head.

Competent software developers are a rare commodity. Companies are the ones competing to attract the talent. We are not the dime-a-dozen crowd that can be treated poorly and compensated minimally. If we're not happy with our employer there are 50 waiting in the wings to snatch us up. If we leave our employer they lose the significant investment in both time and money that they made in us to be productive with their environment.

In 2011 software developers ranked number one for having the "best" job in both 2011 and 2012. Why the hell would any of us want to slap our employers in the face for treating us well? To suggest that we should form a union is about as stupid and counter productive as trying to suggest that every pub in Ireland should replace the Guinness taps with Bud Lite.

1st: I see different here (Software Engineer being a TOP JOB CURRENTLY) -> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303815404577336603334928584.html

PERTINENT QUOTE/EXCERPT:

"It's also one of the reasons why software engineer was ranked No. 1 in a list of the best jobs of 2012 by http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated; "

---

Second: You only get STRONGER the more you code!

Experience is EVERYTHING...

I.E.-> I'd hire a 20++ yr. man over some "fresh outta academia" noob, anytime. Especially IF I wanted "quality work"... they're worth their weight in GOLD (and you get more "bang for the buck" from them, than say, the CIO generally).

Why?

Ok, practical example from my own life recently enough (the past year):

Last year, I tried Python & within a couple weeks I had most of what I needed to do in it down pat, for text manipulations... only way I could DO that was to have experience in programming in general!

(Python's an up & coming 'new' language, vs. say, my favs. in Object Pascal, C/C++, or Visual Basic & .NET variants thereof (VB.NET &/or C#))

JAVA too (reminds me of C# actually, or even C++ to a good extent except everything needs to be an object & set into memory 1st)...

Which I even took coursework in to "brush up my skillset"... I didn't study one BIT, and aced the course!

Was easy, once I knew C++ beforehand especially.

How?

Once you program in the Object.Property Method paradigm, they're ALL PRETTY MUCH THE SAME!

(It's the CONCEPTS you learn over time, via academia, & work, that matter most!)

* You learn techniques - & once you do? You ask yourself:

"I know how to do this problem, using this technique in (insert language here), now it's just a matter of syntax in this other language"

Put it this way:

I used to make extra monies porting various toolkits written in VB, Pascal/Delphi, or C/C++ variants because of what I just said above, porting them to OTHER LANGUAGES, was easy money!

(SO... once you know one pretty well (especially Pascal/Delphi or C++)? You pretty much know them all... & where it matters - in concepts!)

If you can "port" code from language-to-language? You KNOW what I am saying...

APK

P.S.=> THAT ONLY COMES WITH REAL-WORLD HANDS ON EXPERIENCE FOR YEARS... not from academia!

Man - This is an "old ploy" used by HR departments to underpay seasoned pros (who must be desperate for a job) & to hire on CHEAPLY PAID "noobs" outta academia... period!

... apk

If you read the methodology page http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/2012-jobs-rated-methodology then a lot of the problems are obvious. One that stands out to me is that the stresses are almost all elements of other factors, especially work environment. The stress criteria are not what comes to my mind when I think about work stresses. I can see where they are legitimate but not if they are already reflected by other categories.

Really? Engineers and Scientists not well paid? Care to cite a salary survey that doesn't have engineers in the top 5 professions according to pay? Besides Lawyer, Doctor, and Wall Street financier, what is better paid than engineering? Teaching? Auto Mechanic? Factory worker?

http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/jobs-rated-2010-ranking-200-jobs-best-worst
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123119236117055127.html

When I got my first job out of engineering school, my salary was more than my mom made with 20 more years in the workforce. Potentially some of our bright folks are going to be in finance, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's why there's a gap in Engineers.

I didn't encourage either of my kids to be engineers when it's clear most of those jobs are being shipped overseas. This isn't a supply problem. It's a demand problem - fundamentally because as an engineer I make TOO MUCH and they can give my job to someone who is smart and lives in a country with a lower cost of living. Right now you can't do that with a doctor or someone who has to show up in a court room.

By the way, the finance jobs are going overseas too so don't get too envious.

they're even advertising available jobs covert against Linux!

And they have more jobs available than the freeBSD userbase! AHHHHHHH

Apparently they didn't get their agents to Spain fast enough! Interesting posting of a job today by M$:
job posting here

ACADEMIC DEV EVANGELIST [Job Code: N05rc-ew ]

Academic Developer Evangelist - NY/NJ Interested in revolutionizing academia? Are you ready to win the hearts and minds of post secondary and secondary faculty and student developers? Join the Education Solutions Group (EdSG) as an Academic Developer Evangelist and do just that by delivering the .NET vision and technical benefits to students and professors in the New York / New Jersey area. In your role as an academic developer evangelist, you will encourage incorporation of MS developer tools in University CS/CE/IS curriculums and faculty research. Engage and build relationship with university computer science students and faculty. Deliver academically oriented .NET content on university campuses and academic events. Ensure awareness and participation of universities in MSDN AA. Participate in academic developer online student and faculty community. We are looking for candidates who have an unabated passion for technology, a keen eye for unobvious opportunities, and unparalleled communication and negotiation skills. As you might imagine, travel, current programming skills, deep understanding of .NET developer tools and strong presentation skills to large audiences are critical to the success of this job. Applicants should have a four year degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems or related discipline. Familiarity with CS/CE/IS curriculums, solid knowledge of software development tools and programming models. Specific knowledge of Java, academic languages or Linux a plus. Current programming skills a strong advantage. Working knowledge of database (SQL), data access, .NET Framework and CLR desirable.

Job Location: New York, New York