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Software Engineers Ranked Best Job in America
fistfullast33l writes "CNNMoney and Salary.com have ranked the title of Software Engineer the best job in America. Computer IT Analyst also ranks 7th on the list, placing both technology positions in the top 10. From the article: "Designing, developing and testing computer programs requires some pretty advanced math skills and creative problem-solving ability. If you've got them, though, you can work and live where you want: Telecommuting is quickly becoming widespread.""
Tell that to unemployed software enginner Steve (who comes from a rough area) and is making more money selling Vibe than he ever did at Intertoad.
"You can work anywhere you want"
So long as it's in India or China.
Telecommuting is quickly becoming widespread.
Yeah, telecommuting from India.
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Crudely Drawn Games
Telecommuting is quickly becoming widespread.
I disagree.
I beg to differ. I've been doing my job from India for quite a while now. : p
This guy's the limit!
I don't see Male Porn Star anywhere on the list...
At my job, I have to write software (varying from simple quickie scripts to complex neural-net based adaptive administration controls) to handle the administration and maintenance of a few tens of thousands of servers. I have to be able to work with 5 different languages and be familiar with developing for four different architectures.
I'm rarely ever given the chance to plan anything in advance (that's just how this place works) and "testing" is often done hot - launch once operational, and quickly work out the bugs while it's in use. I usually work either entirely alone, or with our admins to give them tools to their specifications and needs. No team, little oversight, and full responsibility for failures.
Does that make me a Software Engineer? Or just a two-bit coder?
No, that just makes you some idiot waving his e-penis on SLASHDOT DOT ORG
Telecommuting is overrated in a number of cases. I enjoy the ease of contact with my coworkers. Part of the draw of my current profession is that I work with funny, intelligent people.
Working at home would likely be filled with endless distractions, mostly in the form of a two and seven-year-old who want to play Princess or Legos, respectively. Rarely does my coworker dress up in pink and demand they be called Princess Dave.
Is getting paid to read Slashdot. Just don't tell my boss.
Would be the guy in "Office Space" who went on to make his Jump to Conclusions game. He had a secretary who would gather the requirements from the customers. Then the secretary would take the gathered requirements and pass them along to the engineers. Oh wait, he was laid off. Forget what I said...
2 bit coding? I thought coding for 8 bit CPUs was pretty old school, but that takes the cake.
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
You remember the A-Team episodes where they weld steel plates on the outside of a car or whatever, drop a bus engine in it, stick some guns on and go ass-kickin?
If you call that mechanical engineering, you can probably call your job software engineering. I'd do either one of 'em though...
* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
So this is as good as it gets?!
--t
You remember the A-Team episodes where they weld steel plates on the outside of a car or whatever, drop a bus engine in it, stick some guns on and go ass-kickin?
:)
You mean every A-Team episode, ever?
"Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
-Marilyn Manson
*shrugs* I happen to like Perl.
Oh wait. You didn't mention Perl at all.
OK, sorry :)
8 of 13 people found this answer helpful. Did you?
The place I last worked, a lot of people telecommuted, but it was a telecom, so I guess it would have looked bad saying 'the telephone's no good for communication! you have to be here!'
My 4 year old daughter walks up to me one day and say "Dad, Mom says you are a puter nerd, but it's OK cause you make lots of money..."
I've been doing my job from India for quite a while now
Hah! I've got one better. Somebody else has been doing my job from India! Oh. Wait...
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"
- Charles Darwin
..and the world's Worst Job, for the second year in a row, "Assistant Crack Whore".
[/Norm MacDonald]
So I marched right in and asked the boss if I could be a software engineer. He said "What do thy do?" and I said "Same stuff I do", and he said "Sure!" so now I'm one of the few, the happy few! And to think, this morning I was just "the computer guy".
Was that the same episode where Hannibal dressed up in a goofy costume, Face flirted with some hot chick, and BA got angry at Murdoch's crazy antics?
SpyDock: Scientific Python in a Docker container
I thought their choices were pretty good, but they completely screwed up with the reasoning behind the selections. Here's my take on it:
1. Software engineer
Congratulations, no one really knows what you do. As a software engineer you have carte blanche to fuck off. Don't like what you're working on? Tell your employer it'll take two years and 10 people to accomplish. No one will know the difference. Just remember, 10 minutes of inspiration gets more accomplished than a strong work ethic.
2. College professor
Congratulations, you figured out how to never leave college. Rather than figuring out how the real world operates you get to tell future generations how you wished it worked. It's the only job in the world where you can bang 18 year-olds for the rest of your life and simply be called 'eccentric'.
3. Financial advisor
Congratulations, you figured out how to be a criminal that gets a salary. Because, hey, no one really goes to jail for white collar crimes. Scraping a few pennies worth of commission from every trade is not only legal, it's expected. The best part: the only qualifications are you need is the ability to use Excel and wear a shit-eating grin. It's possibly the only job in the world where someone else will take a fall for your dirty deeds. Think Enron.
4. Human resource management
Congratulations, you're so good at covering your ass a company has hired you to cover theirs. When most people get frustrated at work they put their head down and mutter obscenities. Instead, you have the opportunity to fire the asshole who pissed you off. Furthermore, if you don't like your benefit package you can create your own.
5. Physician's assistant
Congratulations, you found a cover for being an escort. We all know you bought the nurse's outfit first and found the job second. Working bankers' hours gives you the ability to pursue more lucrative opportunities on the side.
6. Market research analyst
Congratulations, you figured out how to remove the stress and anxiety from marketing leaving you with pool parties and martinis. As an analyst, you get to try new products and impress your friends with the latest in cell phone technology. The best part: you'll still make plenty of money to pursue your coke habit.
7. Computer IT analyst
Congratulations, you figured out how to get a lucrative job in the IT market without any technical knowledge. As a translator between real people and the geeks you'll be revered by both. The real people will invite you to after work parties and give you an escape from nerddom. The geeks will be so thankful you've removed human interaction from their job they may let you play with their dual-core superpiplined hyperthreaded 64-bit processors.
8. Real estate appraiser
Congratulations, you've discovered the single career more criminal than financial advisor. You have more angles than a protractor. Not only do you get kickbacks, you have a waiting line. As if banks, insurers, and developers weren't enough, now you have every government agency on the Gulf Coast wanting to give you money for a job they've already done. Just remember, banks have to report every transaction over $10,000.
9. Pharmacist
Congratulations, you're a licensed drug dealer. You're college buddies are now serving mandatory minimums for selling a few tabs of acid at a Widespread show. Meanwhile, you're doling out Valium and Vicodin on a daily basis to the doctors' wives. If the people making the drugs have a stock symbol, it can't be that bad, right?
10. Psychologist
Congratulations, you found a way to get paid for kissing ass. This whole career was developed by a genius who figured out there was money to be made by telling codependents everything they wanted to hear. You have that special knack for convincing people their friends are wrong when they 'Get over it.'
----- obSig