I've got news for you - if you're getting paid desktop tech pay, you're doing desktop tech work.
I don't think so. I have my own office, I fix 1,000+ workstations at a time, I have no users, ticket queue or SLA rate, and I got an extra month of pay as a Christmas bonus last year. My official job title I'm allowed to use on my resume is Senior System Administrator.
Born and raised here. If everything falls into place, I'll be moving to Sacramento this summer. For what I rent a studio apartment for in Silicon Valley, I can rent a three-bedroom house in Sacramento.
In the Bay Area you are...unless you live with your mom.
Nope. My parents have been dead for years. I live in a rent-controlled studio apartment in Silicon Valley for nearly 12 years. I save about 20% of my paycheck each month.
I find many people that hop jobs every couple years to be not curious enough to deeply learn about anything, and are mostly just greener-grass folks looking to trade some sweat for money.
As an IT support contractor, I specialized in Fortune 500 corporate IT environments. That makes me an interchangeable cog (or virtual ditch digger, as I like to refer to myself). The work is all the same. When I got into government IT, I went from 3,000+ systems on one campus to 80,000+ systems in three time zones. The scale of the work changed but the work itself was the same. (Getting the security clearance was a PITA.) What I need to learn is not for the current job but the next job that I'm planning to get.
But as long as you already have something better lined up, fuck em.
I'm always careful about burning bridges. Silicon Valley is a very small village. I sometimes work for the same company on two or three different contracts. One time I worked round robin between three different contracting agencies.
You must know the difference between "guy who gets a 1099, has a fixed-length contract because he's not an employee of the company, and thus can be fired on a whim" and "guy who gets a W-2 because he's actually an employee, and thus requires lots of HR paperwork to be fired".
I've never done a 1099 in my 20+ year career. Always W2. I either work directly for the company or through a contracting agency. The HR paperwork is all the same.
I accept a 2% annual raise, but I already make a hefty six figure salary that I already feel is too high.
I once had a boss who made a big deal over the fact that I got a 2% raise. He got mad when I told him that my first raise was 50% and I've been making more money than him for five years. He had this funny idea that since he got promoted to manager that he was the best in the department. Paycheck wise, he wasn't.
My problem isn't curiosity, but time.
Seems like most people I've know stopped learning once they got out of school. The longer they're in one position, the less curious about things they become. It's a real big shock when they get laid off after 7+ years, go on a six-month vacation while drawing unemployment benefits, and find out that their job skills are obsolete. Reading a boot, taking a class, going to boot camp or getting certified? Forget about it. I know two software engineers who stopped learning and are still working as drug store clerks since the dot com bust.
[...] but I'm so busy I barely have time to post on Slashdot;-)
If your job is technical, you should be curious about your work and new developments in your field. I've known too many technical people who sat back in their jobs, do the same thing day in and day out, and are shocked to get laid off because they're unwilling to change.
Sometimes people are satisfied with their job and money isn't their main driver.
But that shouldn't diminished curiosity. A coworker of mine went bat shit crazy over a new laptop because it didn't have 2.5" hard drive bay, got angry when everyone pointed out the SSD card, and let the laptop sat unused for six months before someone shipped it off to Dell for warranty repair. For the 13+ years he worked in the department, laptop technology has remained the same. The newer laptops are completely different but he doesn't have the curiosity to learn about them..
Every once in a great while I run into a hiring manager who demands loyalty and wants reassurances that I will stick around for x number of months. I can make no promises. Especially when another company is willing to pay 40% more for the same kind of work.
A few years ago I ran into a former coworker during a job interview and turned down the job offer. I would be making more money as a contractor than my former coworker did from collecting 2% raises for nine years. The last thing I need is a bitter coworker.
From what I've read in the news, the wiretapping wasn't aimed at Trump but at a Russian server operating out of Trump Tower. But, yeah, let's blame Obama for that one too.
As another politician pointed out, no one can be charged for talking about the Trump Tower wiretap (if it exists) since POTUS publicly disclosed the wiretap existence.
Slashdot Mirror
I've got news for you - if you're getting paid desktop tech pay, you're doing desktop tech work.
I don't think so. I have my own office, I fix 1,000+ workstations at a time, I have no users, ticket queue or SLA rate, and I got an extra month of pay as a Christmas bonus last year. My official job title I'm allowed to use on my resume is Senior System Administrator.
Seriously. 5 years experience you get at the very least 130,000/yr full time or the very least 65/hr on w2 contract for programming.
Not everyone is a programmer.
How can you calll yourself a man making50k?
Probably because I don't equate my manhood with a paycheck.
This is not an adult wage.
$50K is perfectly adequate if you live a modest lifestyle.
I was 170k at 35.
I was making $30K per year as a lead video game tester when I was 35.
Please ask for more!
Unfortunately, in government IT, $50K is the national average. After I get my InfoSec certifications, I can get a $100K job.
Serious question: why? Why not leave?
Born and raised here. If everything falls into place, I'll be moving to Sacramento this summer. For what I rent a studio apartment for in Silicon Valley, I can rent a three-bedroom house in Sacramento.
In the Bay Area you are...unless you live with your mom.
Nope. My parents have been dead for years. I live in a rent-controlled studio apartment in Silicon Valley for nearly 12 years. I save about 20% of my paycheck each month.
I find many people that hop jobs every couple years to be not curious enough to deeply learn about anything, and are mostly just greener-grass folks looking to trade some sweat for money.
As an IT support contractor, I specialized in Fortune 500 corporate IT environments. That makes me an interchangeable cog (or virtual ditch digger, as I like to refer to myself). The work is all the same. When I got into government IT, I went from 3,000+ systems on one campus to 80,000+ systems in three time zones. The scale of the work changed but the work itself was the same. (Getting the security clearance was a PITA.) What I need to learn is not for the current job but the next job that I'm planning to get.
You also complain about being paid bottom dollar while living in the Valley, so either he's right or you were paid starvation wages before.
With my current contract in government IT, I got three job titles: I'm a computer engineer doing system admin tasks at a desktop tech pay rate.
Yes, I'm getting paid bottom dollar. No, I'm not starving at $50K+ per year.
I either work directly for the company
You know that's not contracting.
I know you don't know squat about contracting, especially in Silicon Valley.
or through a contracting agency.
Why are you arguing about your situation, when I wrote about San Francisco start-ups?
Been there, done that.
But as long as you already have something better lined up, fuck em.
I'm always careful about burning bridges. Silicon Valley is a very small village. I sometimes work for the same company on two or three different contracts. One time I worked round robin between three different contracting agencies.
You must know the difference between "guy who gets a 1099, has a fixed-length contract because he's not an employee of the company, and thus can be fired on a whim" and "guy who gets a W-2 because he's actually an employee, and thus requires lots of HR paperwork to be fired".
I've never done a 1099 in my 20+ year career. Always W2. I either work directly for the company or through a contracting agency. The HR paperwork is all the same.
I accept a 2% annual raise, but I already make a hefty six figure salary that I already feel is too high.
I once had a boss who made a big deal over the fact that I got a 2% raise. He got mad when I told him that my first raise was 50% and I've been making more money than him for five years. He had this funny idea that since he got promoted to manager that he was the best in the department. Paycheck wise, he wasn't.
My problem isn't curiosity, but time.
Seems like most people I've know stopped learning once they got out of school. The longer they're in one position, the less curious about things they become. It's a real big shock when they get laid off after 7+ years, go on a six-month vacation while drawing unemployment benefits, and find out that their job skills are obsolete. Reading a boot, taking a class, going to boot camp or getting certified? Forget about it. I know two software engineers who stopped learning and are still working as drug store clerks since the dot com bust.
[...] but I'm so busy I barely have time to post on Slashdot ;-)
You're multitasking wrong. :P
There's a difference between "short-term contractor" and "job-hopping employee".
Oh, really? Please elaborate.
Dude, make the promises. Don't necessarily keep them.
And ruin my reputation for being a straight shooter?
Try pulling that shit when you're 50 and watch them laugh you out the door.
I've been doing IT support for 20+ years and I'm 47.
I bet these people are well under age 35.
I've done short-term IT support contracts that lasted four hours to three years for the last 20+ years. I'm currently 47.
Or maybe one doesn't live for the job.
If your job is technical, you should be curious about your work and new developments in your field. I've known too many technical people who sat back in their jobs, do the same thing day in and day out, and are shocked to get laid off because they're unwilling to change.
Sometimes people are satisfied with their job and money isn't their main driver.
But that shouldn't diminished curiosity. A coworker of mine went bat shit crazy over a new laptop because it didn't have 2.5" hard drive bay, got angry when everyone pointed out the SSD card, and let the laptop sat unused for six months before someone shipped it off to Dell for warranty repair. For the 13+ years he worked in the department, laptop technology has remained the same. The newer laptops are completely different but he doesn't have the curiosity to learn about them..
I've been on contracts to handle a special project that last a year or two while working with IT people who been around for 8+ years.
Aren't you curious how people at other companies do things?
I find most people who have grown long in the tooth and accepted 2% raises as normal aren't curious about anything.
Every once in a great while I run into a hiring manager who demands loyalty and wants reassurances that I will stick around for x number of months. I can make no promises. Especially when another company is willing to pay 40% more for the same kind of work.
A few years ago I ran into a former coworker during a job interview and turned down the job offer. I would be making more money as a contractor than my former coworker did from collecting 2% raises for nine years. The last thing I need is a bitter coworker.
I'm still getting used to picking up packages from Amazon Locker at the 7-11 down the street. Can't wait to get packages to arrive via cable!
I better be careful or you might threaten to shoot me again.
You never did explain how I threatened to shoot you. That you scurry off like a cockroach when confronted doesn't surprise me.
From what I've read in the news, the wiretapping wasn't aimed at Trump but at a Russian server operating out of Trump Tower. But, yeah, let's blame Obama for that one too.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html
As another politician pointed out, no one can be charged for talking about the Trump Tower wiretap (if it exists) since POTUS publicly disclosed the wiretap existence.
This will force CS programs to reevaluate how they teach about tree structures. Why traverse a tree when you can look at it?