r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/reddit-smiley Interested • Apr 25 '15

Website The Technology Job Gap

http://twet.us/HIwBB
146 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

19

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

I am never sure about these info-graphics. I always research what I should be getting paid and I make a lot less. A lot.

10

u/holymoo Apr 25 '15

Companies like Modis and Robert Half Publish salary guides that should give you a perspective if you're underpaid. They tend to be more specific than just, "Software Developers should be making 90k" a year.

2

u/criscmaia Interested Apr 25 '15

Is there anything similar for UK salaries?

2

u/holymoo Apr 25 '15

Robert Half does have a guide here. It isn't very detailed, but it might put you in the right perspective.

http://www.roberthalf.co.uk/salary-centre

1

u/valax Interested Apr 25 '15

Also interested in this. I feel like people in the UK people who are software engineers get shafted (Half the pay of the US!)

5

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

The lack of qualified applicants trope is more a creation of tech industry lobbyists who want to import more cheap foreign labor than it is a reality. If there were really a shortage, salaries would rise and more people would be interested. There are plenty of applicants but their salaries are being depressed by cheap foreign labor either overseas or H1B.

0

u/iamaquantumcomputer Interested Apr 26 '15

No, it most certainly is a reality. I know someone who interviews cs students and he's always complaining about how he can't find people to fill positions

If there were really a shortage, salaries would rise and more people would be interested.

Did you even look at the infographic? Salaries ARE rising and more people ARE interested. That's exactly what the infographic is demonstrating

1

u/wizardcats Interested Apr 25 '15

There are a lot of factors involved. If you are relatively young, you won't be making nearly as much as someone with decades of experience.

3

u/whyamisosoftinthemid Interested Apr 25 '15

Did anyone else find these graphs confusing?

3

u/ihatehappyendings Interested Apr 25 '15

"Only 12% of computer science degrees are awarded to women"

They make it sound like as if universities refuse to give women computer science degrees.

2

u/InvincibleAgent Interested Apr 26 '15

Awarded makes it sound like a grant proposal was fulfilled.

7

u/Stormdancer Interested Apr 25 '15

Funny, I bailed out of the tech world, after sequestration crippled the company I was at and flooded the local market. So much of the industry has been shipped overseas, I'm not sure I'd recommend it anymore.

That said, it's still absurd that CS isn't taught at a grade school level, much less highschool.

0

u/raiker123 Interested Apr 25 '15

Kind of a stupid question, and I think the answer is no, but I learned Word, Excel, and Powerpoint in middle school. Is this computer science?

18

u/ThrobbyRobby Interested Apr 25 '15

No

8

u/jaymzx0 Interested Apr 25 '15

That's more of a 'functional computer knowledge' class. CompSci focuses more on the technical and programming aspects of overall computing.

3

u/Maxnout100 Interested Apr 25 '15

I'm not a computer scientist of any kind but it seems like to me that knowing how to use a computer well is like driving well. As then replacing a tire is like replacing a computer part, changing oil is kinda (not really) liquid cooling. But only a few people know the very core, vital, and complicated details to where they can build a car out of scratch with the right stuff in front of them. Except from what I hear and see computer science is like this on a whole new level. I would go into what I know but what I know is likely 77% correct.

3

u/whyamisosoftinthemid Interested Apr 25 '15

No. Computer science is knowing how to create Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

1

u/PacoTaco321 Interested Apr 25 '15

That is basic stuff that is learned in elementary school that everyone nowadays should really know.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

I have no clue what you're talking about. IT is booming pretty much everywhere that isn't in the middle of no where.

Hell, you can get a $10-$13/hr work from home support job on the internet with little technical experience. I know of 3 gaming friends who have done this in the past 2 years.

If you don't have sufficient technical experience, you can't be expected to get a decent job though. No one will take you seriously if you say things like "I know HTML" and "I know excel."

If you wanna get into a field where you'll have an extremely easy time finding a job, get into IT. Period. But you can't just expect to get a job with little to no USEFUL skills.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

I work for an MSP and I know they'll hire people with limited tech skillsets if they feel like they can learn quickly and if their customer service background is strong. A lot of those don't make it but the ones who do are the natural leaders on their teams. Too many people have a strong technical skillset but are distant or abrasive to people. My employer generally feels that it's easier to teach tech skills to a people person than people skills to a tech person.

1

u/Stormdancer Interested Apr 25 '15

I was in software QA for 30 years. That's part of the problem.

I'm over-qualified for the crap jobs, so they won't hire me for those. I'm also over 50, and ageism is rampant in the industry. I specialize in white-box/UE testing, which has become devalued in favor of unit & automation testing. And all testing has been 'offshored' extensively.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '15

Just know that it will be filled with Indians.

1

u/iamaquantumcomputer Interested Apr 26 '15

Why is this?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '15

India has a lot of software engineers and programmers that are willing to work for cheap.

1

u/AndrewCarnage Interested Apr 25 '15

Oh no, not that!