What It Takes To Become An Enterprise Developer

Yakov Fain Farata Systems

What is this talk aboutHow to look for a job (resume, interview, offer)

Will IT outsourcing hurt your career?

What’s wrong with these offshore Indians?

What’s wrong with these Americans?

What’s your salary?

Working as employee or contractor?

Keeping your skills up to date

Do you want your child to be a programmer? I did, but my older son is an artist, and the younger one wants to be a

doctor

Enrollment in CS and IS disciplines is on decline:fear of outsourcing, difficult to master, never-ending learning

25-9=?

Out of college: the catch-22 situation:No experience, no job. No job, no experience. So?

What people do: lie on their resumes, work for free, join open source projects

How to look for a job

Q. Can you trust online postings?A. No, but you can still use them...carefully.

Q. What real-estate agents and recruiters have in common?A. They both work for the other party. They want to close the deal no matter what.

Do not burn bridges with recruiters – we need each other!

Your first job• Who’s your first employer and what’s your first

salary don’t matter

• Your goal is to learn how to:

- Work in a team- Talk to business users (periodically,turn off your iPod) - Manage your time- Deliver what’s expected

• Try to answer the question, ”Is programming the right career for you?”

The game called “Looking for job”

The IPO pattern:

Getting the Interview

Passing the interview

Considering the Offer

Solve each of these tasks s-e-p-a-r-a-t-e-l-y!!!

Looking for another job

• Do it when the sun is bright and the grass is green

• Making a couple of more rupees a month is not a reason for switching jobs

• Learning new technologies, growth opportunities can be a reason for a move. But give your boss a chance – he might be able to help you without the need to resign

Golden rules of resignation

• Don’t resign just because you are angry with your boss

• Give 2 two-week notices: verbally and in writing

• Do not accept a counter-offer

• Do not give advices to your boss on the way out

• Don’t post negative blogs about the company you quit

IT Contractors (a.k.a. consultants)

• Contractors work for money. They do not have career goals, which makes their relations with the rest of the team healthier

• In the USA they work “on W2”, “corp-to-corp” or “on 1099”

• “Try-and-buy” or “contract-to-hire” deals

• Most of contractors work through a third party firm. How much this firm charges clients for your services is none of your business

Work as a contractor if…

your title is not important to you – you need money now

you’d like to have a chance to work with different technologies

you like learning and keeping your skills up to date

you hate corporate politics

you like meeting new people and working in different environments

Work as an employee if… your title is important to you and you are planning to move

up the corporate ladder

job interview are stressful for you

You need good medical coverage (USA specific)

there are no contract jobs available

you are one of the first employees in a startup company

your spouse already works as a contractor and someone in the family has to ensure uninterrupted steady income

Comparing incomesMary is single, she works as a full time employee for a large corporation.

Her annual gross salary is $70,000; she’s in 33% tax bracket.

She has two weeks of paid vacation, ten paid holidays, five “sick” days.

Mary pays $300 a month (group rate) for medical insurance.

Mary considers a one year contract with another firm on a corp-to-corp basis with a pay rate of $50 per hour and no benefits.

Will Mary’s bank account be merrier if she takes this offer and become a contractor?

Comparing incomes (cont.)

Employee Contractor (corp-to-corp)

Mary’s annual liabilities:

Tax: $70,000*33%=$23,100Medical ins.: $300*12=$3,600

Annual net income: $70,000-$23,100-$3,600= $43300

A year has 52 weeks. Take into account that as an employee Mary has 2 weeks of paid vacation, 10 holidays and 5 sick days. As a contractor, she’d have 52 - 2 - 2 - 1 = 47 paid weeks

Mary’s gross income (40-hour week):$50*40*47= $94,000

By claiming some of her expenses as business-related, her tax reduced to 30%

Tax: $94,000*30%=$28,200Medical ins.: $800*12=$9,600Annual net income:$94000-$28,200-$9,600=$56200

Each additional week of non-billable time reduces this number by $1400 net ($2000 gross)

Outsourcing. View of one US programmerOutsourcing is much more expensive than it’s presented to be

Lower hourly rates should be multiplied by longer hours to do the same job offshore

The time difference result in time losses. A question from Bangalore will be answered only tomorrow

Bangalore team members may not understand the assignment but often they would not ask questions to clarify it. Why?

I need to write a detailed spec to make a small change in the code. I’d do it myself a lot faster

I need to wake up early to participate in meetings with India

Outsourcing issues. View from the overseas

Let’s create this slide together now.

Please, speak up!

Ten advices to US managers1. Do not accept a pre-staffed offshore team.

2. Interview every offshore candidate.

3. Don’t leave the office until each offshore programmer has an assignment

for tomorrow

4.Do not let geeks manage offshore teams

5.Cut the losses quickly

6.No hourly rate deals – fixed price projects till

you know your offshore partners

7.New project – newly formed offshore team

8. Make sure your assignment is understood

9. Look at home first, then go overseas

10. If you offshore project failed, do not blame Bangalore – look in the mirror

What’s your salary?In the US, it’s the most confidential information.

Do not tell anyone, and do not ask anyone.

People who are entitled to know this number already know.

Only your boss, HR and, sometimes your spouse know this secret number.

Let’s consider several use cases…

TrainingKeeping your technical skills current is your job security

Do not just pick training from the list of courses offered by your employer – find a quality training yourself and get enrolled

Who’s teaching is more important than what’s being taught

Technical conferences often offer the best instructors

© Farata Systems LLC. All Rights Reserved

Contact info and free e-books

You can download the following free e-books at yakovfain.javadevelopersjournal.com :

1.“Enterprise Software Without the BS”

2.“Java Development for Kids, Parents and Grandparents”

Q/A

Email: yfain@faratasystems.com