The other day I came across an article of particular interest to me. Firstly it was interesting because it had to do with computer programmers and secondly because it questioned how lucrative a career in computer programming actually is. The original article at IT World is here.
As with just about any other topic that exists, I have an opinion. Not only will I freely voice my opinion, having this blog as an outlet, I will document it for eternity.
First off, what really needs to happen to answer how lucrative programming is as a career is identify exactly what we are talking about. The term, "programmer" gets thrown around quite a bit to describe similar and dissimilar jobs in this industry. Next, one really needs to take the setting into consideration. Some regions are much better, others lag way behind. Additionally, it really depends on the focus of any given employer. Lastly, there are some odds-and-ends comparisons that can be made to answer the question.
What's the job title?
Computer Programmers often get lumped into what people perceive as IT. Truly, computer programming has little to do with IT. However, sometimes computer programming is mistaken for web page development and design. So honestly, there exists a real need to really understand what computer programmers actually do. At its most basic definition, in my own opinion, computer programmers write the instructions to accomplish any given task in a language that can be interpreted by a computer.
In other words, computer programmers are like translators of languages. We take business logic and translate it into a computer language so that a computer can execute the logic in order to automate or simplify certain tasks.
Other job titles that often are used to try and describe computer programmers are software developers, HTML programmer, web developer, web programmer, etc . . . None of these are truly correct because they often include other tasks that are indirectly involved or remotely related to computer programming. Also, each of those titles may actually involve a varying degree of experience and knowledge necessary to be proficient.
The bottom line: In some cases the title isn't really a great description of the job being done. So one really can't judge how lucrative the pay can be by the job title.
Where's the job at?
It's no surprise that different areas ( I'm focusing on the USA ) pay differently. I'm located right smack in the middle of the USA and pay is, compared to either coast, fairly low. That's partially because the cost of living is lower than other areas and partially due to the fact that technology isn't really a big industry - at least where I live.
Other factors that can have an impact regionally are the proximity of educational institutions, how big the city is and things like tourism. The closer you are to a college, you may not see exceptionally high pay because of the ability to acquire new grads. Bigger cities often have a bigger pool from which they can select employees.
The bottom line: Perhaps programming can be lucrative based on the regional location of the job, but there are many factors in play here. It's kind of relative. You can't necessarily get rich as a computer programmer by moving from North Dakota to New York.
What's your employer do?
In my opinion, this is way more important than title and location. Employers whose focus is more about technology than other industries are likely to provide better compensation. Partially, this is because they value the computer programmer more and partially because they understand the job programmers do.
For example, if you are a programmer who works for an employer who focuses on health care it may not necessarily be as lucrative as working for a technology consultant shop or an Internet business.
This rule doesn't always apply - employers vary. I worked at a technology consultant but computer programmers were still not as valued as salespeople or marketeers. ( Yes, marketeers not marketers - I did that on purpose ) It would seem that in most places it's better if you can sell something that gets built rather than build something to sell.
Another thing that really kind of relates to who you work for is the fact that if your employer really understands what computer programmers do, they know how to evaluate what you do. For example, would you judge a salesperson by the number of times they called prospective clients during the day regardless of whether or not a sale was made? Or, would you evaluate a salesperson based on the number of calls that resulted in a closed deal? To me, it's obvious that you evaluate the number of closed deals.
Employers who evaluate programmers, for example, on the number lines of code written really don't understand the job. This translates to how accurate a performance review is and the resulting merit increase.
The bottom line: Working for employers who focus on technology and understand the job description of computer programmers can be more lucrative.
Some odds and ends
It used to be that if you could even spell HTML you could pull down a pretty handsome salary. Now, it's not that way. Employers are a lot more picky. Tey've been burned by a few hacks and they have a much wider selection. Lastly, as computer programmers go, we've kind of let ourselves get walked on. Competition from lower paying countries doesn't help matters any.
It takes a lot more knowledge to even get a job as a computer programmer. It's not strange to see a job ad that requires knowledge of a few languages, database platforms and related technologies just to get an interview. While the validity of the job ad requirements can certainly be argued, it still is the way things are and needs to be dealt with.
Employers use keywords buzzwords to sift through resumes to identify interview candidates. I agree, it sucks they do that, but when they are faced with 100+ candidates for one job opening they need some way to separate the worthy from the unworthy.
Computer programmers, for the most part, are people who believe that knowledge is king. The more I know the more I can accomplish. However, employers could care less about your ability to program in 31 different languages. They don't pay based on how much you know.
There is very little solidarity amongst computer programmers. You won't find that computer programmers are willing to ban together like most other professional groups. Most computer programmers are very willing to be happy with getting their's and if you didn't it's because you weren't worthy. To me, this is really fucked up - but that's how things are. Perhaps if there was some solidarity most employers would treat us like salespeople and marketeers.
Lots of computer programmers will bitch about the whole H1B thing and say, "Those people stole our jobs!" Personally, I've never been directly affected by it. I have worked with three programmers from India and found them to be knowledgeable as well as very likable. As far as jobs being shipped overseas . . . here again, I've never been directly affected, but I am not a fan of the practice.
It's really easy for someone in another country, where 12K USD is an average annual salary, to compete with what is required here in the USA for a family of 4 in an average American city. Employers who would exploit this are scum. However, these are the facts as they are. Computer programming is a digital, technical process that can be done easily from any location. If you can telecommute from Indiana they can telecommute from India.
Conclusion
How lucrative is programming as a career?
To be perfectly honest . . . It depends. There are a host of factors like where you live, who you work for and what their focus is. Also, there are things you cannot control like how your employer perceives your performance and compares you to other groups of employees.
Will you get rich being a computer programmer? Probably not. Especially not, if you work for someone else. If you want to be a computer programmer and enjoy wealth and prosperity you will most likely have to work for yourself. That's a lot harder than finding a job as a programmer, but ultimately a lot more rewarding.
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