Holy Cow! I just turned down a 90K a year job

MCPWannabe

Just wanted to post something here for all of you who are braving and struggling through the developer certifications. Yesterday, I spent most of the day in bed. I was wiped out after conducting a 3 day training course and just needed some rest.

While I was resting, I got a call from a company that had attained my resume before I removed it from Monster, Dice, and Careerbuilder shortly after I got my MCSD.

They asked me if I could start working for them on TUESDAY and the day was Friday! They needed someone who could develop .NET applications with SQL functionality. Furthermore, they were located out of state. They were going to fly me down and put me in a hotel while working things out.

I asked them what they were offering, and they said 90K for the first year with a performance bonus of 10% if goals were met and two weeks paid vacation.

I told them thanks but no thanks. They then asked me if the issue was the money and if I was looking for a better rate. I told them that the money wasn't the issue. My heart is set on my current job, and I told them that I appreciated everything.

But get this.. They then asked me if I KNEW ANYONE who would be interested? I said that all of the good programmers that I know have jobs. I let them go on the phone at that point..

But my goodness.. Turning down a 90k job.. The development job market is really strong right now.

So, for everyone, just keep upgrading your skills. The jobs are really out there for development.

MCPWannabe

Northbr1dge wrote:

I've always wanted to go down the programming path, and I'm thinking about pursuing a CompSci degree whenever I get out of the military. From what I've been reading it seems like the .NET platform is the way to go now-a-days, am I correct by making that assumption?

Northbr1dge, I think the .NET platform is the way to go, but others may disagree with me with some valid reasons.

The way I got into .NET was kind of interesting. My primary interest was networking when I first started. A friend and I had both decided that we were going to get some programming certifications. He decided to do Java and I decided to do .NET. We argued about it alot.


But I thought that I could make myself more marketable by taking one legacy certification in VB and putting that on my resume. After I took the first test, I noticed that jobs starting calling a whole lot more. Suddenly, my offers started getting a lot better. So, I took another one. I noticed that more jobs started calling. Furthermore, by the point, I suddenly had a very strong background in programming by doing all of those Microsoft labs in the press books. I was able to answer questions given to me by programmers and wow them with basic stuff covered in the certification prep materials (you would be surprised at the number of programmers who don't know the basics of the new technology).

So, I took another test.. and more job offers. So, I went ahead and got the MCSD. Then, I started getting all kinds of calls. A training company contacted me and asked if I could upgrade my certification to the MCPD framework. I noticed that .NET 2.0 was not so bad, so I took those two tests and got my upgrade finished. By this point, I had removed my resume from the job sites because I was starting to lose my cell phone minutes from too many recruiters calling, and I already had a good job.

As soon as I got my MCPD, the training company tried to get me to sign a contract agreeing to stay and work for them for 2 years or pay a $9000 penalty fee to leave. I refused as I understood that I had become marketable.

Finally, I've started my own business as a contractor. I am now training for around 9 months of the year, and I'll be contracting (working on software projects) for the other 3 months. The opportunities are amazing. I don't work 8 till 5. For example, this week, I trained Tuesday through Thursday and then took Friday off work. I absolutely love my life right now. I take a lot of days off and get a huge amount of vacation time == more than I would working directly for any company.

Now, for my friend.. He got the Sun Certified Java Associate. He hasn't been offered one job. He can't even afford to pay child support for his kids. I really feel sorry for him. I try to cheer him up whenever I talk to him, but he's depressed and it's starting to show. It's not good for a man's confidence to not be able to provide for his children. He's starting the .NET path in December, and I think that it will work out better for him.

This may not necessarily be the case for everyone: there are people here who have done very well as Java programmers or other types. But in my experience, I have done significantly better with .NET.

I can't even explain what it has done for my life: I'm consulting people from top companies, getting to go to conferences with some very recognized people in our field, being asked my input on Microsoft software products with some chances for direct work with a Microsoft Learning team, and getting to travel across the country. Plus, I get a lot of time off in between. And in the meantime, I just finished turning down a 90K job in 5 minutes. It's been quite a change for me. My wife has never been as proud of me as she is right now.

So, I hope that helps..

JDMurray

MCPWannabe wrote:

Now, for my friend.. He got the Sun Certified Java Associate. He hasn't been offered one job.

The SCJA is an entry-level cert and is not respected. Your friend needs to get at least the SCJP and preferably higher. And there are lots of Java jobs here in SoCal, although the senior .NET careers here usually begin in the mid-$80K's.

Kasor

I guess there few more crazy guys out there that have the gut to turn town a good pay IT job.

MCPWannabe

JD, I'm going to pass on what you said to my friend. Maybe upgrading his Java cert will result in him getting some work. I would just be happy with him getting a job.

Northbr1dge
No formal education whatsoever in computers.. at least, not yet..

JDMurray

MCPWannabe wrote:

JD, I'm going to pass on what you said to my friend. Maybe upgrading his Java cert will result in him getting some work. I would just be happy with him getting a job.

Employers are looking for education, certification, and experience. One should always look at improving all three. But, if Java is what your friend will be staying with, I do recommend upgrading from the SCJA. Actually, I have Java friends that recommend skipping directly to the SCJP and saving the $300US.

Northbr1dge wrote:

How much formal education do you have in programming as opposed to self-studying? This is starting to really interest me icon_smile.gif

I don't have a degree in Computer Science and I've been writing software for a living for 25 years. The most important factor is determining if you actually enjoy programming, and you can do that in your spare time and for free. If you find that you like writing software, take a few programming classes at a local community college to explore the possibility of doing it as a career.

MCPWannabe

Northbr1dge wrote:

Could you guys (MCPWannabe and JDMurray) chime in on how yall first started programming? Any advice on what to read, what to do, for someone like me who's really interested in this? I've got a modest background in C++/Python, amateur at best.

Sure, no problemo... C# is becoming the business standard in .NET.

Here is an excellent source for getting started with C#:

http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/csharp/csharp.html


From there, get this book:

http://www.amazon.com/MCTS-Self-Paced-Training-Exam-70-536/dp/0735626197/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229663200&sr=1-1

Make sure that you get a book with a CD as the CD will contain the labs and that is the most important part of learning the material. By the time, you finish those, you'll know how to build a pretty decent application.

Black Lotus

MCPWannabe wrote: »

Just wanted to post something here for all of you who are braving and struggling through the developer certifications. Yesterday, I spent most of the day in bed. I was wiped out after conducting a 3 day training course and just needed some rest.

While I was resting, I got a call from a company that had attained my resume before I removed it from Monster, Dice, and Careerbuilder shortly after I got my MCSD.

They asked me if I could start working for them on TUESDAY and the day was Friday! They needed someone who could develop .NET applications with SQL functionality. Furthermore, they were located out of state. They were going to fly me down and put me in a hotel while working things out.

I asked them what they were offering, and they said 90K for the first year with a performance bonus of 10% if goals were met and two weeks paid vacation.

I told them thanks but no thanks. They then asked me if the issue was the money and if I was looking for a better rate. I told them that the money wasn't the issue. My heart is set on my current job, and I told them that I appreciated everything.

But get this.. They then asked me if I KNEW ANYONE who would be interested? I said that all of the good programmers that I know have jobs. I let them go on the phone at that point..

But my goodness.. Turning down a 90k job.. The development job market is really strong right now.

So, for everyone, just keep upgrading your skills. The jobs are really out there for development.

This is really inspiring, what with all the negative outlook on the global economy. I am currently preparing for my 70-526 exam this coming Monday, and this optimistic post really fired me up.

mvastarelli

Black Lotus wrote: »

This is really inspiring, what with all the negative outlook on the global economy. I am currently preparing for my 70-526 exam this coming Monday, and this optimistic post really fired me up.

Good luck with that. 526 is tricky, but entirely doable. I'm probably going to take 505 after 502 just to bring that cert up to date. If I get my way I'm going to see about knocking out MCPD (windows development) by the time I finish my masters degree (next december).

Hopefully by then we'll have an economy again.