NYCPHP Meetup

[Kristina Anderson]

David --

My concern here isn't chiefly about the rate/salary levels in the 
profession but moreso about the general public's perception of the 
complexity of the knowledge base and effort required to be successful 
as a halfway decent programmer.

It's true that I do certainly have my opinions about rates, and think 
that the above issue is probably a prime factor in pricing.

Sorry for any confusion.

--Kristina

> Kristina Anderson wrote:
> > This goes back to my point about the status of the profession --  
if 
> > we're being compared to cooks and service technicians, you know 
times 
> > are going to be rough for us.  I'd rather be compared to a 
lawyer...and 
> > make closer to what they make...what we do is no less complex.
> 
> Then you do not know what personal chefs make. Most of them have 
salaries that 
> rival that of senior developers, if not top them. There are also 
various kinds 
> of personal chefs. Some have one customer and are available 24x7, 
others have 
> multiple customers and do the food shopping for them as well as 
prepare meals 
> that can be reheated easily or it just happens that they manage to 
dish dinner 
> at one place and then handily make it to the next one in time.
> Besides that,  I know a few lawyers that make less than I do for 
twice the 
> amount of work. In regards to service technicians or supporters in 
general, 
> they are absolutely undervalued. Developers make software so that QA 
can test 
> it, sales can sell it, and support can support it. the group that 
spends the 
> most time with customers is support. Why would you want the least 
paid 
> employees be the face of your company? And the developer is dead in 
the water 
> without the service tech, but not the other way around. From that 
perspective 
> developers should get paid low wages and get the dirty parking spots 
in the 
> back of the lot. But I guess that adds to your point that being a 
lawyer is 
> preferred, especially since in a judicial system like the american 
one you 
> have job security like nothing else.
> 
> David
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