As Tech Booms, Workers Turn to Coding for Career Change

[closeupready]

After Paul Minton graduated from college, he worked as a waiter, but always felt he should do more.

So Mr. Minton, a 26-year-old math major, took a three-month course in computer programming and data analysis. As a waiter, he made $20,000 a year. His starting salary last year as a data scientist at a web start-up here was more than $100,000.

"Six figures, right off the bat," Mr. Minton said. "To me, it was astonishing."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/technology/code-academy-as-career-game-changer.html

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Okay, anyone know what the catch is here??

[Arugula Latte]

1. Brilliant coders are being offered big $$ right out of high school.

I know one -- I was astonished when I heard he was in high demand at the ripe old age of 18.

I think the catch is you have to have the right kind of brain for this stuff, which I definitely don't.

[mythology]

2. It's not unheard of.

But start ups have some significant downsides in terms of failure rate, often require working really long hours and can be high pressure.

[Adrahil]

5. It's not just start -ups.

Starting salaries at my company for good coders are pretty damned close to 6 figures. It does take demonstrated ability and a decent work ethic, though. But so far, about 75% of hires have made the grade.

[Vincardog]

3. Could it be 1200 openings and 16000 graduates? $1,000/Week training for the rest of your life?

[WestCoastLib]

7. The answer to both questions is no.

The training is the easy part, right now. Technology training is quick. Coders are in high demand, but also system admins, project managers, customer service, and numerous other positions in which you can earn quick certifications in.

I've said it numerous times here. Jobs are shifting, not going away. We need to invest education for the young and in retraining older workers that didn't grow up in the internet age, but the jobs are there in spades right now.

Every time people raise the panic alarm over how some new technology is going to replace workers, I have to shake my head. As fast and convenient as technologies might seem to you when you see them on your end of the computer screen, there might as well be two people turning gears by hand on the other end making it work for each person using it.

Yes, that's hyperbole, but all of these new online connected technologies are creating an insane amount of work to create, develop and maintain. Things that would be considered science fiction by Engineers of the previous century are simple enough to develop or maintain by people with no more than high school diplomas today. The tech industry is going to house the (first world)middle class of the future, not manufacturing.



ETA: While it can be hit or miss, the tech industry is also on the forefront of improving employee working conditions and benefits in this country to be more progressive and on par with Europe. This is often because they hold European offices as well and, with the connected nature of their business their employees all work together regardless of timezone.

The industry skews younger and more progressive (on average) and also often encourage people to work from home or remotely which (besides selfishly allowing them to save money on office space) isn't bad for the environmental footprint.

We may reach a saturation point in the industry at some point with too many candidates for the jbos, but the industry is nowhere near there yet. And I'd advise every young person to, if not major in a technology degree, earn some certifications or load up on tech based classes. The worst that will happen is they will have those skills anyway. And you'll be hard pressed to find an industry or business that doesn't use them in some capacity. Hell, restaurants need IT people to keep their POS systems running these days, as the old "Ca-Ching" cash registers are a thing of the past.

[hunter]

13. I always read POS as "Piece of Shit"

And that's a remarkably true description of many Point of Sale systems.

It's especially fun when a clerk can't figure out how to do something simple, or doesn't have the authorization to do something simple. Or when something "not in the computer" stumps them.

I'm a Luddite.

Overall, I think too much data is collected in this society.

Everyone lives under the microscope and it's not healthy.

[bananas]

4. There is no catch (the catch is quality control, which coders aren't responsible for).

Computer programming instruction used to be very difficult.
So we designed languages that would be easy to learn.
Now almost anyone can learn it.

Note that, if you have a hard time learning one of the dumbed-down languages,
you might be able to easily learn one of the old-fashioned hard-core languages.

Different people have different learning styles,
and different people have different teaching styles.

[postulater]

6. My brother-in-law just told me that his company can't find people to do coding.

They start at almost $70 and don't even need to know how to code. They just have to be smart. And they can work out of home anywhere they want, they just have to get their work done.

He has been working there coding for a few months after twenty years in a slightly related field. It is a huge company too, one that you would know.

[Vincardog]

11. Please PM me a link to their help wanted forum.

[Prism]

8. I am doing exactly this

I have friends doing exactly this.

I've had friends complete the "boot camps" and land very nice paying jobs after.

We shall see how this goes.

The catch, perhaps, is that the best boot camps cost time and money that many working people do not have. A friend I'm learning with is spending about $15k for a three month course. The course has an excellent track record, but I do not have $15k to just throw at something. In addition, my friend is an independent contractor with more well-off parents, so he has the time to study. I cannot just quit my full-time job for three months and hope it works out.

It's funny, as I'm reading and replying to your post, I have Code Academy open in another tab, working on some Python (hoping to get involved with Ruby soon) during a little work downtime.

[closeupready]

9. Good luck to you!

I'm old enough to remember the first tech boom and bust, so while $100,000 sounds terrific, it represents merely a promise, and in the tech start-up world, most of those promises end up broken along with the start-up. I certainly hope that isn't the case with you, but it is a caveat to those kinds of jobs that makes me think twice. And consider, as an example, the Bakken jobs.



On edit, if I had a follow-up question, it would be about benefits, and hours...?

[Prism]

10. Thanks! It helps to live in San Francisco

And that is really where it came to a point of having to make a decision. I currently work in social services, but the pay is not nearly enough to live comfortably in the Bay Area. As much as I love what I do, I really don't want to live in a one bedroom apartment for the rest of my life.

Many of the companies seeking coders aren't tech start ups. You have everything from banks to hospitals to industry snapping up whoever's available. One friend works for a financial firm in their web department as a manager, and he is utterly exasperated at how hard it is to hire enough coders and software engineers. He's literally begging kids to come take these $75k a year jobs. Another friend works in bio-technology, coding systems for prescription drug research. Many of my tech friends do work at the start-ups and phone app type of companies, but I've noticed that their turnover seems somewhat high, based on whether or not the app succeeds or fails. One buddy has bounced from four different app companies in the last eighteen months.

But it certainly seems to be an investment in the future workforce. Might as well get in there while the gettin's good =)

Edit: Benefits are pretty standard. Health insurance, retirement, etc. I'm in awe of a 22 year old friend who puts half his (substantial) paycheck into his retirement accounts. Canny fellow.

[justiceischeap]

12. I sometimes feel guilty for how much money I make as a web developer

I, however, don't feel bad that I didn't go to college and am not saddled with student debt--I taught myself HTML/CSS when the Internet was still a toddler and it's proven a useful and at times very lucrative.

As far as catches go, the only catch I can think of is always having to keep up with the ever changing technology, sometimes on your own time and dime. The other thing I'm thinking of is being asked to do the job of three different people for one salary.

[Matariki]

17. Just think about what your plumber or electrician charges

and put that guilt to bed.

[PasadenaTrudy]

14. I'd love to work from home

on my Mac. I did try learning HTML on Code Academy, but my memory is crap now. I'm 51 and have menopause brain, lol. I do love computer stuff though, used to work in a public library.

[Matariki]

16. You have to learn a lot more than html these days.

Front end web development used to be fairly simple. That's no longer true.

[PasadenaTrudy]

19. Yeah, I know

I was starting with it to see if I could do it. Got bored pretty quickly.

[Matariki]

15. Like Lawyers in the 80s :-(

Soon there will be a glut of folks fresh out of school with computer degrees and no jobs for them.

My profession is being ruined by brogrammers.

[Matariki]

18. I think the 'catch' is that it takes a certain type of thinking to be good at programming

You have to be good at pattern recognition, have a good memory, and a certain amount of intuitive problem solving ability. An obsessive personality also helps. Plus you really need to love it because the industry changes constantly, you have to be invested enough to keep learning.