Absolutely this.
Just want to be minted.
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Random selection of finance based development roles that I was sent this morning. £900 is definitely at the top of the range. I *had* budget for up to £800 when I was hiring for similar roles:
C# Server or UI - Hedgefund - Up to £900 - 12 Months x 5
C# Server - Fixed Income - £600-650 - 12 Months - x2
C# SQL Developer - Hedgefund £500 or 100k+ x1
C#, FIX, Python, Hedgefund up to £900pd - 12 Months x 1
C# Azure/AWS - Risk - up to £700pd 6 Months x1
C# Server - XVA HPC - £600-700pd x1
C# Server- CVA- 6 Months x2
C# WPF - Middle Office - £500-550pd - 6 Months x 2
C# WPF - Equities - £600-650pd 6 Months x1
C# Developer in Test - 600-£750pd - Hedge fund - 12 months x1
Angular II developer - Middle Office - £550-600pd. x1
^^ All Investment Banking so you will be expected to work hard and perform well. Worth it though
EDIT: Also expect between a one to three week furlough each year (typically December) and frequent company wide rate cuts if you stay there too long.
...which is why one key action in success is to surround yourself with like minded successful people. If you surround yourself with unsuccessful or negative people it will be harder to be successful yourself.
Also start reading biographies of successful people.
Soldato
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It's true. Very true. God, I went to school with so many people who on the way in my early career told me I was stupid for thinking I could do XYZ and really negative. They're perfectly happy though; have young kids now, married and prob earn about 38k a year. I earnt 180k last year, currently have no real paid job, but working relentlessly on my own stuff to try and make something of it. Chance I could **** it all up and be left with nothing, but hey, I like the journey. It has way more ups and downs and most people couldn't cope with that.
And that's the side not often quoted by the "if you work hard you will get rich" people. There is a huge element of survivor bias in that position.
There's a degree of socio-economic mobility in this country, but it's nowhere near as much or as simple as many people make it out to be. For every Alan Sugar, there will be many more wilbers. It's not that it's impossible to get "minted" by a combination of ability, obsession, sacrificing most of your life for your work, luck and the insight and skill to capitalise on that luck(*), but it's very far from a sure thing.
* Harrison Ford serves as a good example of that. He was a wannabee actor who did whatever paid work he could get since he wasn't making a living wage from acting. One day he was doing some painting on a set in a film studio when it was used for an audition for a role in a film. Since he was sort of an actor and he was there already, he was asked to read the other character's lines to provide pacing for the actor who was auditioning. That was luck - he just happened to be doing other work in that exact place at that time. He had the insight and skill to capitalise on that luck by doing such a good job of the other character that the director hired him to play that character. The character was Han Solo and that made Harrison Ford's career.
This is true. But I'd far rather try and fail than never try at all.
I'd argue that, while there was an element of luck, he put himself in the place to take advantage of it. He was probably working on the set instead of painting someone else's house because it got him closer to the industry he wanted and exposed him to actors in the hops of an opportunity coming up.
Right place, right time... because he put himself there.
I'm a C# Developer in Test contracting but I've noticed more and more that companies are asking for Java as opposed to C#, especially in big money roles. Currently in the process of doing some courses in Java to make myself more relevant.
Great thing about being involved in building automation frameworks is everyone wants to do it at the moment, so there's no shortage of contract roles, quite how long that will last...
You control your career, no one else. People need to start with that mindset and if an employer starts to take advantage find another job that values you better, assuming you have built your value enough of course. Luck has no baring on this aspect, that is under your control pretty much as it's a goal/time/target thing and if you are motivated enough you have the ability to control it though it isn't always easy or a work of moments.
And I place more value on stability. So I will never be minted. You might. Or you might have your life completely wasted and ruined. Each to their own and good luck to you.
No, he didn't. He couldn't have known what would be happening where in advance. He might have been working in a different part of the studio at that precise time. Or painting the house of someone in the film industry. Or going to the toilet. Or sleeping because he'd worked in the night before to get some work done that was a rush job (plenty of that in the film industry). Or doing some work not related to the film industry at all because that was the work available to him at the time and he needed to get paid so he could live.
Survivor bias, as I said. Had he been doing anything else at the time, he wouldn't have got the role and we wouldn't be talking about how he became successful (or at least not in this way - he might have later became successful in a more conventional way).
He was trying to bias the odds by doing his non-acting work in places where film and TV was made and/or with film and TV people when possible, but he didn't forsee the future and put himself in that specific place in that specific time. There was still a lot of luck involved.
People are often blind to luck tbh.. hard work is often required/necessary and of course you can increase your opportunities/chances etc.. but you'll also find a lot of people in denial about the luck element.
Early on in my career I had a role that opened up a whole load of opportunities for me simply because of who I'd worked for etc.. if I'd have been born a few years later and was looking for roles at the height of the financial crisis then I'd have found that recruitment had dried up a bit and the roles that were available were significantly more competitive. The one person we recruited during that time (for what should have been a normal grad role) had an masters from Oxford and spoke 4 languages. If I'd have been born a few years later then that initial opportunity that had opened up plenty more for me wouldn't necessarily have been there.
Soldato
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Our industry is FULL of people who work very very hard and get very little in return... most don't even realise that they're being taken advantage of and will be dropped the moment it becomes more cost-effective. The only way to the top is to BS and backstab, while changing jobs before any repercussions come around to bite you. It's also a pretty closed industry that requires a lot of you if you want to get in and stay at levels above the minimum wage... but even then, you're at the mercy of the market and your career can be boxed in very easily. If that happens, there is rarely any escape, without completely retraining and moving outside the industry entirely.
I agree with your points and can see where you're looking at it from but the issue is in my working career I have seen on a few occasions brilliant workers and very skilled in the job they do only to be turned down at a position which they deserve to another candidate who is either; best friends with the management higher up, or doesn't have a clue on what they're doing once placed in said job role even though they state they have the necessary skills for it.
Sometimes I think some companies don't allow people to advance because they're doing the higher paid job anyway for a salary below.
^^ All Investment Banking so you will be expected to work hard and perform well. Worth it though
EDIT: Also expect between a one to three week furlough each year (typically December) and frequent company wide rate cuts if you stay there too long.
Majority of the big payers are hedge funds rather than IBs, but the same applies, you'll be expected to work hard/smart and add value. 12 month contract isn't to be sniffed at either.
There will always be demand for us testers, but you're right by getting up to speed with Java! I've only been in my current role 6 weeks or so and have learnt a lot of Java/Beanshell/Groovy already, will be valuable experience moving forward
Soldato
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I find it strange in IT that people don't invest much time in their own skills, a few hours a week on your own PC and you can literally learn anything, very little specialist kit required.
5 mins on any job site will show you where the skill shortages are.
5 mins on any job site will show you where the skill shortages are.
Once you've learned what you want (Java) for example, how do you then build on that in your day job if you are not using it to allow you to apply for Java roles, or do you just wing it?
Genuinely curious.
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