I assume this is a reply to my comment. What you're saying here is right, but I have no idea why you're saying it as I really don't care about being special, at all. Never crossed my mind until now, and nobody ever told me so (except for the other meaning of "special", and that has a lot of truth to it).
And then, even if I thought I was special (I don't), I would still be fully capable of feeling concerned for other less fortunate people while feeling concerned about making less than X times the average.
Anyways, the demand for software engineers increased extremely significantly (multiples of open positions, rates doubled) when Covid started and all remaining companies hopped on the digital transformation trend; and that continues to today.
Every contract I interviewed for since it began, they literally begged me to work for them (previously it felt like we're equals, they were able to say no without fear of not finding anyone else). They don't even ask programming questions anymore, they just try to make their company look like the best place while apologizing profusely for their limited budget. Your characterization of the programmers market seems totally out of loop.
> (except for the other meaning of "special", and that has a lot of truth to it).
Haha, I appreciate the candor, and earnest response!
> Anyways, the demand for software engineers increased extremely significantly (multiples of open positions, rates doubled) when Covid started and all remaining companies hopped on the digital transformation trend; and that continues to today.
I agree, it's why I came back to tech actually; I wasn't satisfied with where the fintech Industry was heading in the 'blockchain' craze and decided that while the pay was good, the most I had ever been offered actually in any job, I'd be dedicating my life to something I knew was a farce and we couldn't deliver because of abject greed to cash-in on the flavor of the month.
> Your characterization of the programmers market seems totally out of loop.
I never said the demand didn't exist, I said that their is a deluded sense of self-worth that is so out of touch with reality from the comments I quoted that it's astonishing to hear people make so much and still be like 'well that guys has more, so I should too.'
That level of greed is what puts me off so much from this Industry because it resembles banking, its also a red signal that we have entered what is likely a bubble in programmer salaries which for me as a person just getting back in to tech after a 5 year absence to study AI and ML (arguably the most frothy of all programming roles) makes me step and re-evaluate things.
>"they just try to make their company look like the best place while apologizing profusely for their limited budget"
Do you not see how your 2 comments here give off the impression that you feel special? Maybe you don't feel special (like you explicitly say), but those two comments especially give a strong impression that you do feel special.
I don't feel special because the same thing applies to every programmer I know. How could I in any way feel special when I'm just the same as others? I said it because I wanted you to feel how the market is, not because it makes me special.
And I don't think that a job makes a person special, why would it? It's just a job. I work on a hot market, someone else does not - that doesn't make any of us special people. To me, a special person is distinguished by much more than just working on a hot market.
I don't even know how much money the people who I think are special have or make, and don't care about it at all. Few of the best programmers I know make nearly zero money (of course, by choice). They're special by themselves, not because of their money.
Should I lie about the market so you don't think I feel special even if I repeat like 10 times it doesn't make me special, or what?
> "And I don't think that a job makes a person special, why would it? It's just a job. I work on a hot market, someone else does not - that doesn't make any of us special people."
Well, a job takes up roughly 1/3 of our working lives (minus 2/3 for sleep (8hrs) and "leisure" (8hrs)), so I would say that it defines us very much, and it's a lot more than "just a job". A "job" is stacking shelves at Tesco or driving lorries for Amazon. Tech is a career (and a lifestyle, given how much it seeps into one's personal life e.g. watching Defcon before bed, I doubt lorry drives watch Lorrycon talks before bed...)
As for your other point, fair enough, point taken.
And then, even if I thought I was special (I don't), I would still be fully capable of feeling concerned for other less fortunate people while feeling concerned about making less than X times the average.
Anyways, the demand for software engineers increased extremely significantly (multiples of open positions, rates doubled) when Covid started and all remaining companies hopped on the digital transformation trend; and that continues to today.
Every contract I interviewed for since it began, they literally begged me to work for them (previously it felt like we're equals, they were able to say no without fear of not finding anyone else). They don't even ask programming questions anymore, they just try to make their company look like the best place while apologizing profusely for their limited budget. Your characterization of the programmers market seems totally out of loop.