Thanks for your advice! I don’t believe I’ll be able to do software development forever. But I will as long as I can. My point about non-traditional job security is this:

Programming is something that lends itself well to an entrepreneurial approach for the same reason it lends itself to outsourcing. Ours is one of the few professions that given a laptop and electricity, we can work anywhere. I believe that job security in American IT in this post-Outsourcing world will be achieved by those who are flexible enough to fill a vaccuum. Sometimes it will be multi-year engagements, othertimes it’ll be 3-6 month gigs. But the key (IMHO) is to see the biz need in your region and market yourself effectively.

And BTW, I’m 33.

Again, thanks for the advice!

The emerging trend I’m seeing in offshoring is that companies are running into a talent supply problem, even in India. Skilled programmers over there have caught on to the fact that they were leaving money on the table and have demanded higher pay. Less skilled and cheaper ‘coders’ can’t fill their role but some companies still believe that they can.

And you’re right, management and sales are where the big money is located.

It’s great that you have had good career stability right now.

The problem I’ve seen over and over again isn’t a problem with the software developers but a problem with the company they work for. Many view IT as a cost center and they’re one of the first to get fired for just about any reason. Some companies I’ve worked for have gone under due to bad management or they’ve been sold and the IT staff was fired because we were considered ‘redundant’.

The other thing I’d mention is that, judging from your comments, you’re young. That really helps when you have to find a new job quickly. I didn’t have problems finding new work either until I hit my 40’s. Since then I’ve faced considerable ageism and had two long stretches of unemployment where I had to work very short term contracts or do Internet marketing to make ends meet. That’s why I recommend preparing for this fact of IT life in your career planning.

I started out in technical support as well and, even though that was almost 20 years ago now, I still hate answering the phone.

That’s a good point on the offshoring issue. It seems that skilled programmers are becoming scarce in India, causing some companies to “in-shore” back to the US. China is too busy to their own growing economy to offshore their resources.

Yes, it is a job, not a hobby. It’s great when you find a place to work where you can keep the job BS at a minimum so that you can enjoy doing what you love to do.

If the outsourcing trend continues and strengthens itself, then it will move on to other occupations before long. There is no reason back-office legal work cannot be done in India. Likewise for much medical work. Who knows, ten years from now people may find it cheaper to fly to India for surgery than to see Indian-born doctors here in the west. Most of the IT jobs that could be moved have already been moved (I hope). If you switch to another field, that may be like leaving a field burnt by a forest fire to a forest that will burn down tomorrow.

As for salaries, very few jobs in any field offer high pay to people who can do things well. The big money goes to those who can make other people do things (e.g., salesmen and managers).