

Tech Jobs stays open for months, unemployment under 4% - intesar
http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2011/06/tech-employment-below-4-percent.html?ana=from_rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TechFlash+%28TechFlash+-+Seattle%27s+Technology+News+Source%29

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netmau5
I'm just waiting for salaries to reflect demand. I'm not moving from a small-
town dev job to the Valley for a 15% pay jump and a huge cost-of-living
increase.

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civilian
I feel sorry for all my classmates who aren't in software dev. It's a
nightmare out there. I know lots of recently-graduated unemployed
business/humanities majors.

~~~
mobileman
It's our fault too. We automate the easy and empower the capable.

~~~
crander
Raising the standard of living for all - just like all the other technologies
from the wheel (putting people who haul things on their backs out of work) to
the loom, to the Ditch Witch and so on.

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mmorett
Perhaps it's the laundry list of technologies, frameworks and related
technologies associated with a primary language. Some of these expectations
are legitimate, but some/many border on postings just shy of "deep expertise
in just about everything".

For giggles, I decided to head over to indeed.com and take a random posting
for a Java Developer. I only chose one and below is what they are looking for
verbatim:

"* BS degree or equivalent in computer science, electrical engineering, or
related field is preferred * A minimum of 5-7 years of relevant work
experience * Strong knowledge of Java and J2EE related technologies (JVM, JMS,
Servlets etc.) * Knowledge and experience with Internet technologies and
protocols (e.g. HTML, XML, TCP/IP, HTTP) * Extensive knowledge of creating
high availability large volume systems * Solid experience and ability with the
use of a dynamic scripting language such as JavaScript, Perl, Ruby or Groovy
(we use Groovy) * Experience in OOAD principles and methodologies * Exposure
to Hibernate, Spring or other lightweight container * Expertise with more
advanced programming environments and concepts highly desired (e.g. J2EE,
multi-threaded programming, high availability design etc.) * Wide experience
with code control system and build tools (Maven/Ant) * Solid understanding of
design patterns (Gang of Four) * Exposure to and desire to work in, a strong
team-based environment * Knowledge or exposure to modern Agile methodologies
such as SCRUM, TDD and XP * Knowledge and experience with unit testing
practices desired * Experience/exposure to Test Driven Development and Simple
Design"

Depending on how literal these requirements are to be taken, any one of these
can knock you out of the running (you've got solid Java skills under your
belt, but due to your specific environment you've got no JMS or no scripting
language experience, or you're light on Spring, etc.)

I didn't post another one I found interesting, but it was asking for
Ajax/CSS/front end experience.

The only equivalent I can think of is: "Real estate lawyer needed. Must have
experience in constitutional, IP, marriage, family and international law. Any
experience as it relates to the Geneva Convention considered a plus."

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twstdroot
The best part of that article is the one comment complaining about employers
being picky. The person leaving the comment uses "excepting" instead of
"accepting" and "thou" instead of "though". Perhaps your writing skills have
something to do with your unemployment?

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Valien
Here in the South (and namely Greenville, SC) we've had a shortage of talented
IT (devs mainly) since 2008. Great gigs here and great opportunities but most
folks don't or can't relocate (due to being upside down in a home someplace)
or can't fathom a 'pay cut' since our area doesn't pay Silicon/Boston/NY rates
yet our cost of living is quite a bit lower (at least has been).

If you're a talented developer and out of work more than a month you either
are horrible at interviewing, have terrible soft skills, or really aren't that
good. Or you might be on vacation :)

~~~
prodigal_erik
I doubled my salary over the last couple of years by moving from Seattle to
the Bay Area. Unless SC would involve a much smaller hit, the cost of living
there could be $0 and I'm still better off here. I'm not assuming valley rates
are sustainable compared to almost anywhere in the world, but somehow they
haven't ended yet.

~~~
mahyarm
I was getting job offers close to bay area wages from seattle when I moved
down to the bay area several months ago. I think seattle has caught up money
wise.

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100k
"The first function of unemployment (which has always existed in open or
disguised form) is that it maintains the authority of master over man. The
master has normally been in a position to say: ‘If you do not want the job,
there are plenty of others who do’. When the man can say: ‘If you do not want
to employ me, there are plenty of others who will,’ the situation is radically
altered.’"

\-- The Times, 1943 (via <http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=11941>)

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cjbos
Seems to be a major shift occurring in required skill set which does not help
when you are trying to move from a Senior role to Senior role.

At least in my experience in the NJ/NY region, I have been looking for
Flex/AS3 work for a few months, and have not seen a single interesting role
advertised.

Personally it's quite daunting to make the 4th major shift in my career.
Started out in classic ASP/COM, moved to Java when Microsoft introduced .NET,
moved to Flash/AS3 about 4-5 years ago developing web video solutions.

Now I don't know where to start retooling, should I work in Mobile, or move
back to web backend, or web frontend work... or a mixture of all three. Also
after 15 years it's hard to take that pay cut and start back at zero again.

~~~
smokinn
The others might be fine but I'd advise against moving to web frontend unless
you're really interested in that. Senior web frontend positions are pretty
much non-existent and from what I can tell those guy don't get anywhere near
as much respect or pay as other programming positions.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
> Senior web frontend positions are pretty much non-existent and from what I
> can tell those guy don't get anywhere near as much respect or pay as other
> programming positions.

Depends on the industry/area. In SFBay a talented javascripter can command as
much as a talented Rubyist if you are willing to work at a startup. Bonus
points if you also have a graphic design or UX chops.

The move from AS to JS is also not going to be as big a jump. Further, if you
are taking a pay cut to shift stacks then I would suggest that you are getting
in on new stacks too late.

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benaston
If the job stays open for months then either the role isn't that important, or
the hiring company is doing something seriously wrong. Finding good people is
not difficult ("site:linkedin.com works for x", where x is google, facebook,
whatever). Attracting them is harder - either the company needs to sort itself
out internally to meet candidate expectations or it has to modify its business
model to pay the expected wages.

~~~
dangrossman
Or... the business isn't located in a tech hub or major city and there just
aren't many developers in the area. It's not a profession where people are so
desperate to find work that they'll move just anywhere for the job. My
father's company had a software dev position open for almost a year because it
was in a relatively low population area -- the pay and benefits they offered
were well above market for the region.

~~~
steverb
Working in a low population area is risky because there is also a lower pool
of available places to work if that position doesn't work out. It's impossible
to attract people from outside the region unless you are paying above market
rates for higher population areas, which few employers are willing to do. So,
they're stuck trying to find someone in the local talent pool.

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hristov
Please fix the headline. This might work:

"Tech jobs stay open for months, unemployment under 4%"

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cHalgan
I think the problem is that good jobs (you can save to buy house) are gone.
Basically, in SV, you can get 150K salary with 20 years experience and PhD
only at Facebook, Google, Oracle, etc. However, these companies are extremely
picky and positions like that are rarely open.

Smaller companies (and startups) are just looking for programmers - preferable
fresh from college.

I predict this trend will continue: low end of programming business will grow
and salaries will be suppressed because level of entry will be lowered as time
goes. The high end of programming will shrink and it will be available only in
big corporations.

~~~
techiferous
> I think the problem is that good jobs (you can save to buy house) are gone.

Assuming that you are in the San Francisco area, doesn't this have as much to
do with the difficult real estate situation as the job market?

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cHalgan
Not really. Actually, my friends in other professions with similar education
(lawyers, public servants, marketing, advertising, hedge funds) have no
problems saving for a house. In other words, real estate market in San
Francisco seems to be healthy: people are buying houses. It is just not for
programmers.

~~~
techiferous
Thanks for clarifying. I wouldn't know; I'm on the east coast. :)

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savagecat
Quality people are easy to find, the job boards are full of them.

Good luck finding a quality company or competent management.

~~~
bconway
_Quality people are easy to find, the job boards are full of them._

I'm fairly certain those are the same people we're always talking about being
unable to solve fizzbuzz.

