A question for software developers/wives of software developers

[Apairofbrowneyes]

DH is early 30s and recently transferred into the tech industry. He has been working as a data engineer for a year now (specialising in python) and is on £42k. Where he was working before had set salaries and people would often stay employed there for a lifetime (think NHS, but not) so he has little experience in what’s normal in this new field.

For those of you working in this or a similar field, is it recommended to change jobs frequently for pay progression? Or would you only move for a better work environment/more interesting work etc? The company he’s at does value employee wellbeing and so he’s unsure if it’s a risk to move elsewhere just for a decent pay rise. We’re outside of London.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

my DP is in a similar field and is on considerably less than he should be because he has stayed within the v large company for most of his career, working his way up from entry level. If he looked elsewhere now, with his experience and the various qualifications he has gained along the way he could add about 15k to his salary at least but he values the security and some of the perks that come with this employer. Its not always about the bottom line.

DH has been at the same company 10 years, started on £65ish and now £110. So has changed job every year or so but within the same company. So don’t know if that helps? Started off as a start up and now it’s a big company.

My DH works in tech and generally moves job every 2 years, the longest he has stayed anywhere is 4 years. He always gets a big pay rise when he moves jobs, less so when he remains in a job but sometimes the stock options make it worth staying longer.

I work in Tech and we struggle to hire python developers. His salary looks on the low side to me. Depending on skills / experience. I'd definitely be looking to jump ship if I were him.

Sorry. Just saw that you said he'd been in post about a year.

As previous poster said, seems to me that everyone in Tech moves jobs frequently to capitalise on pay increases on offer. Tech skills are in high demand and the market I'd buoyant.

In tech if you want more money you have to move, basically. It's stupid, but for some reason that's how companies operate (outside the fangs).

How far outside of London? What other skills does he bring to the table? Makes a difference if he is a mature organized sort with good people skills.

He can keep an eye out on job postings; sit keenly in meetings with his manager and ask them to talk him through the criteria for a promotion; chat to people at work and keep an ear to the ground.

Some people do move around a lot and their value is in their technical experience, the buzzwords (legitimately) on their CV.
However, the good firms retain staff, for obvious reasons, and someone who has spent 10 or 20 years in a well thought of company will be valued not just for their grasp of Technical Skill X, but also for their understanding of the codebase, for their organisational and communication skills, their grasp of the subject area, their ability to learn and take on new things.

I was a software engineer for over 3 decades and at my last place I moved technical speciality and product several times. Part of what makes a place "good" is that it's growing and offering new opportunities (as well as happy staff, decent pay). Not just opportunities to learn new things but financial (share options etc).

HTH

PS I only had 5 jobs and retired in my early 50s, so you don't have to job hop to do OK.

Fair to say though that someone who does a good job, knows it, and is prepared to take a clear eyed view of how their current post compares to advertised openings, can do well pay-wise - but typically they will work their way up to a "desirable" company and then progress through various roles there.

My DH and I are both software devs.

Some developers more around more, and some don't. It can help to increase pay, but a lot of companies provide good pay progression without needing to move.

I recommend to your DH to talk to his managers about pay progression, ask them how and when pay reviews happen, and how he can improve his chances of a raise. After a year of experience you would expect more money.

I work in tech (director level now, but previously a dev with a Python/ R specialism).

I've been in my role now for two years, will probably stay for another three/four as I'm getting on a bit now (!) and the promotion opportunities to exec director are good, but when I was a dev, I rarely stayed in a role for more than 18 months-two years.

For context, my salary as a dev increased from £35k-£80k in about five years with three moves. Your partner's salary sounds on the low side to me, but if the benefits are good (promotion / pension / holidays etc), perhaps he prefers security?

Most software engineers I work with are contractors. Not many want permanent employment; contracting offers a good rate, and an interesting range of work.

DH is self-employed developer. He is SE because he prioritises flexibility (dropping all work to cycle 200 miles just because the wind is right last minute). He also prioritises nice colleagues, projects. I imagine he's charging low (250 or 300/day?), but we are in a low-wage area, my income covers most bills anyway, and he's very happy to be PT & have flexi-hours & run the household. He's got several clients which helps with security. If one went bust, he has others.

Sometimes he manages others but there's less fun in that, rather be coding himself.

I wrote real-time embedded software (mainly) and PC app software for 25+ years - I had 9 jobs in 16 years at one point - well paid but a volatile job sector (venture capitalists pull funding and small innovative companies can get wiped out at a few days notice in my experience) and I had to travel(drive) quite a bit - the most important thing is to look after your skillset - make sure you are not stuck with a limited set or are missing out on opportunities to add something to your CV - it's generally not a simple career IMHO - the industry moves fast. It's a very absorbing job - in some companies I could work from home but often chose not to as progress on writing new software is often a very haphazard process - some day everything goes well and other days you make no progress - sometimes go backwards as new problems are uncovered and that's when I ended up working lots of extra hours to try and show that I had not been slacking off - at least if I drove in to work I could leave, go home and take a break. I felt the work went from being a very creative job to one where you could end being treated like battery hens - the pressures were such that you just had to churn out code and concern for quality, reliability, testing, all important documentation was being sacrificed to ship the code... anyway. You need to think for yourself as a developer and manage your own career. I quit to spend more time supporting my kids education and to enjoy being a parent and have no real regrets - much as I miss the work - I enjoyed it even though the pressure was enormous at times - I often went through periods where I barely had time to sleep.

depends on the company

My DP is a developer in the finance industry, and they are very keen to pay people what they are worth. So he has stayed there several years, with big raises and bonuses (some years more than others). I don't think he would have much to gain by job hopping.

Another friend is a dev in a slower paced, industry, not a "trendy" one. She isn't willing to job hop, and they are pretty slow to increase pay - she is probably underpaid by at least 10k compared to if she was willing to move jobs.

I'm not a dev, but work in a tech company in a similar vein of role - and they are keen to keep people, so I've had a couple of decent pay rises in the last 3 years since I started. I speak to recruiters now and then about roles and salary and I'm confident I don't have a lot to gain by moving.

I would always say it's worth speaking to recruiters about jobs to get a sense of the market - remember, companies aren't only competing on salary, lots of jobs in tech offer good work life balance, flexibility perks, etc... so worth seeing whats on offer even if it's to conclude that where you are currently is the best place!

My friend earns serious money as a contractor in the finance industry. He moves around a lot and has a home lab to keep skills up to date. It's risky as you don't really take holiday during the contract and then there is a risk of not getting another contract. Daily rates can be very attractive but without job security.

Getting 'good' experience should be his priority at this point. That means personal responsibility for design, implementation and testing of increasingly substantial pieces of new functionality, ideally working with business users for that client experience. It should be within a large, complex system, reasonably modern and well-designed, and he should understand how it all fits together, not only his own little bit. The odd stand-alone application/website would be a bonus, to show he can do the whole thing, but part of a big system is more important.

If he's getting that at his current place, it's probably worth him sticking around a while longer, especially if there are different areas/projects that he can move into to broaden his experience. 2 years of that type of experience will put him into mid level developer territory, whereas with one year he's still a junior dev.

If he isn't getting that kind of experience currently, then 1 year is a good time to move to somewhere he can get it. If he doesn't feel he's still learning, then definitely move.

Avoid working for a product company at this point (where you customise the same product for different clients). They pay more, but you won't get the breadth of experience.

This is assuming he wants to stay technical. If he wants to go into management or BA, my advice would be different.

A few comments from someone in the field 25+ years:

1. Since he is new to the field, then I'd expect he has a lot to learn about development, tools, platforms, how projects are run, supporting teams etc. I'd be inclined to recommend to say 2 years in a first job before moving
2. It's actually good to move job after a few years to learn more. Note: That move can be internally within a larger company, or externally
3. I've moved for a range of reasons: more money, learning and development, liking a company, because my company was closing/layoffs, etc. Regardless of the reason, there is a very steep learning curve going to a new role. He'll be super busy for a few months! Plan it at a suitable time!
4. Research the new company careful. Don't make the change just for money (unless you really need it).
5. It's sad but true that you'll get more money after a few job changes. That's what happens if the employee is wanted externally.
6. There are often better salaries and stock potential at most US companies, than our indigenous ones.

Thank you so much. I’ve just read these out to DH and he’s found it so useful, particularly the advice offered on how to progress from junior level. He’s had a few discussions with recruiters and it seems he could possibly be looking at 50k if he moved, but he has a fair bit of self doubt and there’s a healthy dose of ‘is this too good to be true?’ with most jobs he looks at. I think it’s just a very different field of work to where he was previously in terms of salary and movement, so it will take some time to become familiar with that.

You need to move jobs every few years to get a decent raise. Some companies you may be lucky others won't pay you more unless you can show a counter offer.

I am interested what the recent transition into the tech industry looked like? Was he doing some totally different before? How did he retrain / re-skill? Was his past experience relevant?

What skill sets do you need for this type of work and where / how do you get qualifications?

Is it something you can do part time and working remotely?

I agree
DH worked for a very large Org and then a smaller one for most of his career but went Contracting 6 years ago and says he wished she had done it earlier. He is a Java Dev but also does Dev Ops as well, he usually changed Contracts every year but has been in this one longer due to Covid. Rates dropped when Covid hit but have come back up now and he earns about £100K(not London). He has never had a gap in contracts and is in demand but of course you have to have contingency in case it does happen and organise your own pension etc.
He is unlikely to ever do a Perm job again as he says it would be less money for more responsibility and he likes the variety, he is careful not to de skill though

Watching this thread with interest as our son is interested in a career in tech. Those who are or were in this industry, did you need to have a degree in Computer Science or similar? He is undecided whether to go to uni first or try to get an apprenticeship somewhere. Thanks