Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. your first programming gig

your first programming gig

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
questioncareer
63 Posts 50 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • W wolfbinary

    Were you paid market wages?

    That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

    A Offline
    A Offline
    AspDotNetDev
    wrote on last edited by
    #10

    There was a market all the way back then? :rolleyes:

    [Forum Guidelines]

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • W wolfbinary

      Were you paid market wages?

      That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

      R Offline
      R Offline
      realJSOP
      wrote on last edited by
      #11

      Why would I agree to be paid otherwise? Back then, we're talking salaries (for entry level) in the range of $16,000/year. Here I am, almost 30 years later, and still making less than five times that amount.

      .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
      -----
      "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
      -----
      "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

      A N 2 Replies Last reply
      0
      • W wolfbinary

        Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

        That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

        H Offline
        H Offline
        hammerstein05
        wrote on last edited by
        #12

        I was working in a bar pretty much full time when I got offered my first programming job. I think I was fairly compensated for a junior role.

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • W wolfbinary

          Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

          That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

          A Offline
          A Offline
          Abhinav S
          wrote on last edited by
          #13

          wolfbinary wrote:

          Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job?

          The kind of crap I wrote, I'm glad they did not charge me anything. :)

          My signature "sucks" today

          Y 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • W wolfbinary

            Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

            That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

            D Offline
            D Offline
            Dave Parker
            wrote on last edited by
            #14

            Minimum wage (came to around £12K a year) in 2004, mostly maintenance of several hundred (but mostly small with a few exceptions relating to timesheets, warehouse stock control and e-commerce processing) old VB6 apps but also some new C# .NET development. There was me, an ASP web developer who I think was on same amount, a network admin and IT manager within IT.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • W wolfbinary

              Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

              That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #15

              2008, €200 for about 45 mins of work - that wasn't really a "job", but the first time someone saw fit to give me money for programming (I had to extract some data from a broken shape file - the first 4k were complete garbage)

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • R realJSOP

                Why would I agree to be paid otherwise? Back then, we're talking salaries (for entry level) in the range of $16,000/year. Here I am, almost 30 years later, and still making less than five times that amount.

                .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                -----
                "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                -----
                "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                A Offline
                A Offline
                AspDotNetDev
                wrote on last edited by
                #16

                John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                still making less than five times that amount

                Ouch. I'm pretty sure you're being screwed.

                [Forum Guidelines]

                R 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • W wolfbinary

                  Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                  That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                  C Offline
                  C Offline
                  Chris Losinger
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #17

                  yes 1993

                  image processing toolkits | batch image processing

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • R realJSOP

                    1982, and considering my level of experience, yeah, I suppose it was fair...

                    .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                    -----
                    "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                    -----
                    "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                    V Offline
                    V Offline
                    vaghelabhavesh
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #18

                    John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                    1982, and considering my level of experience, yeah, I suppose it was fair...

                    Man you guys are genius. You know I born in that year. :-)

                    If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much. 'Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.' Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • W wolfbinary

                      Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                      That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                      M Offline
                      M Offline
                      Maximilien
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #19

                      yes, 1992. I assume all first time employees feel they are underpaid; only after years of experience (and seeing new first time employees) that they understand the original low pay.

                      Watched code never compiles.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • W wolfbinary

                        Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                        That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                        I Offline
                        I Offline
                        Ian Shlasko
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #20

                        Fairly? Well, it was minimum wage, but then, I was 16 years old, and it was a summer internship, writing a few tools in VB6 for a local government data processing center (Before I moved to NYC)... So I'd say it was fair, given the situation.

                        Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
                        Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • W wolfbinary

                          Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                          That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                          S Offline
                          S Offline
                          Single Step Debugger
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #21

                          It was some “management information system “created with Delphi 2 in 2000. The payment sucked and the application sucked even worse.

                          The narrow specialist in the broad sense of the word is a complete idiot in the narrow sense of the word. Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • W wolfbinary

                            Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                            That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                            D Offline
                            D Offline
                            Dan Neely
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #22

                            Debatable. 2005; I was hired on the lower end of the pay curve for the area I was in; but because I'd completed my BS 2 years prior I can understand them being concerned that I had a problem that wasn't readily apparent (besides sucking at my interviewing skills). Several months later after HR bought it's annual salary market research report I was given a 'stop loss' raise that brought me up to the median rate for an entry level programmer.

                            3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • W wolfbinary

                              Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                              That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                              R Offline
                              R Offline
                              Roger Wright
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #23

                              1976. At $5 an hour, I suppose it wasn't really fair, but it was only one task of many I did as a lab tech for a university, and lab techs are typically paid very poorly. Writing an OS and Assembler for the Altair 8800, after rebuilding it from a botched job by my predecessor, then designing and building interfaces to an ASR33 Teletype terminal and a Varian minicomputer that was, itself, emulating an IBM 1103 was interesting and fun, but not very profitable... :-D

                              "A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"

                              L S 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • A AspDotNetDev

                                John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                                still making less than five times that amount

                                Ouch. I'm pretty sure you're being screwed.

                                [Forum Guidelines]

                                R Offline
                                R Offline
                                realJSOP
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #24

                                Really? I think there are more over-payed programmers than there are earning a fair wage. Besides that, what's fair is determined in large part by your local cost of living. In San Antonio, my salary is considered to be a goog chunk of change.

                                .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                                -----
                                "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                                -----
                                "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                                A 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • R realJSOP

                                  Really? I think there are more over-payed programmers than there are earning a fair wage. Besides that, what's fair is determined in large part by your local cost of living. In San Antonio, my salary is considered to be a goog chunk of change.

                                  .45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly
                                  -----
                                  "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                                  -----
                                  "The staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - J. Jystad, 2001

                                  A Offline
                                  A Offline
                                  AspDotNetDev
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #25

                                  John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                                  what's fair is determined in large part by your local cost of living

                                  Ah, quite true. Glad to hear you're earning what is fair. :)

                                  [Forum Guidelines]

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • W wolfbinary

                                    Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                                    That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                                    D Offline
                                    D Offline
                                    Dr Walt Fair PE
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #26

                                    Yes, I thought I was fairly compensated at the time. I paid my college tuition by programming for professors the University of Texas in 1969-70 in Fortran. Later I was paid to work as a programmer on a research project that paid until I graduated in 1973.

                                    CQ de W5ALT

                                    Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • R Roger Wright

                                      1976. At $5 an hour, I suppose it wasn't really fair, but it was only one task of many I did as a lab tech for a university, and lab techs are typically paid very poorly. Writing an OS and Assembler for the Altair 8800, after rebuilding it from a botched job by my predecessor, then designing and building interfaces to an ASR33 Teletype terminal and a Varian minicomputer that was, itself, emulating an IBM 1103 was interesting and fun, but not very profitable... :-D

                                      "A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      LloydA111
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #27

                                      Roger Wright wrote:

                                      At $5 an hour, I suppose it wasn't really fair, but it was only one task of many I did as a lab tech for a university, and lab techs are typically paid very poorly. Writing an OS and Assembler for the Altair 8800, after rebuilding it from a botched job by my predecessor, then designing and building interfaces to an ASR33 Teletype terminal and a Varian minicomputer that was, itself, emulating an IBM 1103 was interesting and fun, but not very profitable...

                                      That sounds like some serious fun!! :-D


                                      ^-^-^-@@-^-^-^
                                      (..)-----;
                                      ||---||
                                      ^^ ^^
                                      Moose.

                                      R 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • W wolfbinary

                                        Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                                        That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                                        T Offline
                                        T Offline
                                        thrakazog
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #28

                                        I was still in college when I got my first coding job. Due to that they considered me an intern while having no intern affiliation/credit with the school. The pay was a mighty $8 an hour. A big jump from the $5.70 an hour I was making working a cash register. That was round about 1999.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • W wolfbinary

                                          Were you fairly compensated at your first programming job? Wwhat year was it?

                                          That's called seagull management (or sometimes pigeon management)... Fly in, flap your arms and squawk a lot, crap all over everything and fly out again... by _Damian S_

                                          S Offline
                                          S Offline
                                          Steve Mayfield
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #29

                                          My first "programming gig" was in 1970 - progam was "Hello World" in FORTRAN and I got an "A" for the assignment :rolleyes:

                                          Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups