Accept a Lead position?
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I work as a Web Developer (base sal: $36,000) at a univ. and now we have an opening for a Lead Web Developer (base sal: $45,000) at our unit. We are currently in the process of migrating from an ASP based website to a RedDot CMS based website. I qualify to apply for the Lead position but I am concerned that I might run into "too much work" for "not that much an increase in pay". In my current position my responsibilities are pretty ok with basic ASP development and maintainence plus a little work here and there on the CMS and SQL Server. But if I apply and accept the Lead position then work and responsibility will increase as you can see. I will be held responsible for almost everything with little time left to learn anything new. My two choices clearly are: 1. Accept the position 2. Work 8-5 on a low responsibility job and work on developing my ASP.NET skills for about a year. Later jump into the industry with an ASP.NET position and a higher paying job. I am guessing that since I have an Engg. degree, Master's in CS and about 5 years of experience I could expect atleast 60K. Please advice... http://www.boreddude.com
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I work as a Web Developer (base sal: $36,000) at a univ. and now we have an opening for a Lead Web Developer (base sal: $45,000) at our unit. We are currently in the process of migrating from an ASP based website to a RedDot CMS based website. I qualify to apply for the Lead position but I am concerned that I might run into "too much work" for "not that much an increase in pay". In my current position my responsibilities are pretty ok with basic ASP development and maintainence plus a little work here and there on the CMS and SQL Server. But if I apply and accept the Lead position then work and responsibility will increase as you can see. I will be held responsible for almost everything with little time left to learn anything new. My two choices clearly are: 1. Accept the position 2. Work 8-5 on a low responsibility job and work on developing my ASP.NET skills for about a year. Later jump into the industry with an ASP.NET position and a higher paying job. I am guessing that since I have an Engg. degree, Master's in CS and about 5 years of experience I could expect atleast 60K. Please advice... http://www.boreddude.com
My 2c is that a low responsibility translates to inadequate skill development. A high responsibility job will translate to you learning some good skills, possibly not having to do directly with software development. I think a resume with a lot of job responsibility reads [edit]and sells[/edit] better. It's hard to put on your resume your own self-developed skills, so you may be putting to much weight on the chances of jumping in a year. [edit] Also keep in mind that what technical things you learn this year will be obsolete in a year or two, in many cases. :sigh: While general project management/team lead skills can weather the changes in the technical arena. Sometimes. [/edit]. Try consulting. You often get the fire and the frying pan together! Marc MyXaml Advanced Unit Testing YAPO
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I work as a Web Developer (base sal: $36,000) at a univ. and now we have an opening for a Lead Web Developer (base sal: $45,000) at our unit. We are currently in the process of migrating from an ASP based website to a RedDot CMS based website. I qualify to apply for the Lead position but I am concerned that I might run into "too much work" for "not that much an increase in pay". In my current position my responsibilities are pretty ok with basic ASP development and maintainence plus a little work here and there on the CMS and SQL Server. But if I apply and accept the Lead position then work and responsibility will increase as you can see. I will be held responsible for almost everything with little time left to learn anything new. My two choices clearly are: 1. Accept the position 2. Work 8-5 on a low responsibility job and work on developing my ASP.NET skills for about a year. Later jump into the industry with an ASP.NET position and a higher paying job. I am guessing that since I have an Engg. degree, Master's in CS and about 5 years of experience I could expect atleast 60K. Please advice... http://www.boreddude.com
My only advice to you as someone that was in that position for years is to be very careful that you're not taken advantage of. Our industry is an extremely immature one where titles are made up seemingly at random. In a more mature industry titles such as Project Manager or Team Lead have very firm and distinct definitions and roles. Contrast that with the software development industry where titles are whatever you want then to mean. As an example, I was called a few months ago by a recruiter for a CTO position. As she was going over my resume, she would ask questions regarding my "position" at various companies in my past. As here company doesn't normally place software professionals, I explained to her that in our industry titles are pretty much whatever we want them to be. I'm quite serious in stating that I literally can't remember the last time I had an official title. It's always been more like "We want to hire you for XYZ job at this rate. Will you accept?" I then get to call my position whatever is convenient and that's what goes on the resume. Having said all that, my point is that positions like "Team Lead" and such are generally nothing more than the company getting you to do two jobs for the price of one. In other words, many times positions like that enable the company to tell you "We're recognizing your special skills by putting in charge of the whole team!" when in fact, they're simply trying to save money on hiring a manager and want you to both manage and code on a single (or slightly higher) salary. I would just be very careful in defining your role as you could end up managing all day and then working all night trying to meet your own coding responsibilities.
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My only advice to you as someone that was in that position for years is to be very careful that you're not taken advantage of. Our industry is an extremely immature one where titles are made up seemingly at random. In a more mature industry titles such as Project Manager or Team Lead have very firm and distinct definitions and roles. Contrast that with the software development industry where titles are whatever you want then to mean. As an example, I was called a few months ago by a recruiter for a CTO position. As she was going over my resume, she would ask questions regarding my "position" at various companies in my past. As here company doesn't normally place software professionals, I explained to her that in our industry titles are pretty much whatever we want them to be. I'm quite serious in stating that I literally can't remember the last time I had an official title. It's always been more like "We want to hire you for XYZ job at this rate. Will you accept?" I then get to call my position whatever is convenient and that's what goes on the resume. Having said all that, my point is that positions like "Team Lead" and such are generally nothing more than the company getting you to do two jobs for the price of one. In other words, many times positions like that enable the company to tell you "We're recognizing your special skills by putting in charge of the whole team!" when in fact, they're simply trying to save money on hiring a manager and want you to both manage and code on a single (or slightly higher) salary. I would just be very careful in defining your role as you could end up managing all day and then working all night trying to meet your own coding responsibilities.
Excellent advice! Marc MyXaml Advanced Unit Testing YAPO
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My only advice to you as someone that was in that position for years is to be very careful that you're not taken advantage of. Our industry is an extremely immature one where titles are made up seemingly at random. In a more mature industry titles such as Project Manager or Team Lead have very firm and distinct definitions and roles. Contrast that with the software development industry where titles are whatever you want then to mean. As an example, I was called a few months ago by a recruiter for a CTO position. As she was going over my resume, she would ask questions regarding my "position" at various companies in my past. As here company doesn't normally place software professionals, I explained to her that in our industry titles are pretty much whatever we want them to be. I'm quite serious in stating that I literally can't remember the last time I had an official title. It's always been more like "We want to hire you for XYZ job at this rate. Will you accept?" I then get to call my position whatever is convenient and that's what goes on the resume. Having said all that, my point is that positions like "Team Lead" and such are generally nothing more than the company getting you to do two jobs for the price of one. In other words, many times positions like that enable the company to tell you "We're recognizing your special skills by putting in charge of the whole team!" when in fact, they're simply trying to save money on hiring a manager and want you to both manage and code on a single (or slightly higher) salary. I would just be very careful in defining your role as you could end up managing all day and then working all night trying to meet your own coding responsibilities.
Tom, Thanks for sharing your experience. I usually jump at any opportunity I get in improving my position personally or professionally but this time I have some doubts on taking that step. Having been with this organization for almost a year I know how things work here. Two lead developers have quit in less than a year's span and right now I am managing everything single-handedly. Here are a few of the job qualifications as advertised: ---Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Master’s Degree preferred. ---Five years of professional web site design and development experience required ---Three years Windows NT/2000 Server experience required ---Two years SQL Server 2000 experience preferred ---Three years web application development experience preferred ---Content Management Software experience required ---Mastery of HTML, Active Server Pages (ASP), PHP and database design required Doesn't this seem inappropriate for a job paying a max of 45K ? http://www.boreddude.com
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Tom, Thanks for sharing your experience. I usually jump at any opportunity I get in improving my position personally or professionally but this time I have some doubts on taking that step. Having been with this organization for almost a year I know how things work here. Two lead developers have quit in less than a year's span and right now I am managing everything single-handedly. Here are a few of the job qualifications as advertised: ---Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Master’s Degree preferred. ---Five years of professional web site design and development experience required ---Three years Windows NT/2000 Server experience required ---Two years SQL Server 2000 experience preferred ---Three years web application development experience preferred ---Content Management Software experience required ---Mastery of HTML, Active Server Pages (ASP), PHP and database design required Doesn't this seem inappropriate for a job paying a max of 45K ? http://www.boreddude.com
I have a partial stake in a tech recruiting company so I can tell you that with this economy and off-shoring, I've seen all kinds of ridiculous stuff in terms of figures that we would laughed at 5-10 years ago. However, it's a different world now and unfortunately companies are getting away with this becuase it's a "buyer's market". Cheers, Tom Archer - Archer Consulting Group Programmer Trainer and Mentor and Project Management Consultant
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I work as a Web Developer (base sal: $36,000) at a univ. and now we have an opening for a Lead Web Developer (base sal: $45,000) at our unit. We are currently in the process of migrating from an ASP based website to a RedDot CMS based website. I qualify to apply for the Lead position but I am concerned that I might run into "too much work" for "not that much an increase in pay". In my current position my responsibilities are pretty ok with basic ASP development and maintainence plus a little work here and there on the CMS and SQL Server. But if I apply and accept the Lead position then work and responsibility will increase as you can see. I will be held responsible for almost everything with little time left to learn anything new. My two choices clearly are: 1. Accept the position 2. Work 8-5 on a low responsibility job and work on developing my ASP.NET skills for about a year. Later jump into the industry with an ASP.NET position and a higher paying job. I am guessing that since I have an Engg. degree, Master's in CS and about 5 years of experience I could expect atleast 60K. Please advice... http://www.boreddude.com
Kind of a corollary to what Tom said - I would advice talking to your boss and finding out, as best you can, what exactly "team lead" means at your company. It probably invovles, at a minimum, these tasks: :bob: Less coding than a grunt developer :bob: Scheduling and delegating work to others on the team :bob: Dealing with management and leads of other teams :bob: Administrivia On smaller teams, it may also involve other roles: :bob: Lead architect :bob: Gathering requirements :bob: Project management The way I see it, a team lead position can be great to determine what direction you want your career to go into. The team lead role is usually closer to a role of a manager or project manager. A lead architect role is like an uber-developer... making high level design decisions and stuff. As far as too much work, that depends on how big the team is, and whether you're doing just team lead stuff or also have a role as lead architect or requirements gatherer. Often, though, you can control your own workload if you learn to be good at delegating tasks, estimating time to completion, and comminucating needs (extra people, extra machines, etc.) to management. Good luck! The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.
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I work as a Web Developer (base sal: $36,000) at a univ. and now we have an opening for a Lead Web Developer (base sal: $45,000) at our unit. We are currently in the process of migrating from an ASP based website to a RedDot CMS based website. I qualify to apply for the Lead position but I am concerned that I might run into "too much work" for "not that much an increase in pay". In my current position my responsibilities are pretty ok with basic ASP development and maintainence plus a little work here and there on the CMS and SQL Server. But if I apply and accept the Lead position then work and responsibility will increase as you can see. I will be held responsible for almost everything with little time left to learn anything new. My two choices clearly are: 1. Accept the position 2. Work 8-5 on a low responsibility job and work on developing my ASP.NET skills for about a year. Later jump into the industry with an ASP.NET position and a higher paying job. I am guessing that since I have an Engg. degree, Master's in CS and about 5 years of experience I could expect atleast 60K. Please advice... http://www.boreddude.com
Where are you located? You seem to be on the lower end of the pay scale for the work you are doing.
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Where are you located? You seem to be on the lower end of the pay scale for the work you are doing.
I work in Southern Texas. But how does it matter where I am located ? I think the pay should be decided on the work done and the responsibilities assigned. But I agree...I am on the lower end of the pay spectrum:) http://www.boreddude.com
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I work in Southern Texas. But how does it matter where I am located ? I think the pay should be decided on the work done and the responsibilities assigned. But I agree...I am on the lower end of the pay spectrum:) http://www.boreddude.com
Pete Madden wrote: But how does it matter where I am located ? Cost of living and market demand make a difference. For example the pay rate in Austin TX is higher then Nashville TN for similar C# ASP.Net jobs.
I can imagine the sinking feeling one would have after ordering my book, only to find a laughably ridiculous theory with demented logic once the book arrives - Mark McCutcheon
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I work in Southern Texas. But how does it matter where I am located ? I think the pay should be decided on the work done and the responsibilities assigned. But I agree...I am on the lower end of the pay spectrum:) http://www.boreddude.com
Pete, check out Salary.com[^]. Imho, it's reasonably accurate/realistic. /ravi My new year's resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | Freeware | Music ravib@ravib.com
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My only advice to you as someone that was in that position for years is to be very careful that you're not taken advantage of. Our industry is an extremely immature one where titles are made up seemingly at random. In a more mature industry titles such as Project Manager or Team Lead have very firm and distinct definitions and roles. Contrast that with the software development industry where titles are whatever you want then to mean. As an example, I was called a few months ago by a recruiter for a CTO position. As she was going over my resume, she would ask questions regarding my "position" at various companies in my past. As here company doesn't normally place software professionals, I explained to her that in our industry titles are pretty much whatever we want them to be. I'm quite serious in stating that I literally can't remember the last time I had an official title. It's always been more like "We want to hire you for XYZ job at this rate. Will you accept?" I then get to call my position whatever is convenient and that's what goes on the resume. Having said all that, my point is that positions like "Team Lead" and such are generally nothing more than the company getting you to do two jobs for the price of one. In other words, many times positions like that enable the company to tell you "We're recognizing your special skills by putting in charge of the whole team!" when in fact, they're simply trying to save money on hiring a manager and want you to both manage and code on a single (or slightly higher) salary. I would just be very careful in defining your role as you could end up managing all day and then working all night trying to meet your own coding responsibilities.
Absolutely true.
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Pete, check out Salary.com[^]. Imho, it's reasonably accurate/realistic. /ravi My new year's resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | Freeware | Music ravib@ravib.com
Ravi, I check that periodically...but trust me Gov. organizations pays way less than those figures. http://www.boreddude.com
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I work as a Web Developer (base sal: $36,000) at a univ. and now we have an opening for a Lead Web Developer (base sal: $45,000) at our unit. We are currently in the process of migrating from an ASP based website to a RedDot CMS based website. I qualify to apply for the Lead position but I am concerned that I might run into "too much work" for "not that much an increase in pay". In my current position my responsibilities are pretty ok with basic ASP development and maintainence plus a little work here and there on the CMS and SQL Server. But if I apply and accept the Lead position then work and responsibility will increase as you can see. I will be held responsible for almost everything with little time left to learn anything new. My two choices clearly are: 1. Accept the position 2. Work 8-5 on a low responsibility job and work on developing my ASP.NET skills for about a year. Later jump into the industry with an ASP.NET position and a higher paying job. I am guessing that since I have an Engg. degree, Master's in CS and about 5 years of experience I could expect atleast 60K. Please advice... http://www.boreddude.com
Take it. It's less about the money now than it is building your resume. Christian I have several lifelong friends that are New Yorkers but I have always gravitated toward the weirdo's. - Richard Stringer