I feel very fortunate that I have been able to find a couple contract jobs in the last few months that have kept the cat fed and me off the streets. Especially since I didn’t go looking for either of them, which is how I like to find work, and everything else really. However, one contract is finished and the other may only last two weeks longer, and I may soon find myself hunkered in a doorway on Seymour downtown, sleeping in a cardboard box with only my cat and Tivo for warmth.
So I have been looking at the job ads, not that I ever stopped looking, though it’s often depressing to do so. Full-time work seems at least to be more secure, though I don’t think I should say that since I was laid off 4 months ago. I don’t really like the uncertainty of contracting, because if I don’t know how to look for contract work, how long can I just run on the luck of friends’ recommendations? I may run out of friends.
Now, as for the job ads being depressing, one aspect is that I’m very rarely seeing anything for a specifically MySQL DBA in Vancouver. Maybe once every 2 months. I was up for one and then the company changed their minds when the economy went bad. Oh well, it would’ve been a long and dull commute to their Burnaby offices anyways.
But what’s really, really depressing is what I’m seeing here and there in the job ads themselves (for developer and DBA positions):
PHP/MySQL Web Developer: $15/hour contract
Consumer Database Administrator: Salary $30,000.00 – 48,000.00/year
To which I say: are you fucking kidding me?
I’m not even sure $15/hour is industry standard for coop (intern) students. I was certainly making more than that my first year out of computer science, and they want people with experience for that price? What sort of quality of IT worker are you expecting to get for that?
I had some interesting discussions last month with my parents (all four of them) about the fact that I was seeing job ads for pretty low wages, though I was talking about offerings of $40K at the time. 3 out of 4 of them suggested that I apply to these jobs just so I could “get by” until a better job came along. Granted, that advice has some merit, except for the principle of it:
There shouldn’t be a 50% off IT worker sale.
I shouldn’t apply to these jobs because I don’t want to encourage companies for offering that much and thinking they can get quality work for that. It’s just wrong. If I can afford to hold out for something not insulting, then that’s what I’m going to do, for myself as much as for the sake of the industry.
I’ve never been looking for work for this long before, so I’m not sure if these ads are just random anomalies from naive managers, or whether they’re a result of people wanting to take advantage of the bad economy. A friend of mine who does office admin work has mentioned seeing drops in offered wages as well (“$9/hour, must have BA from accredited university”).
Is anyone seeing similar ads, or can give me a perspective of what ads were like prior to this recession? And what do you think of my decision to avoid applying to such ads?
I have a direct hire MYsql DBA .. Perhaps you can let me know if you are interested… http://www.searchsolutionscorp.com. Would love to be able to get you what your worth!!!!
Happy New Year to you.
A friend of mine used to recruit for high tech postions at Maxim. Kim went to see her back when she was first looking for work. While she no longer works there, perhaps Maxim might be able to find a suitable position for you? I am with you on not taking a low paying IT job. It is insulting and I agree that employers are taking advantage of the current economic conditions expecting people to work for such low wages all while having good qualifications. If the funds get low and you absolutely must work, it would almost be better to temp in admin work which you are no doubt over qualified for until something better comes along. A friend of mine got a good gig temping for the Vancouver School board in their offices over by 10th and Burrard. She is getting paid about $26 per hour. The BC Teachers Federation is another organization that pays really well. Best of luck in finding a position that you like that pays you what you are worth.
I think that your decision to avoid such ads is a very good idea. Even without a college/university degree, I wouldn’t take a job advertised like that.
That’s mostly because I know that any job where they aren’t going to pay you a reasonable salary you aren’t going to be treated well. I’m pretty sure that at a $15/hr MySQL admin, you’d be treated fairly badly.
Keep your chin up though, although lots of big companies may be going down, there may be a startup or four that are still going strong.
Much good karma and well wishing your way!
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You’re right to stick to your principles and not even reply to those kind of job postings. Given what they’re asking for and what they’re offering as compensation, it’s not hard to imagine how lousy and demanding the job itself would be.
BTW, you didn’t mention the best part of that $15/hour job: in addition to experience they also require you to be fluent in Japanese.
I recently saw an ad for an html/CSS website maintenence person and it required a degree in Computer Science!!! Wow.
oh god, there’s a kernel of long rant in there somewhere for me. but….
…our economy is in the out house for some damn good reasons. One) People in Charge Are Idiots. It’s a hard lesson to learn. We’re told we live in a meritocratic universe. Where all energy serves those that are, at base, competent at what they do. Yeah well somehow the idiots win. And the reason they win? Cunning, guile, shrewdness, duplicity – the life skills that get them by and get them ahead in a parallel universe of their own making. You wouldn’t mind so much if accompanying these qualities were behaviours – though annoying – that might indicate some level of competence in/on area/topic or an ability to be conversant about fundamentals, parameters, concepts – at least – on a given subject. But no. We are fooled. I’d draw an analogy to nature here but I can’t think of one. The hyena comes closest.
So you are the great lioness…you get the picture.
As a fellow contractor, i feel you, baby.
I am undercut all the time. More than anything I am saddened. I see a cheap incompetent hired by a tenured hyena. And you know things are just going to be bad. And that’s what bugs you most. Or me. You just say why are you people even bothering. And some piece of garbage is created for the world to ignore. Or be aggravated by. Crap.
Feh.
BUT, what you do realize is that there are good clients out there that need your skills. People smart enough to know and admit that they don’t know anything in your area of expertise. They will see you not as a hire but as the contractor you are with your own set of expectations and conditions.
The angst that overwhelms as each contract nears an end never goes away. You never get use to it.
Ads like these always appear during recessions, and indeed they’re even there during good times — they just see fewer responses and disappear sooner. I think these employers (a) have no idea what they’re hiring for, or (b) are seeing what they can get for the money, or both.
To be fair, when I was looking through resumes at tech firms during the peak of the last two booms, I was astonished at how many people were shooting for jobs they simply weren’t qualified for, and asking for way too much money. And I’m sure, when techies were scarce, some of them got it. There are weasels on both sides.
When I was freelancing as an editor, I remember crunching the numbers and realizing that, for the most part, if I were to charge less than $40 an hour as an independent contractor doing my own business development and paying my own benefits, expenses, insurance, etc., I would be losing money, and would be better off working minimum wage. So I charged $50 an hour to start, and moved up from there as I got more experience.
There’s no contact info that I could find. If you need more contract work, please feel free to contact me.