My Job Went To India 396
Josh Skillings writes "The author, Chad Fowler, draws upon his experiences as a software engineer, a team leader over a group of Indian developers, and as a jazz musician, to describe 52 ways or tips that will help you to become a more valuable employee. These tips are described in two or three pages each, and are usually illustrated by a practical example or story. The tips are well thought-out, well-explained and make sense. Chad draws upon the open source movement as well, highlighting ways that contributing to and learning from open source can improve your career. These tips gave me greater respect and appreciation for the open source movement in general." Read on for the rest of Josh's review.
Chad encourages the you to think of your career as life cycle of a product, and as such divides the 52 tips into the four areas of "Choosing Your Market", "Invest in your Product", "Execute", and "Market", and then two extra groups called, "Maintaining Your Edge", and "If you Can't Beat 'Em". This grouping works surprisingly well and provides an overarching context that makes sense. Many of the tips have specific calls to action at the end, which are useful if you don't already have ideas on how to apply the tip.
| My Job Went To India (and All I Got was This Lousy Book) | |
| author | Chad Fowler |
| pages | 185 |
| publisher | The Pragmatic Bookshelf |
| rating | 8 |
| reviewer | Josh Skillings |
| ISBN | 0-9766940-1-8 |
| summary | Offers 52 ways you can keep your software engineering job, or grow yourself into an even better job. |
For example, under "Choosing Your Market", tip #7 "Don't Put Your Eggs In Someone Else's Basket", Chad encourages you to refrain from learning vendor-specific technologies that can disappear with the vendor, and then calls you to action by suggesting you write a small project in a technology that competes with the technology you are used to using. This will help you understand why the technology exists to start with and what opens your horizons for what might be coming next.
Under the section "Investing in your Product", tip #14 called "Practice, Practice, Practice", Chad offers suggestions on how software engineers can get even better by specific kinds of focused practice. The action items at the end of the section suggests practicing "Code Katas" katas similar to martial artists, but instead in code and in different languages.
With 52 tips, this book has a lot of tips, a tip for every week of the year, but you should expect to spend much longer than a week on most of them. A few of the tips you are probably doing already, but many of them you aren't. Some of the tips are fairly straight forward and easy to put in to practice. You could spend your entire life attempting and never achieve some of the other tips, such as tip #39, "Release Your Code." The ultimate goal of this tip is to be able to say in a job interview, "Oh, are you running Nifty++? I can help you with that- I wrote it." Chances are this scenario won't ever happen to you, but by working towards this goal in the ways the book outlines, you will definitely become a better, more valuable software engineer. Many of the tips will make you a better person in general, regardless of your career, such as tip #28, "Learn How To Fail", where Chad emphasizes how to fail gracefully and the rewards that can be learned from failure. This wide range of time, difficult, and application of the tips gives you something to work on today, next week, and next year.
The title of the book is silly. Yes, it was catchy enough for me to notice in the bookstore, with the red cover and the homeless (software engineer?) holding a sign, "Will Code For Food". So from that point of view, the cover worked. However, unless you've read the book, you might think it's as campy as the cover and wonder if it is somehow anti-Indian. I think a better title would be along the lines of "How to Get Any Job You Want", since if you can master all of these tips, you'll be the best there ever was.
While I didn't expect any specific technical advice, I would have liked some. I understand that an author needs to be sensitive to how fast technology changes, however just one tip with a warning: "This information is my opinion on April 11, 2007 and will probably change tomorrow". And then describes about how Subversion is a great tool, Python is a great language to learn, and learning design patterns can make your life easier, would have been appreciated. A tip like this would help you to understand the author a bit better and further encourage you to learn more.
If you want to improve yourself and you can accept advice, this book is for you. You will find things you can do better and skills you've never considered. Like some of the other Pragmatic Programmer books, I will never be able to master everything in this book, so I'll be reading this book again and again, trying to get better every time. Don't let the cover put you off, this is a great book.
You can purchase My Job Went To India (and All I Got was This Lousy Book) from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Re:They took my job (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, start your own company and show what you can do, let it become a battle on your turf, make it about software and products, not about bottom lines and the bosses fancy yacht and head count. The US was built by entrepreneurs, it's time to start building again!
Same goes for anyone else in any other country where a crap company outsources your job or your mates jobs from a company you helped build. Start up your own company, it's the best way to 1. get back 2. do things your way.
Maybe if Americans worked and did not whine? (Score:0, Interesting)
From experience in the industry, I can contract Tata Consulting, and obtain well commented, thoroughly tested code module for a project for less than 20% the cost of an employed developer here. Bonus is that there are fewer employees needed, which saves immensely on overhead. Plus with payroll taxes the way they are, the IRS almost pays companies to offshore.
Why attempt to hire people here who claim to have programming experience, even with degrees, when one can get code written arguably by the best people on the globe for far less?
Pretty much all my company needs is a guy to run a build for QA and another person to be the InstallShield monkey to ensure the program deploys.
Re:Isn't this old? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes, I actually read this book a couple of years ago and I believe it was fairly new at the time. The information in it is still very relevant though, as this book is not specific to any particular technology, but rather it is a career advice book. It basically gives practical, solid advice about how to stay relevant in IT in the long run. If you've worked in various capacities and companies in IT, you will probably recognize that much of the advice mirrors the habits of people you've worked with that have avoided the layoffs and/or got the coveted promotions.
Re:At least for software developers (Score:4, Interesting)
when bidding for projects of people like these, indian houses that shell out $3 bids are at disadvantage.
Why don't they raise their prices then? If it's just the too-good-to-be-true quote.
I know someone who realised western companies weren't comfortable paying only $10/night for quality hotels in Eastern Europe (this was a few years ago, I forget the actual numbers). He bought a small hotel business in a capital city, translated the website to English and bumped up the price to $100/night -- now the hotel is full of western businessmen and tourists, but the hotel doesn't cost much more to run.
Re:I'm sorry... (Score:5, Interesting)
...but if your job went to India, you're expendable. Learn some new skills, get better at what you do, etc.
what an insensitive BS answer!
I'm an expert in my field, I have over 20 yrs doing what I do (netmgt) and yet companies are not respecting actual field experience anymore - they prefer to cheap-out EVERY TIME ;(
there is nothing I can do about it. 'get better' at what I do? I'm already a leader in my company, for this technology.
actually, my job didn't go to india. it went to 'eastern europe' (country name withheld). the labor is MUCH cheaper there but I'm not at all convinced they have better experience or understanding of the field. it was PURELY for cost reasons.
when its for cost reasons, there is nothing an employee can do. can I live on the same pay rate that east europe can live on? surely, I can't (I live in the US).
no matter how you cut it, its unfair and its NOT the employee's fault. grow up and you'll see this - and stop blaming US workers, its NOT our fault most of the time. its the bean counters.
Re:No Chapter On The "Failed Off-Shoring"?? (Score:5, Interesting)
Lol, that's their own fault. The managers probably said: "code me something that does x" instead of "code me something that we can support" or the sales person offered: we can do your coding project for USD XXXXX which appeared cheaper than what they were paying for the local coders. The long term cost of course, they didn't plan for.
I had something similar happen at one of the companies I used to work for a while ago (precision measurement instruments for industrial processes). They outsourced their lab and prototyping to China as to profit from the cheap scientists. As soon as the branch in China got hold of the blueprints of quite some high tech products (5 and up digit retail value) the whole department literally vanished. Nothing was heard from them for a while until somebody went over just to see an empty building with the offices. All original equipment was still there, the people had started their own little company selling the same product for a lot less down the road, they took all the contacts and copies of plans with them.
Foreign Companies will bury US ones (Score:2, Interesting)
I have over 20 years of software development experience in the U.S. I am not working in that field anymore.
One of those big U.S. based multi-nationals laid me off. I have found myself in another engineering field (not software).
My current employer is happy to pay a good salary while I learn this new business. I have now worked there longer than
most of my jobs in the IT world.
When I apply for software jobs, it is all I can do to get people to return my calls. I have to followup
over and over to get to the next step in the interview process. I say, who needs it.
I am turning my back on IT. They only seem to want to pay for 2-5 years of experience. If you have 10 or more years,
they don't want you. They want energetic and cheap. They want to keep making the mistakes that were made 5 years ago.
I think the current technical job market will dissuade people from entering the IT field in the first place. The work
is hard to do in the first place, and they are going to cast you aside eventually.
Indian companies will have an advantage because they will not need to manage projects across so many timezones. They
will have lots of people coming out of college with lots of jobs for them. U.S. based companies will only be able to
find the people they need at the price they want to pay overseas. They will continue to use their money to train
armies of software developers many timezones away.
Over time, these non-U.S. companies will master the rest of the business and bury the US-based ones. Free trade or
protectionist stance will not affect this outcome.
My advice to current U.S. IT workers: don't get too deep into debt and plan a backup career.
Re:They took my job (Score:1, Interesting)
On the contrary... blame Americans.
We all know the result of a rising third world: we get a lower standard of living.
Now this is a long process and it is taking time.
The reality is, India wouldn't be so competitive if people in America didn't have this concept of an ever increasing standard of living (as if that is possible). We all weigh ourselves based on the work of others. Most of what we pay goes to the wages of others. We've only enjoyed material wealth recently because we can pay overseas people nothing.
If the fast food worker is paid 25K/year, then the teacher must be paid 50K/yeah, then the engineer must be paid 100K/yeah, then the doctor must be paid 300K/year...
If you want your engineering job to be competitive... there are 2 ways:
1. decrease the value of the dollar (kills savings, investment)
2. have a universal pay cut.
If the fast food worker is paid 15K/year, then the teacher paid 30k,, then the engineer paid 60K ... suddenly it is no more costly. And believe me, rent and housing would drop as well, as would the cost of all services (medical...). Only goods imported would appear more costly.
That WILL be the end result of all this. A more equitable payscale globally. Unfortunately, trying to get this done when dealing with things that are not the free market (unions, public sector workers...) is tougher. This is really the dilemma western nations face.
If we don't act, you're going to see a lack of skilled labor. Why?
Well, why would a skilled young person go into engineering if they can make more money as a teacher or a nurse or a bus driver. Trust me, this is happening now in Canada. Teacher salaries are creeping into the 80-90K range. This only hinders competitiveness more and accelerates the transfer of skilled labor to such places. The only skilled profession intelligent young westerners want to get into now is healthcare (doctors...) due the guaranteed high payoff.
so don't blame the companies. Don't blame India. Westerners are digging their own grave by refusing to acknowledge reality.
No longer can you have the cushy job while the Asians build your railways and the Mexicans farm your food.
Re:They took my job (Score:3, Interesting)
If Dell, HP, GE outsource to India, don't buy their products anymore.
You're going to hurt the people working over there FAR sooner then you're ever going to hurt Dell, HP, or GE.
Re:At least for software developers (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:They took my job (Score:5, Interesting)
This is exactly right. If you have to gain all these other "soft skills" or business skills in order to just be a regular software engineer, then why keep working for someone else? One of the main reasons for being an employee is because it's (supposed to be) both easier and safer than striking out on your own. Instead of long hours and having to wear many hats, you can just concentrate on your own skill, and leave the business stuff to the people who specialize in that. Anyone familiar with the idea of specialized labor should understand this. The downside is (supposed to be) your pay is lower than it could potentially be by owning and operating your own business.
If today's corporations want their regular rank-and-file employees to wear many hats, be multi-talented, and have a lot of business skills, then they're simply not doing their own jobs correctly.
Re:At least for software developers (Score:5, Interesting)
What I noticed in my experiences with code written by outsourced coders was that while it worked, it just wasn't that good. They knew the LANGUAGE, but they didn't know how to PROGRAM. Not very well, anyway.
While working with the outsourced coders for a client of a managed hosting company I was sent a 250-line SQL query (for MySQL, no less) and asked why the query was running so slow. It was a mess. The guy obviously didn't understand SQL or database design and was using brute force to get the data.
Re:First arrival (Score:4, Interesting)
The idea that programming is mere grunt work or that programmers can be commoditized is one reason why so many software projects and products are utter crap.
Also, with the advent of server virtualization and data center consolidation and aggregation, those system engineer jobs may not be so safe and plentiful onshore in a few years, especially when so much administration can be done remotely. Maybe the CAT5E cable monkeys can unionize to protect their wages.
Do you love programming (Score:2, Interesting)
Cause the fact of the matter is that whether you specifically keep your job or not is not really the point. Instead, potential IT workers need to realize that wages will be pushed down across the board.
If you love the job, then you've got a choice - do what you like even in a job market that does not compensate you fairly (relative to other industries where your brain will get you far), or get out now and start concentrating on an industry that will not be marganilized as much - think law, finance, etc.
If, on the other hand, you can tolerate programming, but are not necessarily passionate about it, and are more concerned about making good money, having a more prestigious job, less risk - probably less brain intensive than software developing - get the hell out of the industry now! You will be miserable competing with third world wages while doing a pretty tough job.
A few years out of college and I'm learning myself - I worked my ass off in engineering school for five years. The guys that had Fridays off (business school) and did about 5 hours of homework a week are making the same as me. Their most complex assignments use Excel, while mine require far more intelligence, experience, and energy. I'm very confident in the belief that, even though far less people could do what I do compared to the amount that could do what they do, our salaries do not differ due to the offshoring/H1B visa probs.
In the end, you'll just get pissed off doing more work than everyone else, while getting paid the same (or less), having a position that is constantly being threatened by management to be 'outsourced,' and absolutely earning no respect.
Just my .02
Re:First arrival (Score:4, Interesting)
And what would you suggest Obi Wan? Maybe Medicine? Law? Literature? Give some alternatives.
For anyone with aptitude in math and physics and who is always trying to figure out how stuff works, you could consider getting into the field of aircraft structural engineering.
I manage the structural engineering group at a medium-sized Canadian company. Yesterday we tried to offer an experienced guy a $75/hour contract job and he politely declined. We can't afford him. He is contracting because he wants to and has several other offers. With bonuses and OT he would have grossed around $200K per year and it wasn't enough.
I have two Indian subcontractors working for me with another on the way. We do that not because of the cost but because it's so hard to find good people in this field. I have working for me one Indian/Canaidan girl, a French/Canadian guy, a plain vanilla Canaidan guy, the two Indians, a Moroccan, a Brit, and a Venezuelan guy working for me. Americans don't seem to be on the market because they are all sucked up by US defence companies that like US citizens for security reasons.
The labour market is tight right now. It is cyclic but I have to admit I haven't seen any unemployment amongst my peers in 20 years, the last rough spot being the late 70's/early 80's.
Here's how you get into it. A bachelors in mechanical or aerospace engineering is basic. Most people have a Masters, try to orient that toward materials or structural analysis. A thesis on composites would be good. The education is hard, you have to think of it on the same level as getting a medical degree. Suffer through it if you have to.
Develop an interest in manual analysis with a pencil. I get lots of resumes from people that can make finite element meshes and run NASTRAN, what I want is people who know what a piece of structure should look like and why and you get that ability from just sitting and thinking about things and reading the bible "Analysis and Design of Flight Vehicle Structures" by E.H. Bruhn. That book is 40 years old and anyone who knows it forward and backward can get their $200K job.
Then get a job with a large prime like Boeing for 5 years. Think of that like your internship. At the end of that you can start contracting, or move jobs to push your salary up. I would recommend contracting, not just for the money but for the contacts you make. It's a small world in this business and if you know the people you can always get a job.
So if you are 18 now, you are looking at a plan that will get you in a really good place when you are 30. Not many people want seem to have the stomach for that kind of commitment, but it'll pay off, I promise. And, all along the way you get to work on pretty cool stuff.
Re:At least for software developers (Score:3, Interesting)
"Copy-and-paste-oriented Programming" is what you get for $3.
Then again I have encountered expensive Oracle developers doing much the same...
Re:First arrival (Score:3, Interesting)
Anything that we can do here, they can do there.
And most often for less.
They made buying generic drugs illegal here, they made
going to Canada for your drugs illegal.
Protect the corporate profits, not the citizens.
Saw an old man boarding a bus on TV saying he was a criminal
and grinning. They go as a busloads to Canada to get
their 'illegal' Meds so they don't die because they are poor.
It is pathetic.
We have billion dollar bail outs of banks, and ppl are thrown
out of their homes.
Why no bail out for the home owners ? Protecting Cash Inc. again.
I'd say a job that requires a Security Clearance, or the
person needs to speak very clear English. That doesn't
equal many jobs for the average person though.
Everything else is fair game for being offshored, outsourced,
near sourced, Alphabet VISA'd, or worked by border jumpers.
Things like the L1 Visa have 'unlimited' caps on them, and
H1-B has been raised to huge levels per year.
Once the VISA workers live here, they get a guest VISA
for Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, etc etc etc.
The person with the guest VISA never goes home and you meet
him at the local fast food place serving you food, or quickie
mart selling you your gas, etc etc etc.
This game is going to continue until they can reduce wages
on any and all jobs to the point the Corporate Whores are
happy with their level of profits.
In case you have not noticed they always want more...
You do the math...
The race for the Bottom is on ! Who is the winner ?
Not the Sled Dog ....and that is the working class.
Re:First arrival (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:They took my job (Score:3, Interesting)
This is very true, the corporate types call it market saturation.
You only need so many plumbers, electricians, etc etc etc.
At some tipping point it just drives wages down
as the larger supply competes for smaller demand.
Production lines world wide will continue to be made more robotic,
and scaled down on workers, Wal-mart should be renamed China-mart.
The population keeps going up, Less jobs, but more ppl.
Ppl who have a house and kids cannot venture out boldy and
start a company unless they have a product that some other
company will not jump on and leverage them out of business.
Some get bought, but most just get beat into submission
by the big Corporates who don't always play fair.
As bad as things are, they are poised to get a lot worse.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4563171.ece [timesonline.co.uk]
The war with Iran/Russia is coming, and we race head long like
a bunch of nationalistic monkeys who think its a sport event.
It will not be as cheap as Iraq was at 3+ trillion dollars
on projected cost, sooooo cccchhheeeeaaaappppp.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html [washingtonpost.com]
That is some real Mc Lovin right there.
Hold onto your hat Dorothy we are in for a bumpy ride in Oz.
The russians have an opinion on how this is going to go too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Yamantaw [wikipedia.org]
They don't carry bombs on those old bombers:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/kh-101.htm [globalsecurity.org]
They carry KH-555's, upgraded stealth cruise missiles with
200 - 500 kilo-ton warheads.
They have made visits to Cuba to check the Infrastructure,
and have plans for a back up base with Chavez.
http://www.india-defence.com/reports/3929 [india-defence.com]
Re:First arrival (Score:3, Interesting)
Fair enough. My only two responses to that would be how many of those 500,000 are call center jobs? Also, a lot of IT jobs simply can't be farmed out because of security controls.
My point is more though that there are plenty of jobs out there, but you might need to do more than just throw your resume out there and demand employment. I also think that the disadvantages of off-shoring are becoming much, much more apparent now and it is not going to be as attractive as it once was.
Re:First arrival (Score:2, Interesting)
Have fun trying to live on $50K in any major or minor city in the USA, particularly if you want to have a family.
Actually I live in NYC (Manhattan) with a wife and kid making less than $50K. It can be done, but don't expect to live the lap of luxury, or eat out, or have a car, or ... It's surely not "fun" but it beats not having anything.
Stockholm Syndrome (Score:4, Interesting)
If you stop and look around at what's happening, it terrifies you. So you quit looking and try to kill or at least discredit the messenger.
The last time I was in an emergency room I was escorting someone with uncontrolled bleeding. I had done my boy scout best, but I am not a medic. It was a three-hour wait while the orderlies joked about how much weed they were planning to smoke that weekend. When I asked for a doctor, they referred me to a security guard. I mentioned the incident to my doctor at my next visit. She winced and said "Yeah, we avoid that place like the plague when we can." It's the largest, best-funded hospital in the area.
The last time I asked a cop for directions in a strange city -- wearing business casual clothes, mind you -- he placed his hand on his weapon and told me in rude terms he wasn't a tour guide. I'd like to think he was just a random jackass, but the attitude smelled like he was trying to bluff through insecurity and fear.
The last time I went on a business trip, I watched a TSA agent browbeat and threaten a small clumsy woman with incarceration if she didn't take her shoes off faster. When I spoke to his supervisor, he called over an armed officer in uniform and threatened to arrest me. The supervisor caved and apologized when I pointed out the surveillance camera recording the incident.
My kids' teachers have that vacant look of learned helplessness in their eyes. They were idealists once. It's been beaten out of them.
There's a major elevated highway in my city. It's been basically condemned and it's still in use. When it falls, there's a large number of buildings and thoroughfares that it will take with it. Everybody knows. No one can do anything. I try to avoid it when I can.
Forget McCain and Obama. We need a seance with Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln and both Roosevelts, Teddy and Frank. I honestly think it would take all six to get us out of this mess, after they kicked all of our respective asses for letting it get this bad.
Re:They took my job (Score:3, Interesting)
Well said, my good fellow Butisol, well said.
Having gone that entrepreneurial route from time to time, and having found moderate success to extreme disappointment, I concur; but mostly, this book represents more of the mindless -- and I emphasize MINDLESS, drivel which is foisted upon the masses.
It is along the same lines as all that other "human resources" garbage on how to score a job, or to put it more succinctly, along the lines of those two fellows who happen upon a man-eating grizzly bear, and one ties his running shoes to escape while his friend is eaten by the grizzly, etc. (You all know that anecdote I'm referring to.)
The point being, the corporates don't give a rat's ass about how valuable an employee you make yourself into, and anyone who falls for that tooth fairy fantasy crapola is a complete moron.
Labor arbitrage, as the plutocratic jackasses refer to it, will be with us as long as the sheeple allow it.
In times past in America, as in the present time in other countries and societies, the citizenry became fed up with the power elites, rebelled and righteously kicked ass.
Unless we do the same, unless one thousand Jimmy Hoffa's take to the streets and act against the corporate overlords, everything is just so much B.S.
The only thing the corporations know how to do is offshore workers' jobs, import foreign replacement workers, and issue junk bonds.
End of weekly rant.....