Programmers: income potential..

Question

I am stuck in a 9-5 cubicle/programming job. Is this how my career would end in 20 years from now? I am in my mid 40s and have been programming for about 15 years now. In the early days, I dreamt about opening my own consulting firm and hiring whole bunch of programmers to do great projects and make lot of money. Years later, I am earning a little more, have a little better title but still stuck in a 9-5 rut. The only difference is that I have kids , wife, house , and huge stack of bills to pay. Do you guys feel trapped some times like I do? This really depresses me and its too late to find another career with such a depressing economy. Is there a way to increase income potential? I hear all the great stories about other micro isvs and read articles and think that it only happens to others. I don't feel excited about writing any new application. I exercise and took some vacation but still no use.

Thanks for reading my rant and any advise will be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

From your brief description, it sounds to me like this may never have been the career for you. Even when describing your dreams about the "early days," you emphasize making lots of money and hiring other people to do great projects, not being excited about working on anything yourself.

Although I'm sometimes in a rut, I don't feel depressed or trapped about my career. I love programming, and it's what I always want to do (in my 30s now). It sounds like that was never really your situation, which is probably the reason for your malaise.

If I'm wrong and this really is what you want to do, the fact that you're 40 does not mean that it's too late to start your own company; you're hardly over-the-hill. It's probably also not too late to move up in your career either. What you need is to pull together some motivation: either to switch jobs, or start your own business. That's only going to come from within, and it's only going to move you forward if it's what you really want. If you're a programmer "just because" that's what you've done for 15 years and you feel like it's too late to do anything else, you're going nowhere: your attitude likely shines through in your work.

Answer 2

As I see it there are two career paths for the programmer; management or "staying in the trenches". There is some middle ground, but an effective tech-lead type is much more "in the trenches" that in the management camp.

In my experience income potential is higher for those that choose to continue to do technical work and remain engaged and are good. Simply put, they are the ones who make projects successful and are harder to find than people aspiring to management.

If you are not excited about writing apps, then you should get out of the trenches, or move to a job/space where you are excited about it. The landscape has broadened a lot in the last couple years, with niches for everyone.

Sure we all feel trapped by stuff from time to time but thats life.

just my .02

Answer 3

Is there a way to increase income potential?

Start with asking some questions. What problems need solving? Who has these problems? Are they willing to have these problem solved? How do I reach people with these problems to let them know I have a solution? How will I get this solution to them?

Regardless of what industry you get yourself involved with, these are questions that have to be answered if you want to increase income potential.

Answer 4

In short: If you want to make lots fof money, don't become a programmer.

The succes stories you read about MySQL being bought by Sun for instance, are one in a million, and usually the original authors are (have become) more businessmen than programmers. It's about selling an idea.

As for income potential, you should really consider if money is really your problem. Reading your post, it's just that your situation is not what you expected it to be. It can not live up to your heavenly picture of wealth and other stuff.

Still, I read that you have a nice wife, lovely kids, a lovely house, and a job that can pay for it all. Is that really so bad? From where I'm sitting, you're doing pretty okay.

I'm a programmer for more than a couple of years now, and I still like it. See what makes you tick, and try to find those things in your work. If there's not enough of those, maybe you should change jobs. Talk to your wife, collegues and friends about it, maybe that also helps.

Take care.

Answer 5

I've always considered myself incredibly lucky to be in a career where I can do what I enjoy doing, and get paid a substantial amount for doing it. I earn less than some of my friends who are consultants, but I've always enjoyed the stability of a permanent job, and I've never felt particularly poor for it.

I doubt that you'll find many programmers who are earning less than an "average" wage when you bear in mind how long they've been in their career for the sake of comparisons. There will always be people earning more than you, but I'd suggest taking stock of how fortunate you are to have what you've got. If you actually don't enjoy programming, it may be worth considering a change of career even if it would lower your income. I'd rather be in a job I enjoy for a modest salary than in one that I don't for double that pay packet.

As an actual answer though: if you're any good at writing, have you considered that as a second income? It's far from lucrative (in the technical field, anyway) but it's a lot of fun.

Answer 6

Income potential is only geared to how valuable you are as a programmer.

As far as I can see you're suffering from disillusion, which is easy with all the Facebook's and the Web 2.0's and software firms being bought for zillions by Google. The simple fact remains that being a programmer is no guarantee for success, however, that doesn't mean you can't become one.

If you're sick of your life as a programmer then I could suggest a couple of things for you to consider that may pay well.

1. Head for Academia! The overhead for a Ph.D is large but if research and original work interests you then it'll help you get out of a rut and enjoy what you do again. Also, you get to pass on your experience.
2. Head for Management! Go to university and get yourself an MBA, then take on some managerial roles. You may find a more relaxed environment, along with a different challenge.

Finally, the most obvious solution...Start your own company! If it is really what you want to do talk to someone who has already made the jump and assess whether it is the right decision for you. In a way this leads onto Management so a MBA would help you get to grips with the business side of development.

Answer 7

It really depends on what your goals and motivations are. I've worked as a consultant, at a start up, and for now I'm working in a cubicle and reporting to a boss. In my opinion, the only thing worse then having a boss, is having a customer, but that's just me. I earn the mean salary for a programmer working in a cubicle, and that's just fine with me. In fact I'm grateful, because I'm earning more then 80% of my fellow citizens. My boss is a smart, reasonable, fair guy, and I'm doing work I find fascinating. I'm 52 and I look forward to going in to work every day.

Maybe you would like the business stuff more then the programming stuff, or maybe a high end income is really important to you. Then you should give the mISV or consulting thing a try. Be aware though: this is not something that "happens to you" (in your words). You have to work your butt off to have a chance of making it happen, and then it is still only a chance, not a guarantee.

Answer 8

I'm almost 40, recently discovered asp.net mvc and I'm in love all over again. I've hit ruts in the past but a change of venue easily fixed it. Perhaps you just need a job change and a new project. Not all programming jobs involve 9-5 cubicle dwelling. But you're going to have to make that happen yourself.

Answer 9

I have been programming for about 10 years (after a false start as a bank teller), and couldn't be happier with my chosen career path. Due to a strong passion for music, I initially thought my dream job would be an audio engineer, but I was unable to pursue that as I'm partially deaf in my right ear (nothing serious, but enough to quash that notion). But now I have absolutely no regrets about where my career has taken me.

I enjoy being able to do what I love on a daily basis, and love the challenge of always learning new technologies and techniques. Sure, you could be stuck as a cubicle bound 9-5 coder with little mental stimulation and fiscal reward to help you get through the day, and my development career actually started out that way as a COBOL programmer working for a major Australian bank. But through some excellent job choices, and a burning desire to constantly improve my craft (and also help others do the same), I'm now in the very fortunate position of being able to work from home, as a fulltime contractor based in New Zealand working for a company in the United States.

This gives me great flexibility as I can structure my work life around my family and other interests. For instance, I have recently started the long road to improving my golf game from 'truly sucky' to 'mediocre', and have the luxury of being able to play during the week when the courses are less busy. And in a couple of days, I'll be taking a day off work to accompany my daughter on a school trip to a theme park where we'll spend all day riding roller coasters, and generally scaring ourselves silly. No need to get approval from a manager, I simply make the time up that evening. The ability to integrate into my kids school activities and other interests is absolutely priceless!

And due to the weak NZ dollar, this arrangement currently also has great fiscal benefits to me.

So yes, a career in programming can bring great rewards if you are prepared to work at it. For me it certainly helps that programming isn't just a job, but a passion. It often feels like I'm getting paid for a hobby one would expect to finance themselves. :-)

Answer 10

In general, people are only limited by their own perceptions of their limits. If you set yourself to do something, plan it out with the rigor of writing a program, ensuring that you can discharge your responsibilities to your family, and go for it.

Answer 11

I know that this question is pretty old, but I thought it couldn't hurt to include my input.

From what I read in your post, it sounds like you had a general idea of what your dream job could be, but never got to outlining specific details of what your company would actually do, i.e.:

• What type of software would your team would be writing? (Security, Network, Web Apps)
• What would your cooperate philosophy would be? (Don't be evil, "It just works", etc)
• What you would consider to be a successful, worthwhile business? (Making a bug-free product, making enough money to scrape by, Outselling google and Microsoft)
• Who would you be marketing this to?
• Who would be your competition?

Things of that nature.

As a result of never really getting around to figuring these things out, and you just kind of fell into something to pay the bills for the time being and either: didn't build up the courage to give your idea a go, or were too pre-occupied with more important things, like raising a family.

Honestly, I think that with the way things are going, now would be an excellent time to start up a small business, as you can (probably) find a lot of great discounts on things that larger companies are trying to sell off after being closed down and liquidated.

Of course, if you're waiting for the economy to level out a little bit before doing anything too crazy, it couldn't hurt to figure out exactly why owning and operating your own business would make you happy, and exactly how you would improve on it from your current job.

My advice would be to layout and work on a Strategic plan when your feeling down because your current job, that way, if you ever feel trapped at your job you have a "parachute" of sort sitting right next to you.

I would strongly encourage you to ask yourself scary questions (and answer them) before considering anything serious though:

• "How many years am I looking at, before I can dig myself out of the hole that this thing would put me in?"
• "What's going to happen if this doesn't work out?"
• "How quickly would I be able to recover from loosing something that I put this much effort into?"
• "Will I try again with a different business, or go back to another job that I'm dissatisfied with?"
• "How could these failures affect my family?"
• "Will I have to move across state/country, to find a reasonable area to set up my business?"

Try to measure exactly how much the benefit is, compared to the risk.

Hope this helps.

Answer 12

You know... the grass is always greener on the other side. :)

When I have a bad day, I take a step back and look at the grand scheme of things. As I reflect I become thankful that I have a job that produces an income, family and friends who love me and most of all, that I was able to wake up this morning and live this day.

Worst comes to worst, start a side business and see how you like it. But I wouldn't jeopardize the well-being of your family to do so. Life is more than your career :)

Best wishes!

Answer 13

No, I don't feel trapped, but then I see the variety in my work and enjoy some of the dimensions to it that I can define because of the maturity where I work.

You could go back to school and get into something else. Not necessarily a trade, but you could go study accounting at a local college and go be an accounting clerk if you want another option. I think you may want to consider what you'd want to do in a job rather than what you have been doing.

The Calgary .Net User Group had a talk a little while back about people setting up their own micro ISVs that there is some discussion on the forums on their site if you want to get into this a bit more.

What you really need to find is your drive, your animal spirit or whatever you want to call that motivating force that exists within all of us. What would motivate you to make a piece of software or fix someone's bug? If it is solely money then you really are in the wrong career, IMO.

I know this was asked a year ago but mayve someone is just looking at it now.