I went from making 55K to 140K in five years. (Update 155K..See footnote)
Here are my lessons learnt:
1) Increasing skill sets alone is of little use if you cannot market them. Market your skill sets. Two things to keep in mind here:
a) Invest in skill sets that will pay. No use learning something just because you like it. Learn something for which companies are willing to pay top dollar.
b) Certifications - Get certified in things for which there will be a long-term demand. Not many developers do this. Build a diverse portfolio here. Just don't do all your certifications in Java for example. Something like Scrum, Salesforce, and AWS is a good mix.
2) Look at your colleagues who are 10+ years older than you and ask yourself if you want to be doing the same stuff they are doing today. If the answer is no, find out what you need to do differently so as not to land in the same position as theirs ten years from now.
3) Read, Read, Read: Readers are Leaders / Leaders are Readers.
Update : Dec 3 2015
I just signed a new deal this week, that will net me around ~155K in my first year at this new place. So i am back here to share a new lesson:
- Confidence: This was something I lacked a few years ago, mainly because of my own technical shortcomings. After having followed steps 1 through 3 above, over the years I seem to have (unconsciously) developed a sense 'dont give a crap' about my job security.
Don't get me wrong. I try to have the humblest attitude at work. But i think when you lose the fear of losing and know that the world's your oyster, people will respect that.
I politely declined their initial offer at first. But they liked me so much they went out of their way to finally give me more than what i asked for. Lesson learnt - a humble attitude combined with no sense of fear of losing can be a lethal (and a very rewarding) combination.
PS: I see a lot of valid points of the 'location matters' here. For the record, I live and work in the suburbs of St. Louis, MO. By no means, a big town compared to the likes of Silicon Valley or New York.
Here are my lessons learnt:
1) Increasing skill sets alone is of little use if you cannot market them. Market your skill sets. Two things to keep in mind here:
a) Invest in skill sets that will pay. No use learning something just because you like it. Learn something for which companies are willing to pay top dollar.
b) Certifications - Get certified in things for which there will be a long-term demand. Not many developers do this. Build a diverse portfolio here. Just don't do all your certifications in Java for example. Something like Scrum, Salesforce, and AWS is a good mix.
2) Look at your colleagues who are 10+ years older than you and ask yourself if you want to be doing the same stuff they are doing today. If the answer is no, find out what you need to do differently so as not to land in the same position as theirs ten years from now.
3) Read, Read, Read: Readers are Leaders / Leaders are Readers.
Update : Dec 3 2015
I just signed a new deal this week, that will net me around ~155K in my first year at this new place. So i am back here to share a new lesson:
- Confidence: This was something I lacked a few years ago, mainly because of my own technical shortcomings. After having followed steps 1 through 3 above, over the years I seem to have (unconsciously) developed a sense 'dont give a crap' about my job security.
Don't get me wrong. I try to have the humblest attitude at work. But i think when you lose the fear of losing and know that the world's your oyster, people will respect that.
I politely declined their initial offer at first. But they liked me so much they went out of their way to finally give me more than what i asked for. Lesson learnt - a humble attitude combined with no sense of fear of losing can be a lethal (and a very rewarding) combination.
PS: I see a lot of valid points of the 'location matters' here. For the record, I live and work in the suburbs of St. Louis, MO. By no means, a big town compared to the likes of Silicon Valley or New York.
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