Tim Yandel has been a tech recruiter for nearly 7 years in Chicago, San Francisco and Boston. He currently heads up Workbridge Associates, a nationwide technology staffing firm located in Boston’s Back Bay. His office specifically places developers in the Boston Metro area on both a permanent and contract basis. Tim lives by the mantra that relationships truly matter in recruiting. Get in touch with Tim by emailing him at timothy.yandel@workbridgeassociates.com. You can also find him on Twitter @tyandel.
Tim runs the show at Workbridge, a local recruiter
The news is constantly reminding us how the U.S. economy is in a state of recovery. For that reason, this seems to be an employer’s market. The attitude most hiring manager’s seem to take is that they could throw a quarter out the window and find someone qualified for whatever position they’re hiring for. So why is it so hard to find a software developer in Boston?
Take five minutes to scan the room at the next local tech networking event you’re at, and you’ll certainly see name tags that read, “I’m Hiring Devs.” Call any startup founder in the city and you’ll hear the same. There’s no doubt, if you’re a developer in Boston, demand flows the other way, and you’re the one throwing the quarters and hitting hiring managers on the head.
But what are they really worth and why are they so hard to find?
Talk to someone who’s trying to hire a developer, and you’ll see they’re pulling their hair out, understaffed, and not knowing why they’re not getting applications. And when HR pros can find devs, they often are not moving quickly enough or being competitive enough, and they wind up getting outbid. In the insulated world of the Boston developer, there is no recession in the job market – rather they are peeking out into the unknown asking the very personal question: “what am I worth?”
This is a fair question, whether they are looking for a job or not, because they only stay relevant by constantly sharpening their skills on the most cutting edge technology out there.
All you developers out there, think of yourself like Schwarzenegger in the movie Commando preparing to go into the final battle with the enemy, sharpening his knife and adding weapons to his tool belt, ready to take everyone on.
So if you’re a developer ready to take on the big bad job market, which knives (skills) do you need to sharpen? What new weapons (technologies) do you need to add to your belt (resume)? The most important question is which are the right technologies and tools to learn so you can bring the most to the table next time you’re looking for a job?
Here are my thoughts about how skills translate in the current market conditions in Boston:
Tim Yandel's Twitter Avatar
Java Developer (J2EE, Spring, Hibernate)
1 -3 years of experience: $60K – $80K
3 -5 years of experience: $85K – $95K
5 years plus: $90K – 110K
7+ years (Architect level): $105K – $135K
How to be a rockstar Java developer: add Flex, Lucene, Hadoop or Rails for a boost of $5K – $10K.
If you do not have Spring and/or Hibernate, subtract $5K – $10K from these figures.
.NET Developer (C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET or Winforms)
1 -3 years of experience: $60K – $75K
3 -5 years of experience: $70K – $95K
5 years plus: $90K – 110K
7+ years (Architect level): $105K – $135K
How to be a rockstar .NET developer: add Flex, Silverlight, UI technologies like AJAX and Javascript for a $5K boost.
Ruby on Rails Developer (NHibernate, Mongrel)
1 – 3 years of experience with stability: $65K – $80K
3+ years experience with stability: $80K – $110K
How to be a rockstar (or as the RoR enthusiast call you “Ninja”) RoR developer: Add some stability to your resume along with Java or another object orientated language for a boost of $5K-$10K.
UI Developer (Flash, JSP/ASP, CSS, AJAX, jQuery, Javascript)
1 – 3 years of experience: $50K – $70K
3 – 5 years of experience: $65K – $85K
5+ years: $80K – $110K
How to be a rockstar UI developer: add Flex to your resume and it instantly bumps you to rockstar status, bringing an extra +5K-$15K.
PHP Developer (Drupal, Cake, Zend)
1 – 3 years of experience: $65K – $80K
3 – 5 years of experience: $80K – $11oK
5+ years (with an O.O. background): $115K – $130K
How to be a rockstar PHP developer: add Facebook API experience and that bumps you up $2K-$5K.
iPhone Developer
1-3 years of experience: $90K – $130KThe iPhone skill set is usually best if added onto one of the skill sets listed above. Of course, if you’re a mobile developer with heavy J2ME or C++ or something I haven’t mentioned, adding iPhone experience to your tool belt will put you at near rockstar status.
If you have thoughts on these figures, or are looking for developers and are willing to shell out the above fees, leave a message in the comments section. What can Boston do to attract more developer talent to the area? Let us know.
Tags: Guest Posts, Lists
