Tom,
As someone who grew up under a communist regime, I absolutely love your
anti-protectionist attitude. However, I have a factual issue with what you said
about IT salaries:
Look at your market. The "big" consulting firms
charge much more and pay their people much more.
How come they are getting it and you are not?
That's the question you need to ask. You
shouldn't be looking for protection from the
marketplace, you should be looking for ways to
excel in it.
I have worked for two of the Big consulting firms for several year. I am very
familiar with their particular way of doing business and I'd like to make two
points.
1. Hourly Rates
In my case, I was billed out at ~$350/hour while making $80K/year. The easy
conclusion is: cut out the middle man and take $350/hour for yourself. A
slightly more thoughtful conclusion is: cut my rate down to say, $250, since I
no longer have a shiny midtown office with a support staff, enterprise
hardware/licenses ready to go, etc, etc. But the real deal is something else
altogether. The real reason managers hire the big guns is risk assurance, or
what is known in consultant speak as "you can't get fired for choosing IBM".
The second you are no longer with a big firm, your bid will never even make to
due diligence stage of the proposal process, let alone pass it.
If you don't believe me, look at recruiters. I am a freelancer now, working
through agencies. They make a percentage of what I make and therefore would
LOVE to get me a higher rate. They simply can't though. I work with several
good agencies and the rates are similar across the board even while they can't
find enough people. That tells you something right there about the market.
2. Salaries
There are indeed people making excellent money at big consulting firms. They
are called partners. They may be former engineers, but believe me the only way
that they make top bonuses etc is if they SELL. If you see a consultant making
really good money, it's because they've been selling projects and just haven't
made the full transition from a techie to a partner yet. You will invariably
see them in project manager roles, which is the bridge.
I quit big consulting in 2003 and I've been fairly successful as a freelancer.
I also happen to support your viewpoint a 100%, both what you said about the
evils of regulation (be it unions, licenses, or whatever) and taking personal
responsibility for what we choose to do and for how much. However, facts are
facts - IT people make less than others when compared in terms of education and
skills, and you did go a little bit Ayn Rand on us when you said that we should
be looking to excel instead of complaining. I'd love to live in a world where
working hard gets me a pass to a mountain paradise of prosperity but it's just
not the case. Let's face it, we do what we do because we like it... not because
we couldn't get more mileage elsewhere on same brainpower.
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