My experience is to get into IT in comparison with a tambovka taxi driver

Hello, friends!

For me, 2017 has become in a sense a turning point. I changed my occupation. Perhaps it would have happened earlier, but I did not see a reason to move into a new profession. However, it so happened that two of my startups ordered to live long for a number of reasons, including their own inexperience. Family circumstances and changes in psychology with age, apparently, also influenced me and I thought about entering the profession before the train left.
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What prompted me to write a note? Of course, the notorious surgeon. And now the story of a taxi driver . We will not touch the article about the surgeon, everything is already said there. But with a forty-year taxi driver more interesting. In short, the author claims that at one time he abandoned the medical college, went to taksovat, protaks the 90s, 2000s, got three children, in 2012 he suddenly became a 1C programmer. “My monthly income has grown to 315 thousand, and this is not the limit,” the author writes.

Where do they pay so much?

For a start, I will try to adequately talk about how the process of getting a new profession takes place in me and why some information about the industry in the taxi driver’s article seems to me an ugly exaggeration.

So, I'll start with myself. I am 32, I have a wife and a small child. Behind the military and legal education + wagon skills from business and related fields. I never took a tax in my life, although I thought about it. In my free time I prefer to educate myself. One way or another faced with system administration and web development since 2009. Until recently, I did not receive any professional education or training in this field. I study English independently. Because of which I translate the texts well. Slowly, but still translate and complex texts, with twisted speech turns. Speaking by ear I perceive adequately, which allows you to receive online education in English. However, not very good in speaking. I intend to tighten this shortcoming in the near future. Since 2012, I became aware of such a profession as a software tester. I will not go into details, but I know very well what testing is, what its tasks are, what it is, what it looks like in different companies and where it leads in career and in life. Personal contact with many experts in the industry allowed me to make a picture of the world. From ordinary testers to PM and DevOps.

A small digression. In 2009, I met with the chief information security specialist in one large bank (I didn’t get it). His entry into the industry was very entertaining. Instrument builder by education, sysadmin by vocation. Somewhere in 2005, I decided to stretch a lokalku in the stairwell. Then a neighbor drunk into the smoke falls out of the elevator, looks at what is happening and says: “Do you know how to use computer grids? Do you want to work in a bank? ”I left my business card and went to bed. It turned out that his neighbor was the head of the security department. Then there was a bunch of interviews. The guy eventually took. He is now a professional with vast experience, specialized education. This is the most sparkling change of profession in my memory.

A similar case almost happened to me in 2010. Then I was invited for an interview at a subsidiary of the legal systems "Garant". Then they wanted to make a portal for accountants. And we began to move, but not destiny. Investors have decided that the project is unpromising and with high risks against the background of instability in the economy. I was 24 then, but they didn’t send me to hell, but they seriously talked about the project and were interested.
What are these fables for? To the fact that five or seven years ago, in some professions they took hardly from the street. There was a lack of personnel and the availability of money. What now? And now I will tell you what the entrance to the industry looks like at the end of 2017 from the bell tower of a software IT tester.

About a year ago, things in my startup went bad, and I began to earn money, and then earn freelancing. My interests included small works that can be quickly completed and get paid. There was everything. From installing SSL on a VPS to writing simple business process logic for Bitrix 24. Of course, there were also websites. Sites ready to see quite a lot. Basically, this is Wordpress with some kind of plugin for WYSIWYG layout, or content embedded directly into the template. But there were also good, good projects, with which it was pleasant to work. When you see how people have correctly configured the server, bypassed the “bottlenecks” with the performance of the framework, made a stylish and competent front-end, then you get aesthetic pleasure. There were also own projects. In them, I realized my knowledge and skills and always tried to set myself a task more and more difficult. Appeared developments on communication with customers. So far, I use a free Slack account. I made myself an account on Bitbucket. Developed requirements for typical projects and documentation on how to test these projects.

I do not know about the rest, but when I worked as a freelancer, I needed to know everything at once. Let shallow, like, say the developer. But still. The freelancer of the average hand, in my opinion, should know:

• The basics of HTML-CSS-Javascript-PHP-MySQL so as to impose a simple website yourself and pull the layout on the same Opencart, for example
• Good at SEO
• Well-versed in contextual advertising, otherwise you will be messed up in sites such that customers simply merge money
• At a minimum, a good idea to understand about traffic from social networks
• At least a little hack chip in system administration. To be able to optimize databases, web servers I mean apache-nginx, configure sending mail from the server to the client (recover password, for example), backups, logs, understand the security of servers in terms of competent work with the server and applications.
• To be able to communicate with the client, listen to him, look for a solution that has common sense and is most beneficial for the client and freelancer.
• Be able to attract customers in the end.

Of course, many things can be outsourced, but freelancers are literate experts worth their weight in gold. And time is even more expensive. I have an excellent partner in the field of contextual advertising with an impeccable reputation, and we help each other in each area.

However, distracted. In the paragraph above, I wanted to tell you that I have a view in the subject area. But I was not satisfied with the scenarios, when I had to communicate with non-professional clients, who themselves did not want to understand anything even at the level of educational program, and regarded the opinion of a specialist as an empty sound. I adore my clients and understand that they don’t have to know everything, but why don’t patients teach a surgeon how to hold a scalpel? Apparently, because they are under anesthesia ...

"This is freelancing," you will say, and you will be right. Therefore, I began to look towards working in the company. I have long been interested in testing. I foresee the comments that QA is fu-fu-fu and in general undecay. But, as Bill Gates once said, Microsoft is considered a software developer, but the company spends 30% of its resources on development, and the remaining 70% on testing. Yes, I have far-reaching career plans, but I will not share them in this article. So, for half a year I have read a lot of materials on testing and QA in general. Passed a number of English-language courses, very high quality, by the way. Now I am looking for suitable projects in open source in order to gain experience. And already there are some interview results. For a start, I sent a resume to HH to three companies, answered in one. And one company itself invited for an interview. About interviews and talk. Both interviews left a pleasant impression, gave the experience and understanding that it is necessary to improve skills. It was about the job of manual testing.

In the first company, Euchar and a local technician-teacher-QA-engineer talked with me. The technical specialist went through all the points of the resume. What operating systems did it work with, what did it do there, what did it do with sites, what did it do with databases, tell me about XML, what is the namespace, make a query on the database, have you heard about JOIN? Why is it? Then they gave me a reading of the paragraph in English (the text was easy) and exchanged a couple of phrases. What did you do with javascript? Which HTML tag refreshes the page?

Then about testing. What types of testing do you know? How does one differ from the other? Along the way, I additionally talked about the waterfall and V-model development models, that the second is better than the first and vice versa. Then they gave a “test” form on a piece of paper. Tested division into decimals. I did “Positive testing”, but then, after the interview, I realized that I was fatally stupid and didn’t check the main thing - I didn’t ask what sign is valid in the fraction value and didn’t offer a test case on this topic either.

Finally, they asked where he studied testing and read whether there were some two books (Russian speakers, by the way, in Russian). Of course, asked the desired RFP. I asked exactly as much as we have on average in the market in the industry for the June. For if you are a dummy, they won't take you for a penny. And if not a fool, then why spoil the market? Just talked a half hour. As a result, a refusal came from this company with the motivation “insufficient English and technical skills”, with a recommendation to read these two books in Russian, an invitation to submit a resume in a month and the option of training for company courses with “guaranteed employment”. As I understand it, the courses are free, but with the selection of candidates.

In the second company I visited a week later and with might and main the steeples of the technical part, plus the theory of testing. The interview was three times shorter. The technician who came to interview me turned out to be a woman in years, very pleasant. It can be seen that she cuts the chip in testing, but it seemed that every day the interview does not lead. They told about the company, their projects, customers, asked where he studied, how he trained, from which he suddenly suffered in testing. They asked what they read and what was not clear there or raised questions. It was not easy only with English. Gave a hand a paragraph of text. Sit down, they say, three minutes, now we will come. I read, and there such speech turns are, that I somehow understand everything, but how is it possible to translate this into Russian in a human way? As a result, I collected in my head the best option and issued. In general, they did not inquire in detail. They asked about the RFP. Pointed on the market. The techie was obviously in a hurry to get back to work and, at my request, asking me tricky questions, she said evasively, that all the answers are in the directory, that they should be asked? I did not understand which side to consider this remark, but I decided to take it as a positive assessment, it’s easier for me.

So friends, I'm waiting for the results of the second interview. I would be glad if they take. I will prepare further if they do not take it. And where does a taxi driver, a programmer?

Go to the final part. Yes, I have no one in the profile field. However, common sense allows me to assume that the author of the article indicated above is disingenuous. On Habré there was an excellent material with analytics of salaries from Head Hunter. It reflects the average market wages and even extreme values. Based on these data, I dare to assume that the income of 315,000 rubles (and this is not the limit) indicated by the author of the article about a taxi driver is a fiction. Since the sample of vacancies offers such salaries only in senior positions in the industry. The business development specialization is selected to the 300,000 bar. But in this case, business education and experience in business are definitely required, and only then IT skills. There are few such specialists, hence the salary. However, pay attention to the extreme values. The median is 130-150 thousand rubles.

Next, let's talk about the hero of that article and his biography, based on the information that the author gives us. We found out that in the distant 90s, people quit nursing and go to taxi drivers. Having worked for more than 20 years in the industry, knowing almost everything about it, the author did not realize that you can calculate all the costs of depreciation and fuel, get acquainted with credit products, calculate the minimum payment + expenses + insurance, buy a new car and put the poor fellow there. Then buy another car, and then another ... For example, in Saratov in 2012, such a "collective farm" car brought the owner 25,000 rubles of revenue per month, 10,000 went for a loan. While the machine is new, it almost does not require maintenance. Fuel is always paid by the driver who rents it. On the neck of the owner of the car remains rubber consumables. Profitability of one car, I believe, readers will calculate it themselves. In addition to the prices of fuel, consumables and rental of such cars, nothing else has changed. The owners do not want to lose profits and they are fine. Replacing ushatannuyu car bought, as a rule, already in leasing or at their own expense. There is still more interesting, but this is the topic of a separate article.

Go ahead. “Taxing every year was increasingly difficult due to dumping and competition. I tried all the taxis and aggregators, I had to work 11 hours a day, and received 45,000 net per month, of which I spent on gasoline and car services, paid for an accident. To this we add the unreliable customers who canceled the call and refused to pay for it, ”the author writes. A real taxi driver usually does not pay taxes and considers the money “clean”, which remains after spending on fuel, maintenance, payment of mobile Internet and aggregator services. And the statement about “unreliable customers who canceled the call and refused to pay for it” suggests that the author did not work at all in a taxi. Because under the terms of the services, the client does not owe anything to anyone before boarding the car. For some reason, we are not told in which year the author received his 45 thousand. And on which chart. Only complaints that I had to work 11 hours a day. I will reveal a little secret, but in any work you have to plow for 10-12 hours a day. In business or in hiring. Or on free bread. Everywhere you have to plow like a damn. For comparison, in Saratov, in one well-known taxi drivers earn 40% of the check by car from a taxis. With a schedule of 15 work shifts, it turns out 20 to 30 thousand. Depends on the duration of the working day. Those who plow like damn pull out and 60 per month clean. These are usually single men or such young fathers. For a beggar Saratov, this is normal money and the same IT people and intellectuals willingly go there, if you have a bummer with work, but you want to make a penny.

And then only criticism. Due to the rich past, I had a chance to talk with 1C programmers. Alas, it does not end there with books. Nobody will talk to you unless you are hung like a Christmas tree with different yellow certificates. But our author just got out from behind the wheel for two months (with such a difficult life, when there is not enough money for anything) he read two books and after 20 years a taxi driver with an unending secondary vocational education suddenly becomes a programmer with 1C franchisee. Bravo!

Further, our hero wanted Tuareg. He already receives half a year 55 thousand. After 45, which is not enough. And then he is raised to 85 in six months. We will not even go to Headhunter or any superjob, so as not to get upset. In Tambov, such salaries for 1C juniors are not and have not been. Here the hero wanted Wolksvagen Tuareg and something similar - his wife. By the way, this model in a good configuration with a 6-cylinder turbodiesel cost about 3 million rubles for the money. Suppose the author has his own apartment. And the wife, apparently, sits with the children. Of course you need to buy a pair of Tuareg for 6 million. And then we are told a new episode, where as many as working on Saturdays, a person hammered an average of 140 thousand in 2013. Fortunately, I know such a 1C-entrepreneur. He laughed at the voice of this story. Although the life and income does not complain.

Further history, in my opinion, is complete nonsense and profanation.

- Offer of 210 thousand in Tambov, without experience in C ++, for a month and a half of reading books. No comments…
- Offer for 315 thousand in Java and Scala without experience in the first and second. No comments…

“I understand how important functional programming is for the development of the economy, so for a year I have been teaching Scala on courses from our company at one of the technical universities, and from 2018 I will also teach Haskell,” the author writes. I have a request to tell in which universities are allowed to students without higher education in a profile specialty or without a degree? I also have something to tell a smart audience.

“Every student should now be able to use basic monads: IO, Maybe, [] (list), Either. This will allow him to find a job in the future and save the economy from imbalances and shortages of personnel. ”Doesn't the author think that such shameless propaganda of“ go-go ”just creates imbalances in the economy and cheapens the work of specialists?

By the way, while writing this article, the answer came from the second company. There is also a failure. “It seemed to the technical management that you are not motivated enough for testing and it is unclear why you need QA against the background of development experience. But technical and theoretical knowledge for this vacancy is sufficient, ”Eychar said in a private conversation. Well, let's go and gain experience on open-source projects, polish knowledge and skills of testing, take freelancing testing projects and put in portfolio, improve English and pass new interviews.
Or is it better to go to 1C programmers?

PS I invite in the comments of experts who understand the market wages and can professionally evaluate my assumptions.