Java Developer Salary/Career advice

irishguy

Could someone give me an idea what a java developer with 2 years experience would expect to be getting. Experience with spring,jsp,tiles, websphere, maven,Junit. I was thinking around 40k+.

Also what would the salary progression prospects be as a Java developer? I am currently trying to decide if i should say as a developer or move into the business side of things... possibly accountancy, as I think in the longer term that there might be better opportunities in accountancy. Or should I stick it out and move into management in the future...


Ideas appreciated ...

buynow

I would say 40k euro for two years experience would be on the high end for a java developer in Ireland. 35 would be the middle , 30 the low side.

As for switching to Accounting, that is 3-4 more years to do that and then you have to work as an apprentice for something like 20k for another bit(don't know how long or if that is even paid).

And don't forget it is not all about money, if you enjoy programming, that is worth something.

Maybe you should consider a masters in management or business, accounting is something different to this.

easyontheeye

it seems accounting is becoming the lure IT/Engineering use to be. everyone seems to be doing it now. It would be a very long road OP. you would be looking at 3-4 years low 20s...if your willing to live with that then go for it. otherwise knuckle down and try to forge out a successful career in IT.

my 2cents, i think the way the trend is going in IT, it wouldnt be bad idea to start moving towards the business side of things... development and some support can always move overseas but analysis and management will to most degrees always stay close to the business. IT is becoming a resource now a black box that just delivers into the business.

cronos

easyontheeye wrote: »

it seems accounting is becoming the lure IT/Engineering use to be. everyone seems to be doing it now. It would be a very long road OP. you would be looking at 3-4 years low 20s...if your willing to live with that then go for it. otherwise knuckle down and try to forge out a successful career in IT.

my 2cents, i think the way the trend is going in IT, it wouldnt be bad idea to start moving towards the business side of things... development and some support can always move overseas but analysis and management will to most degrees always stay close to the business. IT is becoming a resource now a black box that just delivers into the business.

I have to agree with this, I was personally hoping to be able to come out of college and into a role as a systems/business analyst. However I appear to have ended up in a java dev and support role. I plan to move within the company though to a systems analyst role when it comes up. Or an architecture role. Both of these are difficult to do from outside the problem domain (ie the business in ireland)

jaggiebunnet

I disagree to a cetrain extent - not necessarily with the sentiments posted exactly but with the fact that if you are thinking about long term out of development you must have more ambition to just being a developer your whole career. I was a developer for 10 years, loved a lot of the time but realised that there is very much a cap on how much you are going to make as a developer, plus you do way too much overtime in general - deadlines are always tighter for those that produce stuff!!

My buddy switched from dev/analysis to management accounting took him 4 years and a lot of late nights after work studying and exams, got a great job out of it with his experience too so you would not need to take a salary drop to go into this area, just work like a mad thing and try and gain some experience in that area in your day to day job.

It comes down to you basically, do you want to be a developer for the rest of your life? Nothing wrong with that if you do - but in my experience you will hit a salary cap eventually - remember you might have 10 years experience down the line, but there will be someone with 3 or 4 who is 20k cheaper and can cut the code as well as you!

jon1981

I do agree with what your saying, but you will find in most technical roles 10+ years experience becomes irrelevant, you rarely see jobs asking for more than 10yrs experience in IT unless your talking architect/senior BA roles which involves some people management too.

So it is obvious that as a developer/tester/engineer you will hit a cap quite quickly unless you have an obvious niche skillset/knowledge which is hard to replace ( gives you some bargaining power)

out of curiousity is your freind back up to where he was salary wise?

jaggiebunnet

jon1981 wrote: »

I do agree with what your saying, but you will find in most technical roles 10+ years experience becomes irrelevant, you rarely see jobs asking for more than 10yrs experience in IT unless your talking architect/senior BA roles which involves some people management too.

That's exactly the point i was trying to make - after x amount of years it is not worth paying you more than someone with half your experience or less.

jon1981 wrote: »

out of curiousity is your freind back up to where he was salary wise?

He is yeah - in saying that i think he took a dip to come back to Cork where the wages are not as good as London, Dublin etc..

luckat

What about PHP programming? Is there a fair amount of work in this, and what pay level? Public sector, private sector? What kind of firms?

cronos

luckat wrote: »

What about PHP programming? Is there a fair amount of work in this, and what pay level? Public sector, private sector? What kind of firms?

best way to check is to look up a jobs site. But my short answer would be very little jobs in it. In either public or private sector

irishguy

Thanks for the advice. I don't want to be a developer for the rest of my life (not saying that I don't like it or anything) to progress you cant stay a developer, unless you contract. I would consider moving into management/project management if i stayed in IT.
I taught 40k would be the medium to low with 2-3 years experience with a number of grad programs offering 30 - 35k.
I was think accountancy as I am rater interested in it and even if I didn't take it up as a career it would help to become and IT manager.
It would take about 2 1/2 years to do all the exams (which could be done while i am working in IT) then 3 years experience to fully qualify.

The other option is to move to london and you would still get VERY good money staying as a programmer.

My buddy switched from dev/analysis to management accounting took him 4 years and a lot of late nights after work studying and exams, got a great job out of it with his experience too so you would not need to take a salary drop to go into this area, just work like a mad thing and try and gain some experience in that area in your day to day job.

Did your friend do the exams while working in IT? What about the need to have 3 years practice experience to be qualified, I taught they would give you crap money till you had that too?
Do you know why he decided to move and does he regret it? Also did he find it hard to do the exams when he wasnt working in accounting ? Sorry for all the questions

I also might have the option of transferring into accounting where I work and not really dropping that much, its just I am not sure if its what I want to do yet.

jon1981

i think its only the ACA that you need work experience to qualify, i think the cima and acca are different, open to correction?

irishguy

ACCA and CIMA require 3 years experience

jon1981

yeah but you can get that after you get your acca or cima, i think for ACA you have to be getting your experience while doing the qualification. i have two freinds who are doing this, one doing CIMA and one doing ACA, neither are working in accountancy. I must ask them what the situation is on the experience.

luckat

cronos wrote: »

best way to check is to look up a jobs site. But my short answer would be very little jobs in [PHP]. In either public or private sector

Would others agree with this comment? If so, why? If not, other information?

irishguy

jon1981 wrote: »

yeah but you can get that after you get your acca or cima, i think for ACA you have to be getting your experience while doing the qualification. i have two freinds who are doing this, one doing CIMA and one doing ACA, neither are working in accountancy. I must ask them what the situation is on the experience.

Ah yes you need a training contract for ACA as its practice focused. Not sure if you can do it without that. I am only interested in ACCA of CIMA though, being kind of pushed towards CIMA as I think its more what I want. I could do the first 5 exams by self study (getting the Certificate in Business Accounting) then if I liked it I could go on a finish it, at which point I would hopefully get work to pay for it as its management focused. Now I just have to convince them to pay 7-8k for me to do it......

It would also seem like a very good qualification if I stayed in IT and progressed into management.