The case of Marissa Mayer, Yahoo CEO is a rare case in the programming world. She is probably the "most challenging CEO in history", she not only could not revive Yahoo, but also squandered an additional $ 2 billion "shopping" a few dozen more startups (and it all failed). punctuation).
Yet she is still paid "faint". According to Fortune , she is about to receive $ 123 million … because she failed.
In general, people often think that programmers are too "expensive".
Like Mayer, it is often said that programmers are overestimated, that they simply aren't worth it.
But you know the truth yourself .
You work extremely hard to get each of your paychecks. You are more than worth considering. But the amount of work you have to do does not always bring about the salary you want.
For most programmers, their salary is indeed not worthy.
Can you make more money? If you follow the steps below, you will not only be able to increase your salary, but also if you increase it significantly.
As always, "want to eat, go to the kitchen" if you can't work hard, maybe this is not an article for you. Because this is probably one of the most difficult things in my career.
Most dev "fear" salary increases …
Heard "snobbing" too? Salary increase so who does not like? Of course, those who are afraid of "heat".
These are programmers with external locus syndrome of control . They believe that their career is shaped primarily by factors they cannot control.
This misconception revolves around …
- Scarcity . “High positions are not many, there is not always room for that. If someone is up, then surely it is my turn "
- Affordability . "The company does not seem to have enough financial strength to raise its salary."
- Limit . “I have no leadership qualities. I lack the credibility and lack of a leader's skill. I don't want to be responsible for a bunch of people, projects, departments, … "
- Awareness . “You can't get a raise or promotion if you're not groomed or tidy. If you don't turn into a manager's "pet", don't expect high wages. "
Did you recognize it? These programmers cannot control their careers, but passively wait for everything to happen. They will not achieve desire in life without taking control now.
These factors are really uncontrollable
Even if the above concepts are correct. So you're really unlucky. Should you let go of the opportunity to increase "reasonable" wages.
Of course not. When you are really talented, the salary increase is not related to external factors, it's all for you. And the problem lies right here, a question that no dev can answer.
Why does my boss have to raise my salary?
I want this. I need him to raise wages. I want him to pay attention, recognize my hard work and dedication to the company. But in fact, that's not the boss's problem, it 's your job . Inexperienced programmers often direct their answers to themselves, with descriptive statements like "I am a good / talented employee" or "I am very listening".
Sometimes boss does not pay attention to you
You are a hardworking, dedicated, talented employee. You listen and always care about work. Your boss is not new. Why so?
Because that is the starting standard. You obviously have to work hard, obviously a devoted employee. In fact, there is only one factor to consider salary increase or promotion.
Results .
There are two types of results …
- Ordinary results . You work very well. If you are dev JavaScript dev, your code is very clean, efficient, economical, …
- Conversion results . These results bring significant improvements to the company, the industry or the customer. It may simply be some general knowledge, or more detail, a special part.
Why are these results so important? The result is normally built trust. Your boss will be able to invest in you more, if they trust you.
- Trust manifests in many forms . It creates prestige at work. Trust build reputation – create safety. If you claim that you can achieve results that no one has achieved before, or require a certain investment, trust is the "currency" that makes bets.
- The nature of conversion results is strange . These types of results are often quite dangerous, risky and intense. Before achieving this, these types of goals look "impossible". But when it succeeds, it will bring great power, power and resources.
The result will look like the following .
Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp, had serious problems, not knowing what to do. He wanted to develop his business in a new direction but did not know how to program.
You know a little about design, but that's not enough. He tried to learn more PHP himself, but did not have the motivation to pursue. So he posted a blog for help …
… That's why he met David Heinemeier Hanson . David responded, helping Jason solve the problem. They started working together, David tried his best to build trust and create common results . They finally worked together with the first Basecamp version, and David wrote all the code in this version.
At this point, the conversion result begins to appear. David exported Ruby on Rails from his work in Basecamp, launched (in open source) in 2004 and share commits in 2005. Ruby on Rails has since been used by many large companies like Shopify, Airbnb. , Twitch, Hulu and SoundCloud.
Ruby on Rails brought Basecamp to the top position in the market; By January 2016, more than 1.2 million websites were running Ruby on Rails. Since then, Basecamp has indirectly attracted attention and investment from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Your boss wants both regular results and conversion results . But they won't care about the conversion change until they trust you to achieve normal results . Because the transition results are often high risk; and trust will be a lever for them to give you the opportunity.
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That opportunity is the basis for you to get a raise. But how do you open your mouth to ask, and when?
Step 1: The problems before starting
Of course, difficulties and fatigue are inevitable. So you need to get ahead and solve them before things get worse. Moreover, when ignored, these problems are at risk of causing serious consequences.
- Limited recruitment agreement . Some agreements contain employers who keep all the software you make. This is a "legal disaster" that risks pushing your life "away from home." In most cases, employers should not have developer ownership, especially if they quit.
- You are not recognized as an "A star" . Maybe you are superstar, maybe not. If not, you should try now. If you are really talented, you need to be recognized properly.
- Your boss is greedy . Reputation, power, money and prestige arouse the most evil qualities of a human being. You make something great and sometimes your boss will win the effort of others. You need to know how to handle it in such a case.
This is not all the problem you need to handle, but still the three most important issues. Always solve them when you're ready.
Step 2: Find the most appropriate problem solving
You need to make a list of issues to solve. These problems can be directed to the company itself, for both a programming / design industry, or an incident that only affects customers. You need these issues to:
- Become useful to employers . When the most important issues are resolved, employers will enjoy the reputation, money, opportunity, and prestige from the respective solution. Be devoted to the employer and you will enter the legend.
- Be so important . Choose which issues have the potential to be strong and wide. Whether it's a company, an industry, or a customer issue; then the problem should still be "intense" for people to acknowledge, and "grateful" to the solution.
You should start approaching the problem by asking, asking people about the problem they are having. So who should I ask?
- Colleagues . You can ask anyone in the company, other developers, marketer, sale, manager, … or even a former colleague. Ask them about the current difficulties, and also in the past. But "try" to appear natural, like during a lunch conversation.
- Customers If the boss is "pretty" to trust you, ask for permission to interview the customer. If the boss is not too confident, try out non-customers and interview them. You only need five to ten minutes more than enough.
- Influence . List the influencer for each issue, but don't contact them yet. Each influencer has an audience that may be having problems you will solve,
When interviewing, how should we ask questions?
- In the process of working, what problems did you most encounter?
- Why is the problem so difficult?
- Is there anyone else that you know of this problem?
- If the problem is left open, what are the consequences?
- If you want to solve, which direction will you go?
- What are you most worried about in this regard?
Don't forget to change some questions to suit each subject.
Step 3: Find solutions to the problem
Take some time to consider the issues listed. Which problem (if solved) has the greatest impact on work? What problem can you solve? How solve? What will you do to improve everyone's situation?
Briefly outline your idea, but don't rush to do anything specific. Bring this idea to the people you interviewed, and those who didn't answer the interview , and ask feedback from them.
Record these valuable feedbacks .
Visit the influencer. Focus on those who are involved in the problem. Be real straightforward and go straight to the problem, avoid spam, winding.
Continue to record these valuable feedbacks .
Rest for a day or so, then come back to analyze the feedback received. Find similarities, do people raise similar content? Find conflicting points, your colleagues agree or disagree with influencer? Why?
Decide based on the feedback received. You need to meet the following four criteria:
- Bring "leverage" . With "leverage," your solution can be helpful in five or fifty thousand people without you "just holding the handle."
- Attract followers . A large follower will help you get more "leverage" and strength. Entering the email list with 50,000 people, 100,000 Facebook fans, connecting with 2.4 million people via LinkedIn will greatly increase your credibility.
- You are the controller . You must protect yourself. Make sure all agreements are correct, and your solution should not be developed on company resources or assets, try to keep everything clear.
- Easy to apply solution . Almost every dev has a bad habit of … complicating things up. But if you want the solution to be commonly used, it must be very simple.
- Safe to use . Make sure your solution is … legal. Applications must not violate or break the law and company regulations. Don't push your boss into the "labor" path.
If you think your boss will "open up" to your plan, spend some more time explaining this plan in a little more detail. On the other hand, if the boss is not too concerned, keep the necessary details for yourself.
Want specific examples? Here are some "mirrors" for your reference.
- Dr. Pete Meyers of Moz found that marketer specializing in search engines encountered a problem. They need to monitor Google updates on search algorithms. Solution? MozCast , a micro-site that displays updates and changes with Google's algorithm.
- Matt Cutts is the head of Google's Webspam team. He wrote the SafeSearch version (one of Google's first Google Search filters). He spends most of his time and energy trying to increase and improve the search engine's language ability. He had to write many blog posts, create videos, chat with thousands of people to help people produce quality content. Therefore, he is no different from "a bit of a celebrity", even his fans have their own name "Cuttlers".
- Matt Mullenweg separates b2 and creates WordPress. CNET recognizes the power of WordPress, and decides to recruit Matt to help them further improve WordPress. Changing conversions automatically attracts opportunities and people about Matt, helping him have the time and resources needed to continue his passion – perfecting WordPress.
- Jessica Hische is an artist and writer specializing in typography. She is famous for her blog posts and daily cap drop tips. She decided to share her views on her special career through a funny diagram "Should I Work Not Working?" This content "scratches the itch" and is shared by many "big hands" like Fast Company, Lifehacker, Seth Godin, and AdWeek.
Step 4: Show everyone the results
This is done. You have got a solution to the stubborn problem. It's time to announce to the world. This is an important step, which many programmers still use. They created a great solution, then feared without promoting it – It's wasteful, and disastrous.
At first, no one cares.
At first, most people don't care what you can do. They don't care what you have achieved, or your incredible work ethic, even the depth of knowledge.
You have to answer the question "What benefit do I get?" In order to attract support.
This is how.
- Share the solution . Communicate with everyone – customers, colleagues, influencer – who have shared feedback or helped you in some way. Chat about them. Show them how much their ideas have helped, made a difference, … Show sincerity, and express gratitude.
- Follow those who object . All colleagues, good customers or influencers have ignored you or refused to help. Show them the solution and thank them for taking the time. If they are willing to accept the idea, don't be selfish. Ask them to add ideas to improve in the future.
- Turn supporters into "heroes" . Publicly honoring those who have supported you. If you use Twitter or Facebook, don't forget to tag them.
- Share the story again and again . There will always be people who haven't heard the story yet. Those who are unfamiliar with the conversion results you have created. Share your difficulties, processes, successes. And Still be thankful and kind.
- Nurture new relationships . If you're still doing it right now, you should have a support list, containing about 10 – 50 influencers that you have a chance to work with. Find ways to maintain these relationships, learn about them, spend time with them, honor them with your work.
- Become a "mister" . If you've built up such relationships, you'll start to see vulnerabilities, "empty areas" that your supporters can help each other. Ask for permission, and if they nod, introduce them to each other.
Work hard and everyone around you will recognize. Increase your reputation in the industry and you have attracted the attention of your superiors.
Please note everything. Any data, knowledge you have gathered, all the results you have achieved, no matter how small, useless or "digress". So, you are ready for every possible opportunity.
Step 5: Share the results, demanding what you value
Ask to meet the boss. Don't be selfish, direct this meeting to them. "Transforming" the problem towards meeting their needs.
- They want to increase the number of customers? Show them how your solution can attract customers.
- They want to increase market share? Show them this result can also do that.
- Are they looking for fame and prestige? Show them how people talk about you / them. Attach this fame to their efforts and efforts.
- Do they need more revenue? Prove that the solution will bring the right user class, the customer layer spend more money.
What if your boss refuses?
So if you spend a lot of time, the boss still laughs at you? Or maybe they are interested but do not want to raise wages? Quite annoying, but this is one of the many risks you face.
Do you remember your supporters? Colleagues, influencer and customers you have come to? Call on them again.
You have complete control over your work (because it is not legally binding), so you can completely follow any direction you choose. You can go to other businesses (through coworkers), make an appointment just like your boss talks.
If they want to invest, what's better, collaborate with them (freelance style).
You can reach each business or influencer and negotiate directly with them. You will offer benefits in the meeting, in exchange for money. There are many ways for you to "spread" your initiative.
Not all developers are paid too high wages (more than their capacity)
Marissa Mayer failed because she couldn't give results . But you don't have to stick to this "dump". You work extremely hard for each of your wages. If you do well, you're worth every penny, but more than that. Programmers, one of many other jobs, do not always get the corresponding value.
You can absolutely increase your income, create common value and convert if you want people to recognize their "superstar" talents.
Most developers ignore opportunities like this. Try to break away from the general group, becoming superstar to erase the notion of "overpaid developer" in the eyes of employers.