The reason is because IT in Malaysia is still fairly new, and hasn’t gained widespread adoption. At the same time, India and China are really big markets now, because of innovation and a vibrant mix of local and foreign players.

Our IT graduates are focussed mainly on development, not research. We’re way behind in terms of software – mainly because there’s too much emphasis on theory, instead of customers. My base observation is that companies typically use sales and project management staff to deal with customers, so a lot of programmers have zero to little idea of how to develop customer-centric software.

Anyway, I digress. If you’re in Malaysia and you’re doing software development, it is unlikely that your salary will hit RM7k for 6 years’ worth of slavery. This is true whether or not you’re a good programmer. (If you’re the exception, you can thank your lucky stars)

If you’re a project manager, 6 years’ worth of slavery might earn you RM6k and above. But then, I assume the work to be firefighting, especially when your software developers are paid peanuts.

Software developers are like the bottom of the food chain. There’s no glamour, no glory – and it’s crowded.

Just so you don’t think I’m crazy, I’m posting my interview with a recruitment agent from an established Malaysian recruitment company (ok, they *used* to advertise on the rear end of taxis/cabs). Her job involves hiring local IT grads for Malaysian companies, and she’s been doing that for the past 3 years.

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LW: What’s the average starting pay for a IT fresh grad now?

Agent: Average start is around RM1700-1800. But you do have candidates who are good, getting upto Rm2-3K for a Fresh Grad role as well… but that’s the highest and rare statistic

LW: rare as in …. 5%?

Agent: yup maybe around there… maybe even less

LW: what about [people with] 2 years experience?

Agent: Average IT person would be [earning] around RM2500? Rm2500-Rm3000 depending.

LW: what are the exceptions? RM4k?

Agent: possibly yes, but usually with 2 years, it shld be around Rm3500. [It] can go up to Rm2.5 – RM3.5k.

LW: okay, [what about] 4 years?

Agent: depends what area they are in. What area of IT. 4 years in the SAME Line without switching (e.g. programming for 4 yrs) would be around RM4K-6K, usually 6K on the high side… that’s for people who’ve moved into project management. So around Rm4-5k. Yeah, around Rm4-5K+ odd

LW: 6 years?

Agent: 6 years – you must ask me in what line. 6 years programming? 6 yrs in system support? A bit too general of a question. 6 years… in all technical? Or 6 years with some managerial experience?

LW: 6 yrs software development

Agent: all software development – about… Rm5-6++ as a programmer…. I’d say around Rm5k++, Rm6K onwards would be for a Project Manager etc.

LW: how much does a software developer earn in India, typically?

Agent: Don’t know about that. Don’t know Indian rates.

LW: If you had children, would you encourage them to do IT? [ed: Sorry, I had to do this. :P ]

Agent: Yes if that’s their passion.. but they’d really have to be different from the rest of the people out there… because there are too many people with IT degrees… the ones are gonna make it are the ones who can stand out in terms of skills, competence, and their ability to think differently, and that includes championing good ideas and having the initiative.

LW: Has the IT job outlook improved over the years, or declined?

Agent: Outlook for employers or employees?

LW: Both.

Agent: hmm, for employers, it’s declined a little… It’s getting harder to find the right people nowadays with a good fit in terms of the technical skills and the soft skills desired. Not enough good people in the market, and attracting them to the organization is also another challenge as employees are getting smarter and more demanding.

LW: So, it’s looking better for employees now, than in the past?

Agent: I think there’s a disparity between what people want out of their careers in IT and what companies here can give them. And as a result of this, people become mercenaries for the higher paying job. The roles of companies for IT in general, aren’t exactly very mind-blowing, even for managerial positions…

So while companies are trying to ’sell’ the organization and the job, trying to attract job seekers… it’s not really working so well because the average job seeker actually wants more than just a support role… or more than just an implementor role

LW: So what do employees really want out of the job these days? If it’s more than support and implementation?

Agent: aside from more money for rising living costs… i’m not really sure, but i think it’s got to do with a whole new level of a job per se… more interesting projects, not the run-of-the-mill support roles, or an outsourcing center…. maybe new projects involving innovation from scratch.. that’s designed/planned for here… something that people feel a sense of belonging.

The roles/projects we have here are implementation… people don’t identify with that.They never created the work…. they have no sense of belonging… and when that happens, you take less pride in what you do.

Hence you move around jobs quicker, if that makes sense.

LW: It makes a lot of sense. Do you forsee this scenario to change over the next few years? Malaysia is right in the middle of cheap-software-dev talent pool.

Agent: No, not in the next few years. Maybe in 10 years?

LW: That’s a long time, considering that software moves so fast.

Agent: Haha, there isn’t much sign of change happening for the big companies. No sign of creation of projects by Malaysians, written by Malaysians… Don’t know if it’s because Malaysians have yet to initiate such efforts in the first place, or is it a result of a lack of opportunities to display their abilities. Chicken or egg situation.

LW: Thanks for your time. If you had one advice for local IT grads out there, what would it be?

Agent: My advice would be to strive to be different – in terms of ideas, work approach….and to ensure they get solid technical experience to back them up.

LW: Sounds good. Thanks again!

[Interview date: Monday, June 16, 2008, 1pm]

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I don’t know if I got the job on that basis, but I did – so they put me on stretchers for the first few weeks, and got me hacking at a poorly written Java re-write of an equally poorly written ASP web application. I fumed at the mess, which led me to stuff like Apache Struts and n-tier architecture, MVC and all that stuff.

My boss decided then to throw me into the deep end of the pool and send me to Singapore to build a webapp on my own, with only the interface requirements provided. Fine, I thought. Let’s do it in ASP.NET (never touched it in my life).

I bought a book from Microsoft Press, sat down and implemented the first MVC app the company had ever produced without even knowing it. Plus, I never had a complaint from the client, either. So it was either really bad or really good.

Like all budding Malaysian engineers, I waited out to see if the company would reward me. I got a measly RM200 on my confirmation, and a subsequent increase of RM80 and RM100 during the yearly probation cycles. And to think that they pay the sales guys so much more than the engineers, no wonder this country is not going anywhere.

Maybe I’m wrong to think that companies should reward their pioneers. But they don’t. Most companies pay for employees to kowtow, because at the end of the day it’s the management who calls the shots. Here are some examples of kowtowism:

Overtime – a great way to show that you’re working your butt off, because the boss comes into the office at 12am too. Who cares if you’re not making real progress? Seat warming is where it counts.

Seniority – “I have 10 years of software experience and you don’t.” Get real.

Complicated code – Solve a problem fast by using tutorials and cut and paste. Easy.

Tunnel Vision - “yes I’ve fixed that problem”. But you’ve caused a few dozen more in the process.

Certifications and new programming languages – .NET exploded on the scene at the time. Anyone doing C# was worshiped at my office. I couldn’t care less.

At the end of the day, no matter how much I’ll rant, it doesn’t make a difference. Companies have already decided beforehand how much salary they will pay software engineers. There’s not a big difference in the scale vs. skill. This is what makes it so unnerving. Even more so are companies who are using software to make money.

But I regress. Software engineers need more than programming skills to survive. There’s no point in complaining otherwise.