August 12th, 2008 §
I’m almost done listening to the audio version of “The World is Flat” by Thomas L. Friedman.
When a friend first recommended it to me, I thought it was a boring history book (I was naive). It is a history book, but a brief one – about the 21st century. Friedman’s argument is that the US is losing ground to the rest of the world, particularly the East (esp. China and India), who have leveraged globalization, digitization, advances in logistics technologies and services, mobility, and the emerging flat-world culture.
I like the book, because it summarizes my observations of life, the world, and people in the last 8 years. I don’t like it because it’s highly US-centric, and offers very little help for other countries, particularly developing nations.
But it’s useful for us here in the East, especially if you are still oblivious as to why jobs are still moving to India and China, and what you can do to remain employable.
So, I’d like to offer my suggestions for employees and citizens of countries who fit this profile:
- have cheap, replaceable jobs
- are focused on easily commoditized services or products
- are unsure of how your jobs will improve over the next 5 years
- experiencing the effects of political instability
- perceives higher or further education to be of no or little value
- don’t give a hoot
1. Read the book, for crying out loud
Don’t waste your time observing the world from the surface. Friedman’s work is notable, and few of us will get the chance to interview high ranking individuals who can provide solid clues and insights to our future.
The book provided me yet another set of reasons why I believe Malaysian jobs are still stuck in the 20th century. Other books, such as “All Marketers are Liars”, and Phil McKinney’s innovation podcasts, all point to this fact. They sources may be American, but they talk about changing world, and that’s everyone.
2. If your job is insignificant, you’d better deal with it
As a software engineer, my job is insignificant. If I quit today, tomorrow there will be a hundred candidates lining up to take my job. Are you a call-center operator, an accountant, a graphic artist, a tutor, an illustrator, an employee whose job is easily outsourced? If so, your job might seem insignificant to companies, to employers, and to consumers.
Friedman argues that capitalism has forced companies to run leaner, forcing job outsourcing, insourcing, and automation to take place. Those who will get to keep their jobs fall into these four broad categories:
1. special workers – Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Madonna
2. specialized workers – stem cell researchers
3. anchored workers – doctors, barbers (localized)
4. really adaptable workers
Most of us will fit into 4, otherwise we’d be out of a job or remain in a really terrible one. I don’t like how the tone of the book leans toward jobs alone (or lack of), because I’d rather talk about having a fulfilling career. But there’s no career if there’s no job.
3. Go back to school
Don’t get a Masters or a PhD for the certificate. Do it for the smarts.
I used to believe that learning on the job was sufficient to get ahead in life, but now I disagree. The future belongs to specialists who can adapt, who relevant within a particular domain. A higher education allows you that time and space to learn and get ready to build something big.
Although Friedman argues that being versatilists are good candidates for the flat world, I want to do more than just survive. You’ll need specialization if you’re ever going to establish yourself in any career of the future. Forget about learning on the job. The internet isn’t very good for learning in depth, because there are too many distractions.
August 4th, 2008 §
Life can be hard when you’re invisible. Attractive, remarkable, or rich people tend to get things their way a lot easier. Perhaps it’s not big competition, since we’re still able to get jobs and live lives. But standing out in a crowd makes it a lot easier to get things done. Here are some tips.
Produce results and stay sharp
I once contended for a promotion with a colleague, and didn’t get the job. It was quite clear – I wasn’t the one people were rooting for. I could’ve spent a hundred years speculating why I lost out, and how I should do better, but I figured that this that was totally uneconomical and prone to failure. It’s one thing to be as great as someone, but it’s another thing to be someone you’re not.
I decided to focus on what I do best at work. I got all the credit for that effort because it was obvious to everyone. I didn’t do it with the expectation of gaining another promotion, although I almost got one… but that it just made sense.
Now, I get to choose what story to tell about my successes. It stays on my resume, and the lessons I’ve learnt from it are mine. I stick with those stories, and I handle all the objections from people who give me crap about otherwise.
Sticking with what you believe and the results from your work gives people less reasons not to believe you. If there’s one thing that’s scarce in the world, it’s trust. Build on it, and you’ll get far.
Be remarkable
Being remarkable is an art. Youtube is proof of that. If you haven’t discovered what makes you remarkable, maybe you need to ask your most honest friends.
A few months ago, I decided a push for a new way of implementing projects, and came under heavy fire for that. By some measure of fortune, I was allowed to do it, and I thank God the project actually went somewhere. It was a big gamble, but I’ve always taken gambles like that in life.
When I announced my departure, a few of my colleagues thanked me for being a “stubborn donkey” and praised me for actually doing more than mere talk. They encouraged me to stick to my ways. I know it’s not the best way to get things done, but it’s a way I’ve learnt by myself. I’m not quite sure how to explain it.
If you ask some of your closest friends about what makes you remarkable, you may be surprised. Sometimes, being remarkable isn’t about doing crazy things, but becoming more of the person you really are.
Give
Giving breaks a lot of social norms, and cuts to the chase. It instantly makes you vulnerable to the things you really care about, and people take notice. Even better when you don’t expect anything in return.
In a way, giving is a way to shut the voices in your head. A lot of people think they’re good people, but they also want to be successful. When is the right time and wrong time to give and get? Logic can be deconstructive as our minds play tricks on us. Giving helps you break that cycle, and keeps things in perspective.
In the past, I’ve given regularly to charities, tithes, personal gifts to specific people, the needy, children… I’ve done this because I needed to understand I could do this on my own, without anyone’s help. I needed to remind myself that climbing to the top of the food chain isn’t worth it without the essential things in life.
Giving helps me understand what’s important to other people, and not just myself. If they have different labels for what’s important in life, then there’s no real “top”. It’s just a personal description.
July 22nd, 2008 §
The world is full of people who are out to make an easy living.
This includes people climbing up the corporate ladder, insurance salesmen, retail outlets, websites… the lot. People do it because it’s simple – maximize earnings, minimize work. The rest are just details.
Then, there are people who maximize pleasure and minimize work. Facebook in the office. Eating while driving. Procrastination.
What people really want is not to minimize work, but to maximize value in place of work. Nobody wants to work to death, but they don’t want meaningless work.
The problem is – maximizing value isn’t easy, so we tend to focus on minimizing work.
Minimizing work is easy – just do less. Maximizing value requires more effort.
Maximizing value answers questions like:
- What do I really want in life?
- How can people really get along?
- Why did I just do that?
- What really makes me satisfied?
- What’s the meaning of life?
- How can leave the world a better place?
- Why are there so many history books?
- Why do I have to go to school?
- Why am I really spending money on this?
- Can I really can make a difference?
Minimizing work is just – doing less.
Are you maximizing value or just minimizing work?
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June 19th, 2008 §
I got my increment letter today, and at the rate I’m going, I’ll only be hitting RM100k annual salary in 6 years’ time. That’s not too bad. I’ll be able to afford a Toyota Vios by then, feed 2 children, and own my own house. Live the Malaysian dream.
Knowing what others earn is about having control over your life
I was talking to a friend of mine about salaries. We all rate salaries very differently, because we all have different friends. Our friends are sometimes our only lens into the corporate world, that’s layered with bureaucracy, hierarchy, and politics and a whole lot of other stuff we can’t quite make out.
The problem with that is that all of us are in the trees. Which is why I felt it was good to post up that interview with a recruitment agent. At least everyone can take a look at a snapshot of what people are earning nowadays.
So, everyone should just go to http://www.glassdoor.com right now, sign up, post your salaries, and give your employers a piece of your mind, because it’s all anonymous anyway. No one will ever know it was you. I told my friend that I signed up for glassdoor and put in my salary and company feedback, and even though I was the only person in my company in the whole world to do that, he couldn’t find out anything about me there.
So, trust me, it’s good for the whole world that everyone knows what everyone is earning. It’s mitigated anarchy. It’s good because you’ll know where you stand, the faster the better, because you’ll be able to make a decision about where you stand, and about what to do with your life. Yes, it’s good that you have control over your life.
The corporate ladder isn’t linear all the time
Contrary to popular belief, learning what the other guy earns isn’t about getting better up the ladder. The reason is because at the end of the day, everyone is accountable to themselves whether this is right for them or not. Not everyone wants to become a CEO. Not everyone wants to suck up to the boss and earn big bucks. Not everyone wants to be a stunt driver.
But what everyone wants is FAIRNESS. And fairness is a very hard thing to measure. But as a start, for things to be fair, it has to be open. So, at least, knowing what the other guy earns solves a bit of that. Because it’s not the salary amount that really matters, it’s knowing that really matters. Because knowing helps you make a decision about your life.
Companies don’t want you to know how much everyone is earning
Now, I was actually lying that it’s good for everyone knows what everyone earns.
Companies actually can lose out in situations like these, because a lot of companies can leverage on a lot of things if it does – FUD, the law (yes sometimes it can protect businesses as much as it can protect employees), politics, corporate hierarchy… anything it can leverage on, it will.
Why? Because it’s easy. Because it’s doable. Because companies get away with it all the time.
It’s harder for one person to gain so much knowledge about careers in a short period of time, than it is for a company to hire a CEO, a HR senior, or someone to draw up policies or establish a culture that will help the company to grow and protect itself against employees that might hurt it.
It’s ultimately the employees’ responsibility to find out how much people are earning, how much the industry is paying, and make a decision about what to do with their lives. It’s not a company’s responsibility to live that life for you.
Please watch out for yourself
I feel that the people who will get hit the hardest are good young people who want to change the world, and are so sick of capitalism that they expend themselves to the point that they suffer a burnout. Please watch out, because it’s your responsibility to. A company isn’t a way to shelter yourself away from the problems of the world.
If you’re stuck, don’t worry. The world is bigger than you think. There are ways to salvage a broken life, and there are people who are willing to help. You can talk to your boss, even though you’re scared or if your boss doesn’t want to listen, there are other people you can talk to. If you’re down and you’re just starting to get up, realize that life will look different from this point on… and get going. It’ll work out okay in the end.
Resources:
June 16th, 2008 §
The Malaysian IT workforce is facing a lot of problems now than it used to. No doubt, there are tons of jobs available, but for low-scale jobs like software development and tech support. The types of jobs available now hasn’t changed much over the last few years, and I doubt it will look any different over the next 5.
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.
————————————–
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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June 9th, 2008 §
After graduating with my BSc in Computer Engineering, I took my 10 month experience as an undergraduate research assistant in Java to a local telecoms solutions provider. I looked my interviewer in the eye, and told her not to look at me as a fresh grad.
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.
