Stormix wants Debian contact (fwd)

[Deirdre Saoirse]

On Fri, 14 Jan 2000, Christoph Lameter wrote:

> AFAIK I talked to you early in the summer and I got some exorbiant
> expectations in compensation from you. We are still looking for people.

You know, this is REALLY a tacky thing to say on the list. However, since
you did, I'll respond to the list. Once.

I make six figures and am happily employed at that price. In fact, as I
had five people make offers in less than a week, I'd say my price was
*less* than market, not above it.

I have coded for a living for more than 24 years. Unfortunately, the open
source community does not seem to value design skills and therefore ALL
open source-related companies underpay experienced people.

Let me give you an example of something I accomplished last year when I
was making $130k for Honda as a DBA/Sysadmin/Systems Analyst. At that
time, they were about to sue one of the "Big 5" accounting firms'
consultancy arms for failure to follow through on a project. The project
was supposed to cost $1.5 million. At $3 million, the project wasn't
finished.

I, because of my experience as a designer, was able to see exactly what
the problem was, suggested that we try and work it out rather than
litigate, and got the Big 5 firm to commit to doing a bit of extra design
(that they should have done at the outset) and Honda committed to give it 
a month. Voila, the problem was solvable. You should have seen the smirk
on the VP's face; it was a priceless moment.

So, the project got done, no one got sued and life went on. That alone
would be worth the salary they paid me.

However, if they'd had a good systems analyst *before*, it would clearly
have saved them at least most of the extra $1.5 million and perhaps more
besides. Thus, in a situation like this, it's clear that the extra money
spent for ((what Deirdre wants to earn) - (what Chris Lameter considers
reasonable)) offers a VERY handsome return on investment.

Many people throw away money by being cheap. If you're one of 'em, I'd
probably be happier elsewhere anyway because my talents would not be
properly appreciated and therefore neither properly compensated or
rewarded.

> Submit your resume again and we will see if we can make it fit.

Ummm, yeah.

-- 
_Deirdre   *   http://www.linuxcabal.net   *   http://www.deirdre.net
"Mars has been a tough target" -- Peter G. Neumann, Risks Digest Moderator
"That's because the Martians keep shooting things down." -- Harlan Rosenthal
<Harlan.Rosenthal@Dialogic.com>, retorting in Risks Digest 20.60