What Should I Do?

Question

So... I am a software developer for a company. I'm 18 and I know I'm young, but I am expected to understand and program in C#, VB, stored procedures, HTML, Javascript, CSS, ASP.NET 1.1 and 2.0. I have gone through community college and know how to do everything I'm asked to do, including some certifications. But I believe I'm being taken advantage of (meaning under-paid) because of my age. I talked to a new employee who recently left for a better job. He's a great guy and a good friend of mine, but he doesn't know C# very well. I recently found out that after 6 months of working there, I discovered that the new people are getting paid twice as much as I am. I worked full time all summer and now I'm working part time until next summer. What should I do? Ask for a raise? Wait things out? I don't know...

I'm going to College to be a Computer Engineer. They've worked well with me around my schedule. I wouldn't say that I "lead" projects because it's kind of a small company, each person gets a project to themselves, we don't do anything in groups. Actually, there's only 3 of us developers: Me, another guy at the office, and some guy in Ohio... He's really quite. I talk to people as if they're friends as well as keep a professional attitude. I've completed every project on time, and some with time to spare. I even won nationals for programming! All I've gotten was a "good job, back to work" while new comers get twice my income.

I'm the youngest guy in my job. Not one of them is a day under 30.

By the way, I live in Oklahoma and have a very impressive Desktop and Web Development resume for my age.

Answer 1

Axiom #1 - Companies don't have hearts, they have balance sheets.

Rule #1 - People should always do what's best for them, not for the company.

Sounds like you should ask for a raise. But you need to have your ducks in a row. You need hard evidence of your superior strengths. Hopefully you lead projects while your friend doesn't, or something like that. Then you need to stick by your convictions.

But never threaten to quit. That rarely works. If they deny you, then look for another job, get an offer, then let them know.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Where do you live? Maybe I will hire you. :)

If you don't like your job, put together a resume and start looking elsewhere.

If you like your job and don't even want to look elsewhere, you should have a conversation with your boss or HR about your career path. "What can I do to make myself more valuable to the company?" "How could I improve?" "What would you do if you were me?"

Don't make accusations or threats, be calm and very polite. Never say anything negative about the company or other people. Just try to word everything as professionally as possible.

It sounds like you are still going to school - you are not going to make as much money until you have that piece of paper, no matter how good your skills are. People with more formal education will get paid more. Another thing to consider is that you are getting tons of experience that will make it insanely easy to get hired somewhere else after you graduate. And if your company allows you to work a flexible schedule, that is another thing to be positive about.

If you work the same hours and have the same education/experience as your coworkers that get paid more (and it doesn't sound like that is the case) my answer would be different.

Since graduating from school and getting two years experience, I make 75% more money now than I did doing almost the exact same job for the same company. (I do my job better because I have grown, but it's still basically the same.) I would say that is atypical, but it would not be uncommon to double your salary in your first two years of graduating. (I am a programmer also using a lot of the same technologies you listed.)

Answer 3

I've known a few people in a couple of situations that are similar to yours:

(1) Engineer + chemist both get hired to do same exact process line manufacturing work. Chemist is paid ~20% less because "they don't have an engineering degree" and it is the same job. She spoke up and the result was that she got her pay raised to that of the engineers because they were doing the SAME JOB.

(2) Banking - new people being brought in at higher salaries than people who have been there longer because raises were crappy. Result: They left and found another job for more money. Bank wanted to keep them, but policies didn't let them match the salary of competing organization.

There's a bit of risk here. It doesn't hurt to ask, especially if your boss is a cool guy or gal. You may get the "there's nothing we can do" story, but maybe there is.

Also, you can threaten to leave, but never threaten unless you intend to carry out. Also, never threaten if you are unsure you can get another job at same salary.

Those are my 2 cents....good luck!