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Dead Serious It Career Advice


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Hi,

 

IMHO there are 99% of people out there who now call themselves programmers whose work is based on basic websites as opposed to the 1% of us who actually use networks for the reason they were first conceived.

 

No argument from me there. And try explaining to a customer that the reason you are charging much more than his neighbour's son is because you actually *do* know what you are doing.

 

I must admit that your assertion of fees on offer do relate to the fact that a lot of our work is in inhospitable locations is correct, but I am sure that there are 2-3 other board members who also work in places they don't want to be in order to make a few extra $$$, its a lifestyle decision.

 

This was my main point. If it wasn't for this fact those fees would be a lot lower I'd imagine.

 

Sanuk!

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This was my main point. If it wasn't for this fact those fees would be a lot lower I'd imagine.

 

 

The uplifts from base salary for working in such places usually is around 20-40%. The base salary is going to be well over 100k USD a year for an experienced person.

 

Working at a camp in West Africa would be 35% at 8 weeks on 2 weeks off. A camp in Saudi is 23% with same rotation. The other big contributor to big paycheck when working in a camp is the work week is usually 60 hours or more.

 

TH

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Why not consider a job in somewhere like Dubai, granted its not thailand, but is surely easy to commute reguarly being 6 hours away ?

 

Chelseafan,

 

Why limit oneself to just Dubai, I have just checked my passports and realized that in the past 12 years or so I have worked / lived in United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea China and Spain, plus of course Thailand. On the upside in the 21+ years I have been based in Thailand I have only been employed as such for about 50% of the time, I will go and work in shitholes to make my $$$ then chill out for a few months, as I said to KS it is a lifestyle choice, personally I prefer to work in the shitholes and then relax in Thailand for 50% of the time rather than be caught up in the rat race scrimping and saving for 2 vacations per year here if lucky, but horses for courses.

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The uplifts from base salary for working in such places usually is around 20-40%. The base salary is going to be well over 100k USD a year for an experienced person.

 

Working at a camp in West Africa would be 35% at 8 weeks on 2 weeks off. A camp in Saudi is 23% with same rotation. The other big contributor to big paycheck when working in a camp is the work week is usually 60 hours or more.

 

TH

 

TH, good call, when I was in Qatar my base salary was slightly higher than what you stated but that was based on a 48 hour week so I got paid overtime for the additional 12 hours for my 60 plus a 40% uplift for living in a construction camp. "Hardship Allowance"

 

It's no tea party living and working under such conditions but the financial rewards do compensate for such and can be enjoyed once the project is over. I would not go as far to say it takes a special person to work as such, but one does need a certain mindset, some may say a slight degree of madness. This is why I am considering Iraq next once my divorce case is over, a 28/28 rotation which would mean 84 hours per week but my renumeration would be enough to make me consider taking up the option. (I won't mention figures since certain BM's accuse me of bragging).

 

My eldest sister thinks I am insane, well what does she expect I am related to her

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Lots of info to think about guys. The most painful decision would be to work/live away from my daughter. The wife has a government career and can't leave Bkk, and although I'd be really keen on taking my daughter with me, she's just turned 7 y.o., so she's a bit young.

 

The more I think about it, the more it seems I might ought to go the programming route. Easier said than done, but in my schooling, I did pretty well at it. I'm also going to continue my certifications in A+, Networking +, MCTS and MCITP. The wife's top notch at Delphi,ASP, php, sql, etc...(she's even taught these at the university level) so I'll look into starting on that and move into xcode and HTML5, etc...That's a LOT of programming ahead, but it sounds like my best bet to stay with my family.

 

If I get really lucky I may be able to work for a company "telecommuting" where I don't have to check in every day. After initial project/team meetings and the periodic meeting, perhaps there are companies where I could do that.

 

Thank you all for your input. I really do appreciate it. Oh, one last note, from the Microsoft website: MCITP, even though it is new, is being phased out, or not "renewed" as of July 2013. Everything will be funneled back into the MCSE either "on premises" or the cloud. This is new. I read their website less than 6 months ago and got a completely different story. I'll still be eligible to upgrade to MCSE with a few exams. I know this stuff goes obsolete, but before I even get it??? Sheesh!

 

Thanks for all your input!

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