How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer – Dev Career Boost
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Most software developers hit an imaginary ceiling on their income and career advancement, because they stay with the pack.
Most developers have the herd mentality-they stick with the herd and value themselves based on where they fit in it. At the front of the herd, you are doing good. At the back of the herd, you are in danger of becoming a hungry lion’s next meal.
Developers at the front make more money and have nicer offices, the ones at the back make less and live in tiny cubicles, but they are all part of the herd. So, even though there is a difference in pay from the junior developer to the senior one, there isn’t much of a difference in pay from one senior developer to another, even if one of the senior developers is more valuable and has more advanced skills.
There are a few developer animals out there who break away from the herd. They don’t waste their time competing for a position within the pack-they just outrun the pack completely.
This is, of course, easier said than done, and I’ll tell you the secret to doing it-but, let’s not get into that just yet.
As software developers, we are acutely aware of our position within the pecking order. We know which developers are higher up than us and which ones are lower. The titles at our jobs help us to know our place.
The rest of the world has no idea about which developers have greater skill and can do a better job, and for the most part, they don’t care-they just see a pack, with some developers at the front and other developers at the back.
When an employer hires you for a job, they just want to know where you are in the pack. Are you at the front? The back? The middle? They pay you accordingly based on your ranking within the pack.
If you aren’t explicitly standing out far beyond the pack, you are going to be grouped right in with the pack and paid accordingly. And once you make it to the front of the pack, you’ve got nowhere to go in their eyes-you’re already the best.
This glass ceiling isn’t there because someone mandated that software developers shall only make so much money and live in 5 by 5 cubicles. The glass ceiling is there, because unless you are doing something extreme enough to differentiate yourself from the pack completely, you are part of the pack and the pack is always going to stick together. The average salary of software developers will be used to determine what developers at the front of the pack will be paid, as well as what the developers at the back of the pack will be paid.
In this package, I will show you how to break away from the pack which will unleash your earning potential and open up a world of opportunities few developers ever see.
If you want to increase your value as a software developer, your goal should be to break away from the pack. But, how do you do it?
There are quite a few cooks in the world. Each restaurant in the world, whether it be a fast food joint or an elegant upscale restaurant, needs a cook.
Cooks run in packs. Some of these cooks work at McDonalds or another fast food restaurant. Some of these cooks work at more reputable places, and we typically call them chefs instead.
You’ll probably find that most high level cooks also cap out around the same level. That is except for a few that end up having their own television shows, writing books and making millions.
If I asked you why you honestly think Gordon Ramsey, or Rachael Ray, or Wolfgang Puck make so much more money than other chefs, what would you say?
You might be first tempted to reply that it is because they are so much better than other chefs, but we both know that isn’t true. Sure, they are probably in the top tiers of skill level, but the real reason these celebrity chefs make so much money is precisely because they are celebrities.
They are primarily being paid for their names. There are hundreds of chefs in the world at a similar skill level, but those hundreds of chefs are relatively unknown.
The same is true for musicians. There are quite a few musicians who are really good and talented, but only a small number of them break away from the pack to become rock stars. The rest are relegated to the pack.
I’m not saying you need to become a celebrity to break away from the pack and advance your career as a software developer, but what you do need to learn how to do, which most celebrities and famous people already know how to do, is to market yourself.
I thought just improving my skills would be enough, but I was wrong. It wasn’t until I started making a real effort to get out there and actually learn how to market those skills that I really started to see my career take off.
I’ve put together a complete package on marketing yourself as a software developer. And it is unlike anything you have ever seen.
I’ve been a software developer for over 15 years and I’ve made my share of mistakes. I got stuck for a long time at my own personal glass ceiling. I started noticing how developers whose articles I’d read, and who I’d seen speaking at conferences, had figured out a way to break away from the herd.
I talked to many of these ultra-successful developers… Read more…
