reasonable salary for junior back end webdev

[noob_saibot]

Depending on location and for someone with a 3 year Comp Sci degree, R8.5k would seem relatively low (especially if there is truth in the fact that demand for developers is high).

Unless there's a lot of hand-holding, maybe a grad developer position salary should be compared to graduate engineers/consultants/analysts salaries as a sort of yard-stick for technical-skill related salaries.

 

[froot]

I know Still know of a place taking interns at R1.8k a month in JHB.

Regardless, money is coming in know and the struggle from back then built some character.

I know of manual labourers earning more than that.

 

[DA-LION-619]

As a junior, I'd value experience over salary.

 

[Shi]

Personally I would say take it. You could be earning twice that in 2-3 years - make the most of the opportuinity. Given the location, I would guess that it is not a big company, and thus your chances of going from jnr to intermediate and then to senior is good and it could be done in a short period of time - that's if you want to stay in Plett.

 

[Pho3nix]

I know of manual labourers earning more than that.

Unfortunately jobs are somewhat rare if you don't have experience in this field.
No one wants to train you and have you leave in 2 years. :\

As for the cash, when I worked there I was getting R900 odd . Not a 5 day work week though.
Humble beginnings

 

[Pho3nix]

As a junior, I'd value experience over salary.

You say that now

Jokes aside, it all depends on circumstances. If you can survive (food, transport and 1 game) on the salary. Take it. And overall +1 from me though

 

[Gnome]

I can only speak for those that have degrees, from a university (which I highly recommend). If you don't have one the rules may only apply after you have significantly more experience.

What you get paid on your first job is more a reflection on the company than on you most of the time.

Most companies don't know how to assess skills, so they hire you with a pretty shoddy interview. That is usually how they hire "experienced" developers also, btw. They just rely on the "experience" of the developer as a selling point.

The more mature a company's hiring process the higher the salary. The reason is simple, few people make it through the interviews. Hiring a developer is super expensive. And most importantly attrition can cost a company up to year in salary of whomever is replacing the person that left.

That said if you aren't working in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban your salary prospects will quickly dwindle.

As your first job, you should aim for the sky really. People seem to think you need to work your way into a good company. It is the other way around. Good companies are easier to get into as a junior. You are more likely to make it into Google.com, Facebook.com, Amazon.com as a developer with no experience than a developer with years of experience. The reason is you are going to be compared against your peers. SA doesn't really have much to offer in terms of experienced developers. It isn't the people it is the local environment. We don't have the same innovation opportunities here and that means a good developer never makes it further than just being a good developer.

If we are talking strictly money tho. My current company pays around R30k p/m to a straight out of university graduate.

My first job paid R20k p/m in Pretoria. All my friends from University of Pretoria earned R20k p/m or more for their first jobs. That was about 4 years ago.

Currently I would say the new standard should be about R25k p/m for a company that has a fairy decent name and a good interview process (skills assessment, not this hippy BS about your feelings HR usually makes you take).

 

[roguemat]

A couple of years ago I was earning less than that as a non-junior with a few years experience.

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

A couple of years ago I was earning less than that as a non-junior with a few years experience.

Pffft - should have hired you back then and not now. But ^^^^ is case in point, where he within a few years can now afford a Nissan GTR, jet-skis, pad on the beach and 3 overseas holidays per year (not to mention all the latest gadgets).

 

[roguemat]

Pffft - should have hired you back then and not now. But ^^^^ is case in point, where he within a few years can now afford a Nissan GTR, jet-skis, pad on the beach and 3 overseas holidays per year (not to mention all the latest gadgets).

Did I ever tell you that I offered to do the bidorbuy app for free about 2 years ago? I wanted to build some reputation and offering free dev was the easiest way. Whoever I got through to turned me nicely down though.

p.s. I drive a crappy old Nissan Almera ;-)

 

[envo]

8.5k for a junior is amazing

I started out with R1.6k, after 3 years I decided there's no room for improvement salary wise so got another junior position offering me 7.5k. I worked myself up and within those 5 years I worked there tripled my starting salary.

8.5k is pretty decent and you should take it. For someone just starting out, your expenses should be minimal. Just don't go buying new /big / expensive cars if the bank says you qualify. Stick with whatever inexpensive method of transportation you have now. Start a retirement fund. Start saving now. If you're a healthy individual and the company doesn't give medical, "save" your own medical thing and get a hospital plan. Credit is from the devil.

Once you saved up nice amount think of buying your own bachelor flat before you even think of a nice shiny car.

#lifeadvice

 

[DA-LION-619]

8.5k for a junior is amazing

I started out with R1.6k, after 3 years I decided there's no room for improvement salary wise so got another junior position offering me 7.5k. I worked myself up and within those 5 years I worked there tripled my starting salary.

8.5k is pretty decent and you should take it. For someone just starting out, your expenses should be minimal. Just don't go buying new /big / expensive cars if the bank says you qualify. Stick with whatever inexpensive method of transportation you have now. Start a retirement fund. Start saving now. If you're a healthy individual and the company doesn't give medical, "save" your own medical thing and get a hospital plan. Credit is from the devil.

Once you saved up nice amount think of buying your own bachelor flat before you even think of a nice shiny car.

#lifeadvice

1.6k for 3 years with no increase in that time?

 

[Darko]

Are you guys talking about cost to company per month, or landed money in your account?

If you're talking landed, I'll pretend I'm a junior and go work for a company in PTA...

 

[Pho3nix]

Are you guys talking about cost to company per month, or landed money in your account?

If you're talking landed, I'll pretend I'm a junior and go work for a company in PTA...

Dude I was thinking the same thing

 

[envo]

1.6k for 3 years with no increase in that time?

Yup. Cape Town prices back then

 

[envo]

Are you guys talking about cost to company per month, or landed money in your account?

If you're talking landed, I'll pretend I'm a junior and go work for a company in PTA...

Dude I was thinking the same thing

That's usually take-home money, not CTC. If the dude has a bsc behind his name he can walk away with about R12k a month as a junior without blinking an eye. good programmers are hard to find, and if he can prove himself he will see raise in his future quite quickly.

My advice is to try and curb the n00b mistakes he will make with his new salary. Your first instinct is "move out of the house" and "need new car" but if you can stay away from that and pay your parents some rent to cover food and cost (or have nice enough parents to cover that for you), you can quickly save away for your own place and once you have those finances sorted with a nice nest egg, buy a new car.

As your salary increases, so does your desire to spend more and the banks see that and offer you more credit. Can send you into that debt trap very quickly and if 1 thing goes wrong on your expenses that you didn't account for in your budget, you are screwed.

 

[JV_011_]

Carefull of what you accept, that ish will haunt you for a while. Depends on the location and qualifications. But you can do better than 8.5K. 10k -15k should do, especially if you have a Bsc

 

[aigle2am]

I started on R9.5K CTC with a BSc from UCT. I recommend you look else where for more, around R11k -R15k. Its extremely tough to get out of a low salary as some companies don't appreciate developers, even though the work they do is core to the business. Weigh up your situation carefully.

 

[CamiKaze]

I started with R2500 pm as an intern up until I got into a graduate programme...

 

[Hamster]

Carefull of what you accept, that ish will haunt you for a while. Depends on the location and qualifications. But you can do better than 8.5K. 10k -15k should do, especially if you have a Bsc

I started on R9.5K CTC with a BSc from UCT. I recommend you look else where for more, around R11k -R15k. Its extremely tough to get out of a low salary as some companies don't appreciate developers, even though the work they do is core to the business. Weigh up your situation carefully.

You guys do know where Plettenberg Bay is, right? It's not a long shot to say that that is the only dev job available in a 100km radius (next being George where salaries are **** too)

I doubt you'd get much more starting out in Port Elizabeth. Imo your advice in getting a higher salary is only valid if he moves to Durban, PTA, JHB or [-]Mountain Goat[/-] Cape Town :/

EDIT: Fekking unpredictive text