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by GavinB 5886 days ago
You sound conscientious, competent, and reasonably experienced. That's worth a lot more than what you make. Apply for PHP development jobs in the geographic area to which you can reasonably commute. Network locally, but forget the blog stuff unless that's something you think you'd enjoy.

And make sure to give your current employer a chance to bid against the firm that makes you an offer. You'll be surprised how much your bosses are willing to pay to keep you from leaving.
1 comments
berntb 5886 days ago
>>And make sure to give your current employer a chance to bid against the firm that makes you an offer.

I agree with the rest, but not this.

1. I think bosses are taught that: After this kind of negotiation, most people leave soon after, anyway.

2. The bosses underpaid him. In my experience, there seems to be a bit of strategy to keep employees self confidence down. He should leave that place, no good will come from staying with them. (This might be my own history speaking.)

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hga 5885 days ago
Agreed. Never, ever even go down the road of counter offer (unless you're someone at the level of reporting to Bill Gates or thereabouts). To amplify on 2., if the company was worth working for things wouldn't have gotten to this point and expecting them to change is unrealistic at best, delusional at worst.

While I'm at it, the people who pointed out that you've put systems into production (1/2 of which it sounds like you can show to others, is the glass half-full?) are absolutely right in saying this puts you head and shoulders above a lot of you would be competitors.

Good luck!

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GavinB 5885 days ago
People get other offers and counteroffers and stay at their jobs all the time. In most of corporate America, this is one of the primary ways to get ahead. Maybe not at the most enlightened employee focused development shops, but most programmers don’t work there.

There are a number of good reasons to give your current employer the opportunity to give a counteroffer: 1. It’s the polite thing to do. Even if you say no, your former boss will appreciate being given the opportunity. 2. You may be able to use it as a bargaining advantage in setting your compensation at the new job. More bidders = higher pay for you. 3. Your current employer may decide to make you a really good offer. I’ve seen it happen. They may even create a new job description that didn’t exist to accommodate you.

Ideally we would all work at places that properly valued our skills and contributions, and updated our salaries to reflect our value every year. In the real world, there’s nothing wrong with a little negotiation and competition.

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berntb 5885 days ago
Interesting.

It isn't true in the US then, about "they'll leave anyway, if they did so much work that they applied, did the interviews and got an offer"?

Is it a general philosophy in some areas?

I've heard that in more "active" work markets (London is the closest to me) that people have their CVs going around continuously.

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