My thoughts and experience as a Caribbean native
I have seen many stories of people making a switch from one career to that of being a software developer. Being a software developer is one of the hottest careers to have now, especially in a time like this where we are going through a pandemic. If you missed it, I did an article on why I wanted to be a software developer and why you should be one too.
It’s a fantastic job to have. It has its pain points but can be very rewarding. Having said that, your experience can depend on several factors including your place of work and where you are located. For me, there a few downsides to being a software developer in the Caribbean, and I would just like to share those. Just to note, this is not me complaining but just simply telling you how it is. I don’t believe in complaining (even if I do) but rather to use that energy to try and change what’s wrong. Here are my points.
Salary
In the article I mentioned above, I talked about a high salary being a major motivator in why one should be a software developer. While the salary is high in places like the US and other “developed countries”, it is far less in a country like Jamaica for instance. The average salary for developers in the states is US $76, 526. I have never seen anything close to that in my 5 years of being a developer. That is only a dream right now. I’ve seen other developers on twitter and other social networks talking about making upward of US $80,000! And I am like…” must be nice!”
On a broad scale, where I live, my current salary would be seen as ok/good money, maybe depending on who you talk to. But there is a big gap between local and foreign scales.
“But Joel, you can’t compare a the payscale in Jamaica to that of the states”, you may say. And you might be right in saying that. But what I am concerned about as well is that companies based in these “developed” countries are coming to the “developing” countries for where they can pay a “cheaper staff”. Now, I am grateful for the opportunities and jobs that have been created by such companies investing in the Caribbean. Don’t get me wrong. But as I said, I am just highlighting the reality of it.
Seeing this, persons in my career field living locally will almost always opt to migrate so they can gain a higher salary and live what we would say is a better life.
Freelancing
I have done some freelancing outside of my main job. From this experience, I have noticed a lot of locals do not appreciate the benefit of applications and technology as a whole. They do not appreciate the value of it and only look at it if it is going to be expensive. Because of this, I find that people often want to have projects done for very low sums. So low, that it sometimes does not make any sense to even start the project. The time spent on it would not be worth the money.
I have made the mistake in the past of agreeing to do a project for a meager cost. As a young developer just starting out, it wasn’t so bad, in terms of building a portfolio. But certainly, now that I have more experience, my time is worth more.
Experience & Imposter Syndrome
I do not know how much of my local peers would agree, but sometimes imposter syndrome does creep in when I think about doing any form of development for a company that may be considered the real deal. I feel that locally (well at least for the ones I worked with), companies just want to get things done and processes (or lack thereof) are chaotic. The experience and technicalities of stuff required to be done on the job, doesn’t seem as advanced as a dev shop in the states.
When I look at a job description of a posting from a company in the states, I’m thinking that this company is looking for a Batman, and I feel like Robin. Whether a lot of those requirements are necessary or not is another story. But in essence, what I am trying to say here is that I feel that working for some companies locally would not give me the exposure to move on to something higher overseas. The onus will be on me as a developer to make sure I expose myself to the right tools, processes, etc by taking courses or doing actual projects in my spare time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I just want to reiterate this is not a complaint or me slamming anyone or putting down my country. I simply wanted to talk about some of the things I experienced as a software developer in what the world would classify as a “developing county”. My plan however is to one day have the experience of working in a tech company overseas and see how things are. And definitely make more money. I would like to hear from other developers who are outside of the USA or Europe and their experiences. Whoever, you are though, please feel free to drop a comment below.
By the way, if you have read this far, thanks much! It means a lot to me. Anyway, I have this cool t-shirt on sale on Amazon. Please consider checking it out and buying to support my work :D
Cheers!
