A sad tale of promise and hard work

In 2014, I made a tough decision of changing my discipline from Engineering to Computer Science. I wasn’t into engineering but I didn’t know much about Computer Science either. I got into Mechatronics engineering field, predominantly because of the name “Mechatronics” it sounded so “cool” or probably because the Transformers movies were really big at that time and Mechatronics sounded like a close alley turned enemy of Megatron.

My knowledge of Computer Science was limited back then but I knew this field could be very rewarding. Computer Science students were the masters of internet. From web to mobile, programmers made apps that turned into billion dollars company. I pictured myself starting a startup that would get millions in funding and make me a millionaire before turning 30. Truth be told, I had to work very hard just to grasp basic programming concepts. I struggled, I worked hard, got hopeless, found my lost motivation followed by hard work, and 4 years later, here I am, with decent knowledge of programming, decent enough to start getting paid for my services/skills.

I have come a long way in last 4 years. I have worked hard but why am I not getting my promised fruit? According to so many people on Quora and Reddit, I should be earning $1000/mo but I don’t even have a job. I was told there’s a vacuum between supply and demand of people who can code. I SHOULD HAVE A JOB!

I don’t have a job, even if I get one, it won’t be anywhere close to $1000/mo, not even half of that. Programming is hard as it gets, and return is very low.

So what happened? Why the reality was so different from supposed worth of Programmers in Pakistan?

Mentality happened my friend! typical selling short mentality of my dear birathren.

Software houses across twin cities are paying maximum of Rs25,000 to skills far expensive than that. Unpaid internships are very common, they expect you to work 9 hours a day for a sum of grand ZERO even multimillion dollars companies like Zong is paying Rs6000 to its internees, that’s Rs200/day and Rs22/hr, 3x less than what a normal labourer makes in Pakistan. So what made these huge companies pay so little to the undergrads?

I, recently became a member of a closed Web developement group on Facebook. I saw developers selling their skills like a fruit seller would sell his fruits. I have heard it’s even worse in India, probably it’s a brown people thing. There’s is only one standard that’s being followed and it’s “low-standard”. IT market is in shambles for the developers.

Around 2012, pharmacist made a union all over Pakistan because of the unfairness in the pay. They vowed to not give their services until minimum wage is set to Rs40,000/mo and things changed for them afterwards. Computer Science and Software Engineering undergrads/grads should also form a union of similar nature and set some standards. Lot of hard work and dedication goes into completing 4 years degree, and everyone putting in hard yards deserves a reasonable outcome.

Adil Ali,

Computer Science undergraduate/Software Developer