IntlHarvester's Journal: Software is not a career field.

Software is not a career field. Software development is a sequence of jobs. Your skills will soon be obsolete. With 31% of software projects ending up being canceled and 52% branded as failures for late delivery, over cost and under delivery of functions (1995 Standish Group study), you will end up on a cancelled project if you have not done so already. During your time spent on the canceled technology, the field keeps moving forward. You'll stick your head up for air and discover that you are an expert in a now canceled technology and you are falling further and further behind. The software industry uses developers as if they are a consumable resource, hence, the "shortage" is merely a shortage of raw recruits. In fact, according to U.S. Census data, there are today 6 million fewer 20 to 29 year olds than there were from about 1980 to 1993 (which accounts for the actual reason unemployment is low - it has nothing to do with egotistical political idiots who claim credit for all successes they have nothing to do with).

The solution: Do NOT go into software as a career in the U.S. Software development will move to those countries with a comparative economic advantage, especially India and perhaps China. Both countries have the primary raw material needed for software develpment - smart people. Both countries have populations over 1 billion and substantial government programs to make this happen. The H-1B program is a training program for Indian software developers who, by law, must return to India where they will be our future competitors, at 1/5th the cost (India has a very low cost of living).
If you want a career, do NOT choose software development. The ONLY career options are to move into management or marketing. If you do not have the right training for those positions, then get it, or leave the field (you'll be forced to anyway). I spent 18 years in the software field working at high tech companies from Silicon Valley to Redmond (yeah, that one). Now I'm finishing an MBA. Congratulations to those of you that have figured this out early in your careers. At the present time, I strongly discourage U.S. students from studying computer science - it is not a career field EXCEPT for those who have the right training (PhD) to do research, or who can move into management or marketing (MBA). Ed, [e-mail]

Completely agreed

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Those who sold software development as a career in the 1980s were liars.