Web development jobs in and around Roseville? (Sacramento, Rancho Cordova: job market, college)

[Ludachris]

I'm planning on not having to get a job (being self-employed) when we move out there, but was wondering what the business climate is like in Roseville for techies, specifically web development.

Has it dropped off quite a bit? I know it was never as good as the Bay Area, but I've found a few listings here and there. Just wondering if anyone here had any insight.

[edwardius]

In general its bad, I know that Intel and HP have both been laying off people locally. But as to your specific field, you would probably have a better idea by looking at job listings on dice.com.

[quasi888]

You know things are bad when you see web dev jobs on Sacramento Craigslist paying $15-$20/hour.

I did manage to find a company (now my employer) who basically matched my old Bay Area salary, so I got very lucky. Definitely not the norm.

I've noticed that most of the web development players here in Roseville tend to be small-time, working on little projects here and there. You may want to expand your geographical search to Folsom / Rancho Cordova -- lots of tech companies there, I was doing some short-term web/UI contract work at Franklin Templeton for a decent hourly rate in late 2007.

You might be better off searching for contract/telecommute gigs based outside the area. I moonlight a bit on the side, and still have one ongoing contract with a company in Silicon Valley, and just started another for a client in New York.

Ping me if you have any specific questions....sounds like we are/were in the same boat prior to moving here...

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by quasi888

You know things are bad when you see web dev jobs on Sacramento Craigslist paying $15-$20/hour.

I did manage to find a company (now my employer) who basically matched my old Bay Area salary, so I got very lucky. Definitely not the norm.

I've noticed that most of the web development players here in Roseville tend to be small-time, working on little projects here and there. You may want to expand your geographical search to Folsom / Rancho Cordova -- lots of tech companies there, I was doing some short-term web/UI contract work at Franklin Templeton for a decent hourly rate in late 2007.

You might be better off searching for contract/telecommute gigs based outside the area. I moonlight a bit on the side, and still have one ongoing contract with a company in Silicon Valley, and just started another for a client in New York.

Ping me if you have any specific questions....sounds like we are/were in the same boat prior to moving here...

We're really going to have to get together once we get out there quasi! We seem to have a great deal in common. LOL!

Sounds like I need to keep my original plan going, which is to ramp up my current small business so that I don't need to depend on the local job market much. And just focus on the telecommute/contract options for supplementary income.

I did see a recent post on Craigslist for Placer County Tourism - they wanted an experienced webmaster who could work with design, code, marketing, revenue generation, and could handle print, and they wanted all that for $36-$42k... wow. Talk about wanting it all for pennies. If they just wanted one or two of those items, sure, but all of them? They're looking for someone with the qualifications of a small business owner who can do it all, but they want to pay them the salary of a college grad just getting into the field. Crazy.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

I did see a recent post on Craigslist for Placer County Tourism - they wanted an experienced webmaster who could work with design, code, marketing, revenue generation, and could handle print, and they wanted all that for $36-$42k... wow. Talk about wanting it all for pennies. If they just wanted one or two of those items, sure, but all of them? They're looking for someone with the qualifications of a small business owner who can do it all, but they want to pay them the salary of a college grad just getting into the field. Crazy.

Wow, that is nuts. You are right. We are paying our new hire college grads more than that here in Monterey. I think your idea of telecommute options are best.

One of our Senior Java Developers developers decided to move to New Mexico. And our client, the Gov't, decided to keep him on and let him telecommute because they like his work. So he is getting a good rate and essentially living wherever he wants to. Its a pretty sweet deal. But he does have to fly out for meetings on occasion.

Derek

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Wow, that is nuts. You are right. We are paying our new hire college grads more than that here in Monterey. I think your idea of telecommute options are best.

One of our Senior Java Developers developers decided to move to New Mexico. And our client, the Gov't, decided to keep him on and let him telecommute because they like his work. So he is getting a good rate and essentially living wherever he wants to. Its a pretty sweet deal. But he does have to fly out for meetings on occasion.

Derek

Man, that's a sweet deal. If I could get my employer to do that I'd be set. But you can't really request that and reveal your plans until you can do without the job. Once I'm at that point, I'll see if they would be willing to keep me employed.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

Man, that's a sweet deal. If I could get my employer to do that I'd be set. But you can't really request that and reveal your plans until you can do without the job. Once I'm at that point, I'll see if they would be willing to keep me employed.

Yeah, at that point you have nothing to lose. Thats what he did. And so the company has a simple choice: keep someone they like and work with him/her from a distance or go through the search/hire/train process with someone entirely new. It just depends on the organization and how they look at things really. But this puts it in simple terms for them and at least gives them 'options.' So instead of putting in a two week notice you advise them about your plans to move and let them know you would be more than happy to continue doing your work from home. And emphasize that you will fly or drive out for meetings whenever necessary - that its not a problem for you at all. Our guy really bent over backwards in that regard. He even drives out on occasion for meetings when he is not required to for 'face time.' And that bought him a lot of credibility as a long distance worker. Now he only comes in a handful of times a year.

Derek

[mommyfirst3]

My husband is in the same boat. How do you find telecommute IT jobs in CA? I noticed that the Sac pay is extremely low. It appears that $40,000-60,000 is normal for high end programmers/developers/architects. And right now there is nothing that is good pay posted. We come from an area where $80,000 is low, and over 100,000 is normal. Seems very low here. We can go to So CA and get much more, or even the Bay area, but with both the housing is more expensive. Just seems really bad out here for IT jobs.

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by mommyfirst3

My husband is in the same boat. How do you find telecommute IT jobs in CA? I noticed that the Sac pay is extremely low. It appears that $40,000-60,000 is normal for high end programmers/developers/architects. And right now there is nothing that is good pay posted. We come from an area where $80,000 is low, and over 100,000 is normal. Seems very low here. We can go to So CA and get much more, or even the Bay area, but with both the housing is more expensive. Just seems really bad out here for IT jobs.

He might have to try and find something in the Bay Area that is partial telecommute. Or try and work as a contractor. Also check Dice.com - Job Search for Technology Professionals for more tech-oriented listings.

I think it's the combination of a bad job market and the fact that the Sac area isn't really big on high tech to begin with.

[Phil Minor]

It may make sense to move to the bay area for a period. Salaries are much higher in the bay area. Most of the people I know doing well locally in programming fields, have contacts in the bay area that help them land contract work with larger companies for larger salaries in the bay area. Once you have those connections, you can move back to Sacramento to take advantage of the lower cost of living.