Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
 [Register]
Seattle area Seattle and King County Suburbs
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-21-2007, 07:20 PM
 
Location: The Emerald City
1,696 posts, read 5,184,334 times
Reputation: 804

Advertisements

Im looking into the Networking part of IT. Im hearing Tacoma has alot of IT as well as Olympia. Seattle of course, but how are these other parts of Wa.??
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-21-2007, 07:49 PM
 
Location: Austin 'burbs
3,225 posts, read 14,042,711 times
Reputation: 783
Seattle, in my opinion (and I used to be a Tech recruiter), far out ranks the other two. Then I would list Tacoma, with Olympia as a far third.

If you are in the IT field, it's near impossible to NOT get at least a small contract job at Microsoft. Check out the VOLT website. www.volt.com
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-21-2007, 09:17 PM
 
Location: The Emerald City
1,696 posts, read 5,184,334 times
Reputation: 804
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenbar View Post
Seattle, in my opinion (and I used to be a Tech recruiter), far out ranks the other two. Then I would list Tacoma, with Olympia as a far third.

If you are in the IT field, it's near impossible to NOT get at least a small contract job at Microsoft. Check out the VOLT website. www.volt.com
Thanks Jen, I will look into this. Anyone else?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-21-2007, 09:21 PM
 
Location: The Emerald City
1,696 posts, read 5,184,334 times
Reputation: 804
JenBar what do they make out there in terms of money?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-22-2007, 09:19 AM
 
Location: Austin 'burbs
3,225 posts, read 14,042,711 times
Reputation: 783
Depends on the job and level. I am most familiar with Microsoft, as I directly recruited for their contract positions - but I have some exposure to the other areas.

Microsoft, historically, pays contractors low - the benefit though, is working at Microsoft. For some, they would say that's a negative There is NO negotiation with pay on a MS contract. You can negotiate a bit with the agency - like if they really want to place you because you have a specific skill - and they are willing to take a cut to their own profits... but MS puts out their agency pay scale each June, and it is what it is.

A low level tester could be looking at jobs @ the $12-15 range, going up to the $20-35's an hour, as the skills increase. Early in his career, my husband worked for a MS vendor doing their helpdesk, and I think he made something in the $15 range... of course, this was over 5 years ago, and it was First Tier Help Desk.

You really should get in touch with a Volt recruiter, as they hold the majority of MS contracts. I will have to ask my husband some of the names of the other companies... I forget them now. I think Sipherion might be one....

You typically will find 2 types in the Seattle area - those who worked for MS in the 90's and, as a result, hate it and consider it the devil. Then you have those who are desperately trying to become a "blue badge".

Nearly anyone in the area with a tech focus has at least some time at MS though.

The downside of contracting at Microsoft, is that if you are an Agency employee (vs a vendor employee) you can only work there for a year (it can be separate or all one contract), and then will need to take a 90 day break from any MS contract position. They do typically dangle the carrot of the "blue badge" (full time, non-contract MS employee) though, I don't have the stats on % of who actually makes it in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-22-2007, 06:05 PM
 
Location: The Emerald City
1,696 posts, read 5,184,334 times
Reputation: 804
I just graduated in 2006, Im a level 1. 12 bucks an hour is lame. That is the norm for Arizona which is a hellavu lot cheaper to live.
Guess I better get some more certs.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-22-2007, 07:56 PM
 
Location: Austin 'burbs
3,225 posts, read 14,042,711 times
Reputation: 783
I'll confirm with my husband on the pay rate - but like I said, MS historically does not pay well.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2007, 10:51 AM
 
534 posts, read 3,107,287 times
Reputation: 240
In Olympia, the main IT employer is the state. Jobs in IT are scarce overall. It's a little better in Tacoma but the east side of King county is where most of IT jobs are. Dice.com used to be one of the best places to search years ago but I'm sure there are other places like CL, nwsource, etc.

I'd agree with Jen's comments about Microslave. If you pay your dues there, it's a good stepping stone for other jobs.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-23-2007, 05:58 PM
 
Location: The Emerald City
1,696 posts, read 5,184,334 times
Reputation: 804
Quote:
Originally Posted by chris View Post
In Olympia, the main IT employer is the state. Jobs in IT are scarce overall. It's a little better in Tacoma but the east side of King county is where most of IT jobs are. Dice.com used to be one of the best places to search years ago but I'm sure there are other places like CL, nwsource, etc.

I'd agree with Jen's comments about Microslave. If you pay your dues there, it's a good stepping stone for other jobs.
Wow! I heard Tacoma was doing well in IT. How is IT overall in Seattle?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-24-2007, 06:11 AM
 
6 posts, read 36,380 times
Reputation: 10
Jenbar, since you said you used to be a recruiter, do you know the pay range for a new grad for the SDE, SDET, or PM positions?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:34 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top