Scott Galloway considers the signs we’re approaching a financial crisis. This one caught my eye
I spend more time thinking about softer metrics that, in my view, signal we’re about to get rocked. Some signals that feel so 99:
— Mediocrity + two years tech experience = six figures. Kids who can code and are two years out of school, who are mediocre, are making 100K+ in the market. What’s worse is they believe they’re worth it. If you can code, yay for you. But if you have no real hard skills or management ability, not recognizing you’re overpaid means you won’t have the funds to avoid your parents’ basement when shit gets real.
I think that must be highly localized both geographically and in terms of industry. I don’t see anything like that here except in the financial sector. I think that this is his most telling warning indicator:
A lot of articles explaining why “this time is differentâ€
Just anecdotally: I have undergrads (CS/EE/ME) demanding six digits for their first job out of school in the DC area. Georgia Tech is telling their undergrads – absent any discussion of geography or character of work – that an undergraduate CS degree is worth 97 – 130K. There’s a steep fall off in demand at “lesser” schools, but still, it’s on par with what someone with 2-5 years is already making around here. Since I’ve had better experience with UVA and even ODU grads than VT and GT, I’m OK with that. It makes it much easier to hire someone who actually wants the job.
gawaine
Your comment resonates with me. I graduated from a decent engineering school and the difference between what I could do/was worth year 0-1 vs year 3-4 was night and day. Employers are hoping like they were drafting NBA picks.
Your other point is even more telling. Its disappointing to hear that about GTech because I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. But I’ve always said if you really want engineers and not scientists – real plant or job site practitioners – you will bypass the MIT’s Northwesterns and CalTechs of the world and head for Lehigh, Purdue, Ohio State, Texas, Michigan State etc etc.
Hmmmm. Things have changed. I can recall a period when putting several electronic components on a board seemed a great step forward. I can recall when Fortran IV was a major development in programming (hell, I even once wrote a program in COBOL). I can recall when engineers carried about slide rules, and students used pens and pencils to take notes during classes. And, something which really dates me, I can recall men walking on the Moon.
Not like that these days, and I’m not so sure I can easily and accurately assess the skills of young engineers and programmers. I think my generation did all right, in the end; it’s possible the Millennials will be just as creative and productive, but I suspect we’ll have to wait most of a generation to say for sure. Till then, I think Galloway is throwing around that “mediocre” label a little too easily.