Ask HN: Programming jobs in India? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Programming jobs in India?

27 pointscrysis57 comments

this is a throwaway account. I am 26 years old

I am a HN lurker since long, My problem is, I am financially broke due to a serious chronic illness of my parents. I have a real estate which i get rent from. that is all my income.

I have been laid off as a software tester. Currently i have saved up money + real estate income which will see me through atleast 2 years. Please suggest me some solid technology/programming domain which will give me a stable job. I have a BSc in CS, and I can get along with any language in a week or two. I just need a stable pay for 5-6 years, So that I can pay for my family's illness. This is kinda urgent, I am ready to learn anything. Please guide me to something which will be stable for atleast 5 years.

Edit: I am from India. (Nashik, Maharashtra)

Should i do certifications to get into outsourcing compaines?

or should i learn ruby and the rails framework?

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It strongly depends on where you live.

For instance in Los Angeles, there is an excellent market for Perl folks. Just south in Orange County you couldn't get a Perl job to save your life.

What kinds of industries are in your area, and what technologies do they use? Whatever they are using now they will need maintained in 5 years, so don't worry too much about whether it is a sexy, cool technology. Just worry about getting the first job in something that is employable in your area.

Good luck.

seems he is in India?

1. Learn the Java syntax; go through some hello world tutorials and then some OSS code to guide your way.

2. Read http://java.sun.com/docs/books/effective/

3. Recite one of the lessons you learned from #2 and impress the interviewer so that you can land that first job.

4. Become a decent programmer (this step is optional but recommended for long-term security)

4. Become a decent programmer (this step is optional but recommended for long-term security)

Sad but true, too many people seem to get through coasting and never working on their craft. What really gets me is the lack of passion for it, I got into programming for the love of coding, money is a happy side effect. Too many I have seen don't seem to care, or are too lazy to improve.

Nicely put. here are my 2 cents, if you choose Java 1. Don't try to do too much (JSF, Spring, JMS, Hibernate etc) its easy to get lost in the jungle there. Take small steps. 2. Try to contribute to some open source project like Lucene or Play! 3. Java jobs are aplenty in Pune region, so best luck!

what kind of java stuff can i learn in a year for stable employment?

1 year? Try to nail it in 2 months. Try to learn JSP/Servlets, Spring, Hibernate or Play! framework. Showcase something on GAE. Usually money chases talent, so give ur best at building skills.

Subscribe to: Punetech.com, pluggd.in, hackerstreet.in and look for jobs on http://sutrajobs.com and http://www.venturewoods.org/index.php/venturejobs/

This guy has given an excellent post on contributing to open source: http://shal.in/post/285909694/why-you-should-contribute-to-o...

P.S. Avoid being the 'polite Indian' described by jgrahamc by asking ppl to do ur work ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1886310 )

P.P.S: if you wish to get recruited for Infy, Cogni, Wipro you've come to the wrong forum

I find it hard to reconcile the following statements:

> I am financially broke due to a serious chronic illness of my parents.

> I have a real estate which i get rent from.

> Currently i have saved up money + real estate income which will see me through atleast 2 years.

Are you sure that you are broke ?

Sorry, English is not my first language. I meant to say that I dont have any income, and whatever income I get from rent+savings will buy food for 2 years.

> whatever income I get from rent+savings will buy food for 2 years.

Most people I know would consider that to be a pretty good financial situation, 'broke' is the opposite of that.

What you should do if you can is as long as you haven't found extra income (though the response in this thread suggests that won't be a problem for long) to cut down any and all expenses that are not an absolute requirement. That way you extend your runway while it still matters, if you do that when the two years of savings are almost up it will be too late. Like that you might be able to stretch two years in to two years and change.

Another thing you could do it to consider to liquidate your asset, the house you've got and are renting out. I realize it is a source of income for you, but it also represents another chunk of savings. Dont do that until you absolutely have to though!

Best of luck with all this, I hope your fortunes will change.

Stability is a pipedream in our industry. If you are good in you area, you should not have trouble landing a job in any of the large software companies in Pune/Bangalore. If you are okay relocating to Bangalore, drop me an email at neeleshs at gmail.

sent you an email.

As someone living close to you(Pune, MH), I think I can offer relevant advice:

First, realize - and I think you do already - that the days of the software tester are over. Only if you are working at the larger firms (read Cognizant, Infosys, Wipro) will your skills be called for in a full time context; even here, the scene is rapidly changing.

Second, PHP is very easy to learn and easy to produce something useful in. It is also in greater demand here than Python or Ruby. This will get you a job fast. Focus on core PHP5, learn to use Smarty, practise writing a few Joomla plugins and you will have a sellable skill.

Third: if you choose to go with PHP, get the ZCE certification. This will help you skip the technical rounds at several companies (This is not a good practise, but you sound like you need whatever you can get your hands on).

Fourth, learn MySQL to the point where constructing joins is second nature. If you want to, get the CMDEV certifications.

Fifth, learn HTML5 and CSS3; even if you don't use them alot at work(likely if you're working at a Joomla shop), knowing these will help you clear interviews. In any case, being ahead of the curve never hurt.

Sixth, and this is very important during a jobhunt: do not get desperate. Recruiters can smell desperation a mile away and will negotiate you down to a horrible wage if you let them. Don't. Also, make a point to distinguish between companies, and favor those that ask you tougher technical questions during your interview. You are likely to learn more from such a place.

Finally, if you must stick to testing, learn white box testing in any particular language(Java recommended) and/or learn Selenium thoroughly. There are still pockets around that hire skillsets like those.

Feel free to pass me a copy of your resume; I'll forward it to a friend I know who's doing reasonably well in the testing domain.

Good luck.

I am surprised you recommend getting certifications - I have never seen anywhere where those are held to be of any sort of value, especially if you have a computer science degree (I've been working as a programmer for 9 years at 4 different companies - I've been through my share of interviews).

Might be an Indian thing?

A few recruiters and HR departments, that I've seen, do value technical certifications. Depends on the job.

Personally, I'm not a firm believer in valuing technical certifications as worthless. Overly valued by some, sure, but not worthless.

Recruiters and HR departments value tech certifications because it means they don't have to test the technical knowledge of the candidate themselves. This saves time and acts as a 'useful' filter when they are processing resumes en masse.

To clarify, you wouldn't expect to see this followed at a company where its programmers are first class citizens; these guys tend to be real thorough.

thank you for the advice. I sent you an email. take a look when you get time.

The needs for good software testers are greater now than they've ever been. There's more software, there's higher demand for fast turnaround and agile production code. Big companies still don't devote enough resources to testing so anyone who can make a lot out of a little is highly valued.

If you enjoy software testing (and not everyone does), but if you really do enjoy it, become more technical. Read books - anything by James Whittaker, for example. If you want to focus on web applications: learn Selenium in-and-out (it's the best around for testing webapps); learn Ruby to drive Selenium (Java also works, but for speedier scripting and turnaround, I think Ruby is better); learn how the web works (HTTP and what goes on under the hood) and understand web services (RESTful architecture versus SOAP versus RPC) and how to test web services (easier than applications, really).

If you're not into web applications, follow the same pattern: testing tools, language to automate those tools, domain knowledge.

"First, realize - and I think you do already - that the days of the software tester are over."

That's not quite true. Outsourcing testing work is much safer for western companies than outsourcing more demanding work.

I think the first thing to do is to stop worrying overly much. You have enough funds for 2 years? You are not broke. You have plenty of time to learn and/or find another job, take your time. Find folks in whatever area you are interested in and find out which fields are in demand.

Can't upvote this enough. Somehow our idea of 'wealth' has become very skewed in the West. I see the same with my family in China. They have savings, are able to buy e.g. a house in cash while a lot of my family & friends in Europe are living hand to mouth, practically wage slaces. A stash big enough for 2 years of living is pretty ok in my world. And your stash can probably be explained by exactly the kind of thinking you're doing right now: planning for an emergency 2 years ahead of time. If you continue like this you'll be fine. Best wishes to your family!

You should look into other methods of helping your family, specifically, (at least in my state) someone who needs healthcare and can not afford it can apply for medicaid, it's specifically listed as one of the reasons - even for those who would normally make too much.

Edit: I just saw that you posted you live in India. I guess that changes things. Sorry I don't know anything about healthcare in India.

If you're in the Bay Area, we're looking for a QA engineer. http://gdgt.com/jobs/

There's something odd about this post. First of all, you'll likely find work in Java OR Python OR Ruby OR PHP OR whatever mainstream language/framework you choose. Last time I looked, developers were in demand, I presume the situation is the same for test engineers.

My advice is simple: find another job

Hey,

I am sorry to hear about your state. I run an online gaming product company based out of Hyderabad and we have a good team from IITs and IIITs and we are on continuous look out for good talent. Let me know if you would be interested to work with us. You can call me on +91-9849129651.

Regards, Yaswanth

Great, I will call you in the evening.

Sorry to hear that.

In general web development (Rails, HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP) is always in demand and you should be able to find something quickly, but it really depends on where you are located. Look at possible employers in your area and check out what skills they are looking for. Don't be discouraged by "x years of experience" as long as it's nothing too specialized as raytracing or compiler construction. Get familiar with the tools/languages in 1 or 2 little projects and apply.

Good luck! :)

email me at mjain@mprofit.in we are based in Bombay and looking for talent.

It might be worth having a chat with these guys: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1959041

They have some iPhone apps that they're looking for someone to take over but aren't sure whether or not they'd be able to hire someone for their budget. You might be able to help.

thanks for the replies guys, But I live in India. I am thinking of learning Ruby and Rails. what do you guys think?

Go for it.

It seems like people from your area do very well on elance.com and rentacoder.com

Why don't you check it out and see what kinds of projects dominate, and learn those technologies.

Note that they do well because they charge seriously low-ball rates. The wages are probably good after the currency conversion compared to what's available in India, but don't go in expecting to find any decent-paying jobs. This might be a good short-term fix, but I wouldn't expect it to provide stable income for 5-6 years anyway, and the income will probably not be very good, especially since you will be competing with other offshore'd developers. Practically the only reason anyone uses offshore coders is because they cost 1/3 what American coders cost.

The original poster is from India, not America.

I'm aware; I was working under the assumption that he'd want decent wages even though he is India because 1) he has expensive medical things to pay for and 2) because he wants a stable income for 5-6 years, seemingly something salaried or professional-level. You don't usually get those kind of rates on Elance et al. I wanted to point out that it would be especially hard to him to get good rates on these sites, since if someone is willing to pay a respectable wage, they usually don't want to use an offshore developer.

Knowing something specific in QA (Load/Automation testing) can get you a good job in most of the IT services in India. Please dont join a training institute that will teach you that because you are just going to end up paying the training institutes and not getting much in return (including the "guaranteed" job placements).

Id also recommend attending some tech events -- Chennai Geeks (http://blog.chennaigeeks.com/) or ilugc (http://www.ilugc.in/). You will get a chance to meet people who have startups and would be ready to take your services, maybe for a lesser salary than what you get at big SIs. But what you learn there will definitely help you in the future.

Good luck!

Hi,

You could consider Aricent as a company to apply for; Alot of european compnies are outsourcing to Aricent most of software and firmware development. I work for one of the largest mobile equipment provider; i was a firmware developer and now i was forced to switch to another kind of activity because all the development activity was given to Aricent. Hurry up, maybe in few years all this activty will move somewhere else in the world.

Join a bigger outsourcing companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro or HCL. There are jobs galore for people of all skill's in these places. If you have some knowledge on automation and scripting for the automation testing it will help your job search very well.

Maybe the Indian "hackernews" can help you too: http://hackerstreet.in/

Where in India?

Maharashtra, Nashik.

Drop me a line if you need help learning Ruby, or Rails. I will be glad to help you.

sent you a mail. please check when you get free time.

I had answer your email.

I would suggest you get into Android or iPhone development instead. Make some app. If it is good enough the income is recurring. Plus mobile is most likely to be huge in the years to come.

Got a few emails on how to get started on it.

- To get started on Android development, you will need Eclipse IDE, the Android SDK, a few plugins. All of which are free to download at http://developer.android.com/index.html & http://www.eclipse.org/ ..

1. Go through the Developer's Guide. http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html

2. Start off with the problem.

3. Think about how to solve it. Simplify it more. Take away all the unnecessary features.

4. Explore if it is possible to speed up the development by using these Resources? http://developer.android.com/resources/samples/index.html

5. Launch it early, and get feedback.

6. Reiterate.

Once you make it to step 6, you are almost there. Stick with it till you are really good at it. Once you are at this stage, you can either a mobile developer job or build your app, etc.

Out of curiosity, how much per hour/week/month/year are you look to ideally make? What languages do you already know?

I am good with 20-25k rupees (450-550$)/month. As i said, i was a tester,I have little ruby and java knowledge. But i can also learn python if required for work.

In that case, I'd highly suggest learning the ins and outs of ruby or python. I'm sure you could get an offshore job with a company for that sort of compensation, or do freelance work to get in that range. Good luck!

not sure if this can "save" you, but you can contribute to technology websites as freelancer. this is quickest to start earning, just find few blogs looking for writers. As you are good with programming, your chances are high.

Best wishes!

Java is probably still the best bet. Ruby on Rails might be OK.

correct. i would suggest java, its easier to learn..

c#/.net is getting very popular too, seems to be almost as common as java (in job postings) these days.

If it is the quickest path to money COBOL or any mainframe development is still top dog. There is virtually no competition in this space from new developers and has a seriously aging population. While the # of jobs in sheer volume is lower the jobs to head count is much higher. Just applying to a COBOL job with no experience but a "I'm willing to learn" will land you the job many times, if you have previous unrelated development experience. COBOL programmers are commanding $40 hr in India which is close to on par with a mid-level Java developer in the states. That said it's not sexy work.

I've got a lot of friends that are QA in Microsoft - well paid.

I am from India , I would suggest you take the SAP certification and join in as a consultant . The market for SAP is ever green and it pays way better than testing

you may learn programming online

i can recommend you one, mostly their topics is on java/j2ee with spring

www.adobocode.com

hope this helps

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