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A Finnish web developer works as a consultant

If you ask a random Finnish web developer to detail the projects they have worked on, I bet YLE (Finnish public broadcasting company) comes up. If you further ask to rank the projects, it would likely score high. The devs I've talked to and the Yle talks I've listened to have convinced me that taking a gig in Yle is indeed one of the most remarkable things to do in Finland.


I'm not sure, but I think a US developer might not see working for the PBS as their career highlight.


As a taxpayer, especially working in IT, it is fantastic that Finnish talent works on major, often publicly funded, megaprojects. The digital services are made well, robustly, and rate among the world's best. The developers enjoy working in such places because that all-knowing mentor colleague is sitting next to you. There are few Twitters or other desirable "web-scale" projects available locally. Not incidentally, this means that the barrier of entry is high to get these jobs.


The Finnish developer career goes as follows

  1. You get your first job wherever you can get it.
  2. After a few years, you go to one of the handful of major consultancy firms
    • You work there on some significant Finnish institution as a consultant
  3. The endgame is that you start to work as a (semi) independent consultant or a freelancer
    • You continue to work on the same projects as before but with a better compensation


The downside is that few developers trickle down to the smaller companies. Sure, that is true by definition (a mega institution gobbles up workforce). Less-known startups and already established companies with decent offerings are struggling to grow. The general "lack of programmers" is not as convincing an argument to me due to the relatively high coder-per-capita ratio.


It's just that the coders who are senior enough to be able to pick the next workplace choose not to go to the smaller companies. To me, that is a shame.


You guessed it; I work for a small, profitable, and stable private software product company. I've not regretted my choice!


Need some convincing to steer off the path mentioned above?


    Can I code without thinking about billable hours? - Every day!

    Guess when the next SAFe planning days are? - Never! 

    Do I get paid better than in the big consultancy firms? - Actually, I do! 

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