How can a backend developer raise his earnings?

Question

Career in IT

I apologize in advance for such a dumb question. But I'm desperate. I've been asking Google the same question for the last six months, but I haven't found an answer.
There are now a lot of guides on the Internet how to find a first job for a beginner in programming, etc. And then they say everyone like clockwork. But this is far from true!

Here I have a question, how can a developer from the province (the city of Yaroslavl) raise his salary higher, for example, 50,000 rubles?

I'm bad at freelancing. I don’t have any communication skills (it’s hard for me to find freelance clients and negotiate with them), I don’t speak English fluently (not enough to find clients over the hill). And in general, I like working on some interesting products in the office more, because I am more productive when I work in the office and not from home.

I consider myself a good middle php/go backend developer. I can be very productive if it's very hot and I had to do it yesterday, I can write high-quality and clean code if it needs long-term support for business.

Now I work for 50 thousand a month, I'm trying to find options with a higher salary, but either I don't fit the level, or I'm not ready to pay that much.
The last refusal was with the words:

We need a strong junior, who we would pull to the middle, and you are still a serious middle, who himself is confidently and very quickly developing.

I feel like I'm stuck on one number in one place. I work in one company from 9.00 to 18.00 5 days a week, sometimes I do something else at home when I don’t have time to complete tasks or I need to learn something new to solve current problems.
The rest of the time I:

1. I am looking for ideas for a startup, trying to find like-minded people, find people who have some problems with digital products and would like to solve them... None of my friends have problems
   
2. I send resumes to companies, complete their test tasks, go through technical interviews and listen to refusals
   
3. I'm trying to freelance, but Russian freelance exchanges are hard of course
   
4. I am looking for some other ways to earn money - for example, I look at Envato, but judging by the January statistics, selling templates on Wordpress is no longer so profitable
   

I end up doing everything but building the backend of web applications, which is what I enjoy the most. Has anyone had similar crises, how did you get out of the situation?

Answer 1

The most reliable way is to simply move to Moscow, where salaries, even in relation to expenses, are many times higher.
A more complex - but also more promising and profitable - remote job for a white gentleman from the USA, but the requirements are much higher - you need English standards (b2) and be able to mumble something, and most importantly - not be autistic (cultural fit).
Look for remote sites on hackernew, weworkremotely, for example. Now there is a lot of it, everyone wants to outsource to a poor country and better (cheaper!) Without pads.

Answer 2

There is such a type of people who want everything, but without changing anything. Recently, some Kent from the Ukrainian village wrote to me saying that I want to enter IT , he threw me a test task with a question for how much we can sort it out. I asked what he wants to achieve from this, and he gave me that he is nobody in IT and there is no way to call him, but he wants to find a remote office and get babosiki. I answered him that he needed experience, he needed to get settled, and he told me .. in general, too lazy to write an excerpt from the chat for a long time.
Notice how much he does not want!

Answer 3

The main problem. Sitting on a small salary and doing "simple" tasks, you will never reach the level to get into a normal company. If you don’t get into the company’s norms, you will not receive salary norms.
If you're a real PHP/Go developer, you're saving up some money. You go to Moscow and join a normal company for a lot of money, you improve your skills. If it gets so bad in Moscow, you can move back, get a job remotely, already like a hewn developer with a cool commercial experience.
The problem of many people now is that they do not want to leave their comfort zone, go somewhere and so on. Than, to make an obvious decision, to go to Moscow, Peter to gain experience, they will sit in their towns and moan that there is nothing.

Answer 4

everyone grows to the level of their incompetence

Answer 5

To Moscow and you will raise a hundred

Answer 6

Get an additional job at Yandex.Food or DC. Your salary will triple.

Answer 7

In general, look, my friend, I will tell you my experience.
To begin with, you have a mess in your head regarding self-marketing. You are in a passive position in relation to employers, in connection with which you have what you have. As long as you maintain this status quo, forget to dream of a better income.
To get something, you have to sacrifice something. You donate, judging by your post, is not very ready.
Nevertheless, if, nevertheless, there is a chance that you change your mind, then here's a plan for you:
1) Fill out a normal profile on lindekin (find me and write to me if you need help)
2) Go to all social services where they call.
3) After each security service, do a debriefing for yourself, where you screwed up, and pull up the materiel.
4) Stop whining that you are not pulling - do everything to pull.
5) Stop whining that they didn’t take it - that’s their problem, they blew a smart candidate.
6) Stupidly stop whining, no one needs whiners.
I specifically write harshly to excite and shake your brain out of the quagmire (and others who will read it).
In 2015, I radically changed the stack, went from puff to the front to react. Unlike you, I basically work only remotely, because in my province there are no vacancies even for 50 thousand, at most 25. The first few years were very difficult.
Today, several vacancies are sent to my mail every week, I refuse most of them, I always agree with the most interesting ones for social services, because this is a great way to test your knowledge for free and get feedback. In general, if your head is on your shoulders, you will already notice your shortcomings in the process of social security, which is a reason to work on yourself in the near future.
You will not believe it, but in my arsenal there are offers that I refused, for 130, 150 or more money. I am writing this not to brag, but so that you understand that it is time to wake up and act.
If you are a really strong middle, your minimum price is 120 per hand. That's what we should strive for. By the time you reach your goal, your price will rise to 160+. Now think about how much you lose in a year. :)
It's all remote. If you love the office so much, with such an income, you can easily rent an office yourself for ten dollars, and work quietly there, and the money will still be 2 times more than now.
So think seriously about remote control. I would recommend that you apply for vacancies where seniors and leads are needed if you have a total development experience of more than 5 years.
But you need to start with a very important very first step - a normal resume, without it, everything else is empty chatter.

Answer 8

With such a stack, there are 2 options:
1. Moving to another city. The simplest options for MSC or St. Petersburg. But, you can find 100k + in other cities in the office.
2. Look for a remote location. It is possible, even in ru, to find it remotely for middle 80+.

Answer 9

To begin with, change the stack. Go + php is not a stack that is easy to sell in the regional market.
Think about where these languages ​​are massively in demand at the moment in Yaroslavl? I think almost nowhere.
The market for your stack in your city is small.
Another option is moving. But stacking will greatly weaken your competitive edge anyway. It is fashionable to write about go, but the amount of work on the market for it is not comparable with the same java.

Answer 10

Make your product. Or partner up with someone. Full of unoccupied niches.

Answer 11

The phrase is troubling:

.. or I don’t fit the level ..

Those. you are (by the description) a really good developer and some employers turn you on because you are "too good" for them, but despite all this, there are some employers in your city for whom your level is low??
What prevents you from growing to that suitable level? This is not a reproachful question, just wondering what steps you need to go through in order to fit these requirements?
Why am I doing all this. If you can’t grow to the level that these companies need on your own, then you can try to negotiate with them in a different way. For example, to find out if they need juniors, and if so, then, having crossed their pride, get a job with them as a junior, so that later they can grow up in the company itself (if, of course, this is possible - the junior will most likely be paid less, and I don’t know what you have on your back - maybe a family, a mortgage, etc.)

Answer 12

it’s really possible to find a remote job for 100+ - provided that you have experience in self-development.
therefore, there is only one advice - publish a resume, there were offers for vacancies.

Answer 13

I send resumes to companies, complete their test tasks, go through technical interviews and listen to refusals

but either I don’t fit the level, or they are not ready to pay so much

In principle, the answer lies in your own text. It may be worth moving to a larger city where your salary will be really higher, but definitely not to Moscow, I think you yourself understand for what reasons.

I'm trying to freelance, but Russian freelance exchanges are hard of course

indeed, there is an already entrenched group that has all sorts of VIP and pro privileges for hundreds of orders, which take most of the orders, the rest of the slaves are ready to fulfill the order for the very penny, thereby dumping the market.

Answer 14

A person creates problems for himself, the main problem is in your head, taking on projects, communicating with people, getting good money, not getting lost - this is a very big responsibility. Working in an office, you don’t need to have a lot of responsibility, so think for yourself what to do with it.