back to article 'Why the hell are we paying elite crypto crackers £25k?'

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  2. Nick Kew

    £25k is bloomin' good pay ...

    ... for an 11-year-old, which is probably round about peak age for codebreaking.

    Isn't it also the going rate for an elite techie in UK PLC? After all, if you're still doing that kind of work past about your mid 20s, you're obviously some kind of freakish loser who can't hack it in a Real Job[tm] with powerpoint and a suit.

    It's 20 years since my last job in UK industry. Fortunately in a global marketplace I'm not limited to it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Isn't it also the going rate for an elite techie in UK PLC? After all, if you're still doing that kind of work past about your mid 20s, you're obviously some kind of freakish loser who can't hack it in a Real Job[tm] with powerpoint and a suit."

      Wow, patronise much? Some of us coders are good enough that we can continue in the role on better pay, rather than being forced into the self-justifying, colleague-interfering mire of middle management.

      1. fixit_f
        FAIL

        "Wow, sense of humour failure much?"

  3. Leeroy

    Optional title

    "Why are we paying world-class cyber security experts what we pay passport-stampers at the border-control-agency?"

    The real question is, why are we paying passport stampers 25 K ?

  4. SirTainleyBarking
    Headmaster

    Why are we paying cyber security experts what we pay passport-stampers?

    Because the true cost is £75K/year.

    Why?

    Well to reference the old cold war joke, they need two others to keep an eye on the dangerous intellectual

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Holmes

    Good summary

    Why are we paying world-class cyber security experts what we pay passport-stampers at the border-control-agency?

    Is it because IT as a profession was born after all the other industries like accountants and customs etc had got together and defined qualification standards that were universal and not out of date the next year and unions, thus meaning that alot of so called mundane jobs are paid the same as IT because IT as a whole in the UK has been shafted by this on-going descrimination. Compare builders who can get a nice NI card paying less than a round of drinks a month as apposed to IT who get to pay over 10x what they do weekly and a CSCS card/qualification seems somewhat cheaper than the lunch at any IT course. Do construction workers and other labourers have an IR35 equiverlant, I'm thinking not. Do they get to avoid more tax than IT, oh yeah, a hell of a lot. Makes you wonder why school children don't get into IT, could it be that it just don't pay as it should be paying and the standard vary so much that even if you are the best you might not even get past the HR round of rationalisation of CV's, becasue every HR department is soo qualified in IT as they know how to use Word and Excell. Is that why!

    Is that the right answear, if not do tell :)

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon

      Sir

      I swear if I could do it again I'd be a builder who could plaster, plumb and do electrics.

      1. AdamWill

        hey

        at least builders provide a clear and obvious benefit to the human race, whereas we mostly go around making their lives more difficult and inventing new and interesting ways for people to transmit pictures of piano-playing cats and their own junk.

        (a little perspective never hurt anyone!)

      2. Kool-Aid drinker
        Holmes

        @Sir Runcible

        Me too. I still can't figure out how I got it so wrong.

  6. John Savard

    Other Way Around

    I was pleased to see the comment quoted at the end of the article.

    I was expecting the remark to be from an MP, asking why they were being paid so much.

    However, I think it's the junior code-crackers who are being paid £25k, so he needn't worry.

  7. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Meh

    MFW

    >dinosaurs

    >links to anomalocaris

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's because...

    Why are we paying world-class cyber security experts what we pay passport-stampers at the border-control-agency?

    Because it a civil service job which pays less, sometimes much less, than the private sector.

    Also for these kind of roles people are supposed to want to do it to help their country rather than for the money.

  9. DannyAston

    It's not about the salary it's about the experience and having it on your CV.

    1. Andy Neale
      Black Helicopters

      On your CV?... " I was a codebreaker for GCHQ"

      ..And if you do put it on your CV, any employer following it up will be met with .. "No we can't confirm he/she worked here..that would be a matter of National security".... [Cue everyone putting GCHQ on their CV because it can't be proved].

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Are yiu sure

      you are allowed to have GCHQ on your cv?

      1. Marcus Aurelius
        Pirate

        GCHQ on CV

        Most organisations, including secure organisations, will confirm that you worked there for the period specified, and some may go even further and state that your work performance was satisfactory.

        Obviously they won't divulge any details of what you worked on, and your CV had better not state anything that may be covered by the Official Secrets Act......

  10. David Hicks
    FAIL

    I suspect we are not.

    I suspect we are paying peanuts and (as the saying goes) getting monkeys.

  11. zanto
    Holmes

    qotw

    " Why are we paying world-class cyber security experts what we pay passport-stampers at the border-control-agency?"

    Those passport stampers would be exposed to so many exotic bugs, need to react in real time, and probably have stricter working hours.

    Although 25k a year is a joke for a competent engineer.

    1. mark 63 Silver badge

      what sort of engineer? its a much overused term, stolen from the world of, you guessed it , engineering.

      I'm including network and software "engineers" in that , as well as the ones that paint nails down the salon.

      The source of my underachieving, under appreciated , chip-on-shoulder?

      I have a HND in Electro-Mechanical Engineering, but couldnt get a job in it , so had to do IT instead.

  12. Gareth

    @DannyAston - except you can't put it on your CV

    One of the problems of a job in the intelligence services is that you can't put it on your CV - at best you can put some sort of generic "Government employee" title (not even sure if you can mention it was in IT).

    Always wondered how that works, but of course no-one who actually knows is going to tell me :) I only know the latter as a friend did some contract work that was covered under the Official Secrets Act and was bemoaning that it was useless on his CV as he couldn't talk about the client or the work.

  13. Allan George Dyer
    Coat

    But everyone knows...

    Computers are like air-conditioners, they don't work properly when you open windows.

    OK, OK, I'm going

  14. Dan 10
    WTF?

    "Why are we paying world-class cyber security experts what we pay passport-stampers at the border-control-agency?"

    Why are we paying world-class cyber security experts HALF what we pay for London tube drivers??!!

  15. Al fazed
    Happy

    £25k ?

    This is somewhat less than a chimney sweep gets.

    Maybe this is where we start to build our economy again, with child labour.

    IT applicants - under 16 only please.

    If you get that job @ GCHQ, you can afford a new bicycle.

    ALF

    I think the dustman gets more than this for dealing with our shhh IT.

  16. Citizen Kaned

    how come....

    in modern science you need many samples to extrapolate data. but dino freaks can find one bone and build a whole new argument.

    have they not heard of genetic mutation? there are plenty of humans that dont fit into the neat, tidy box we have set out. i guess they would imagine hundreds of different species because some are slightly different.

    or is it just DNA?

    1. No, I will not fix your computer
      Thumb Up

      Anthropologists can extrapolate many things, for example where the hole in the base of the skull is can tell us if an apelike creature walked upright or on all fours, the flexibility of ankles indicate climbing ability, the sizes of vertebrae shows where weight is borne etc. etc. one bone can tell you many things (even a single tooth gives an indication on what was fed on).

      >>have they not heard of genetic mutation? there are plenty of humans that dont fit into the neat, tidy box we have set out. i guess they would imagine hundreds of different species because some are slightly different.

      This is very true, however, you can either assume that the fossil is typical and probably is a "normal" example, or assume everything is a one off unless you have two or more examples, given fossils are exceptionally rare you wouldn't get very far, so, in reality there probably are some one offs that have wrongly been called "a new species" - but these should be a factor rarer again, i.e. the weight of probability is that most of the fossils we find are not genetic mutants.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I applied

    Though I did encypt my CV. Logic being if they are a worthwhile employer and have the right standards and interlect so that I might learn somethings.

    They have yet to get back to me, couldn't possibly be they were unable to decypher the 24bit PLAN assembler code first part of the problem!!!

  18. Purlieu

    Indeed

    I'm thinking of re-coding my entire CV into Burroughs SL5

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