Don't hold your life at work

Lyrics:


Song with video:

IT and Business

It is a good time to update your CV

I think it is a good idea to update CV and job profiles in internet from time to time.
I suppose we should do it at least one time per year or half of year.
Even if you do not what to change you job I would suggest you to update CV.
The reason is just to write your key achievements down.

How often do you update your CV?

Break stereotypes, work on your thoughts and think everyday

Suddenly, I relalize that unique grade is very important on all levels of life.
So I changed my life slogan  for time being

Try to be unique and 

Make your head works for you.

Break stereotypes, work on your thoughts and think everyday. That make you life happy.

United Arab Emirates. Information Technology Salary report 2008.

Qualification level	Salary per month in AED
	Basic salary range	Typical
It Support Engineer	12,000-18,000	15000
It Help Desk	08,000-12,000	10000
Software Developper	08,000-12,000	10000
System Analyst	10,000-15,000	12000
Data Base Administrator	12,000-20,000	15000
Systems Architect	18,000-30,000	20000
Architect ( Solution, SOA, Enterprise	20,000-40,000	25000
Infrastructure Specialist	20,000-30,000	25000
Help Desk Support/ IT Manager	15,000-30,000	20000
CIO	35,000-55,000	40000
Business Analyst	20,000-30,000	25000
Project Manager	20,000-35,000	25000
Project Coordinator	08,000-15,000	12000
Security Specialists	20,000-35,000	25000

Salary per month in AED

10,000 EUR = 51,453.6 AED as of 12/22/2008

England. IT salary report 2008.

Region	Junior Development Officer		Development Officer		Senior Development Officer		Development Team Leader
	Typical	Range	Typical	Range	Typical	Range	Typical	Range
Inner London	31304	25,044-35,061	35932	26,132-42,574	40070	30,073-50,632	46665	43,554-56,620
Outer London	30052	22,866-33,809	33703	25,044-40,070	38000	26,00047,000	45628	42,517-52,265
South East	28000	24,000-33,000	33000	24,000-38,000	38000	26,000-47,000	42000	38,000-48,000
East of England	26000	22,000-30,000	28000	25,000-32,000	32000	28,000-35,000	38000	35,000-45,000
The Midlands	25000	22,000-28,000	30000	34,000-26,000	33000	28,000-36,000	36000	34,000-41,000
South West	23500	20,000-29,000	27200	23,100-37,800	32000	28,100-39,500	35750	34,100-41,250
North West	25000	22,000-28,000	29000	26,000-35,000	31000	28,000-38,000	37500	32,000-43,000
North East	25000	22,000-28,000	29000	25,000-35,000	35000	28,000-39,000	37000	30,000-45,000
Wales	23749	20,600-29,187	27011	22,616-36,800	31362	27,756-37,888	35653	33,924-40,063
Scotland	22000	19,000-26,000	29000	25,000-35,000	35000	28,000-39,000	37000	30,000-42,000
Northern Ireland			25000	21,000-29,000	30000	27,000-35,000	31000	27,000-36,000
National average	25,873		29,713		34,13		38,381

All salaries are specified in pounds.

Dublin, Ireland. IT salary report.

IT Contract	Lower €/ Day	Average €/Day	Specialist €/Day
Mainframe	250	350	425
RPG400, GUI, Java	255	350	400
C# /VB.net	285	320	350
C/C++	255	300	350
Lotus Notes	205	350	400
PHP	175	200	300
Graphic Designer	205	300	320

Please see full report here.

Tax load over the world

The most big tax load is in Denmark. This is conclusion of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Tax burden was calculated as the ratio of tax revenues to the country's GDP. In Denmark the figure is 48.9%.

The lowest tax burden was in Mexico - 20.5% in 2007.
The highest tax burden now:

1. Denmark (48.9%)
2. Sweden (48.2%)
3. Belgium (44.4%)
4. France (43.6%)
5. Norway (43.4%)
   

Mercer reported about cost of living in the world

Cost of living top 5 ranking cities by region

Top 5 cities - Asia Pacific	Top 5 cities - Americas	Top 5 cities - Europe, Middle East & Africa
Tokyo, Japan (2nd) Seoul, South Korea (5th) Hong Kong, China (6th) Osaka, Japan (11th) Singapore, Singapore (13th) The lowest ranking city in Asia was was Karachi, Pakistan (141st)	New York City, US (22nd) São Paulo, Brazil (25th) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (31st) Toronto, Canada (54th) Los Angeles, US (55th) The lowest ranking city in the Americas was Asunción, Paraguay (143rd)	Moscow, Russia (1st) London, UK (3rd) Oslo, Norway (4th) Copenhagen, Denmark (7th) Geneva, Switzerland (8th) The lowest ranking city from Europe, Middle East & Africa was Johannesburg, South Africa (140th)

Rank March 2008	Rank March 2007	City	Country	Cost of living Index March 2008	Cost of living Index March 2007
1	1	Moscow	Russia	142.4	134.4
2	4	Tokyo	Japan	127.0	122.1
3	2	London	UK	125.0	126.3
4	10	Oslo	Norway	118.3	105.8
5	3	Seoul	South Korea	117.7	122.4
6	5	Hong Kong	China	117.6	119.4
7	6	Copenhagen	Denmark	117.2	110.2
8	7	Geneva	Switzerland	115.8	109.8
9	9	Zurich	Switzerland	112.7	107.6
10	11	Milan	Italy	111.3	104.4
11	8	Osaka	Japan	110.0	108.4
12	13	Paris	France	109.4	101.4
13	14	Singapore	Singapore	109.1	100.4
14	17	Tel Aviv	Israel	105.0	97.7
15	21	Sydney	Australia	104.1	94.9
16	16	Dublin	Ireland	103.9	99.6
16	18	Rome	Italy	103.9	97.6
18	12	St. Petersburg	Russia	103.1	103.0
19	19	Vienna	Austria	102.3	96.9
20	20	Beijing	China	101.9	95.9
21	22	Helsinki	Finland	101.1	93.3
22	15	New York City	US	100.0	100.0
23	38	Istanbul	Turkey	99.4	87.7
24	26	Shanghai	China	98.3	92.1
25	25	Amsterdam	Netherlands	97.0	92.2
25	29	Athens	Greece	97.0	90.6
25	62	São Paulo	Brazil	97.0	82.8
28	26	Madrid	Spain	96.7	92.1
29	49	Prague	Czech Rep.	96.0	85.6
30	37	Lagos	Nigeria	95.9	88.0
31	31	Barcelona	Spain	95.2	89.2
31	64	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	95.2	82.5
31	23	Stockholm	Sweden	95.2	93.1
34	24	Douala	Cameroon	95.1	92.9
35	67	Warsaw	Poland	95.0	82.4
36	64	Melbourne	Australia	94.2	82.5
37	39	Munich	Germany	93.1	87.6
38	45	Berlin	Germany	93.0	85.9
39	44	Brussels	Belgium	92.9	86.5
40	40	Frankfurt	Germany	92.5	87.4
41	33	Dakar	Senegal	92.2	89.0
42	28	Kiev	Ukraine	91.7	91.4
43	43	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	91.3	87.0
44	30	Almaty	Kazakhstan	90.7	89.6
45	31	Bratislava	Slovakia	90.6	89.2
46	45	Düsseldorf	Germany	90.4	85.9
46	72	Riga	Latvia	90.4	81.5
48	52	Mumbai	India	90.3	84.9
49	59	Zagreb	Croatia	90.0	83.5
50	57	Hamburg	Germany	89.9	84.2

The way to find yourself. Self Improvement.

Last time I have much more thoughts about myself, my life and my behavior in general. I think I'm changing and that's why my brain gives me a signal. Grow, grow and don't stop.

I listened to some English broadcast about self-improvement. I heart a lot of interesting things and felt I was curious about this topic.

From this today I start off surveys about self-improvement as instrument to grow and improve yourself and world around you.

The One Minute Manager. Book to be read.

Recently, I bought ebook and started read more and more. Yesterday, I've finished with The Art Of Software Testing. Therefore, today, I'll start with next one. It will be The One Minute Manager.

I'd like to read this book since I've read Who moved my cheese? a few month ago. These books have the same author. Spencer Johnson wrote very small but effective tips for every. The message is clear, and implementing the ideas is straight-forward and laid out in the book. So it's quickly, easy and understandably.

Other book reviews across internet:
"The secrets of one-minute management will help a manager boost profits and productivity immediately through increases employee morale and job satisfaction. For any person who is currently manager striving to get the most from people, or who is planning to become one in the near future, "The One Minute Manager" is an indispensable success too"

[http://www.coolavenues.com/know/gm/book-review_arnab_4a.php3]

"The author explains how to effectively use your one minute to accomplish your task of explanation, praise or reprimand. Being a parent, many of these principals and teachings can be applied to parenting. We should be able to tell our children what needs to be done in less than one minute, explain something they should not have done in less than one minute and praise a great job, yet again in less than one minute. A good quick read and the book earned its place on my shelf with the “to be read again” stack."

[http://ezinearticles.com/?Book-Review:-The-One-Minute-Manager&id=290395]

I still don't read it but definitely recommend it.

Book. I've read.The art of software testing.

It provides a practical discussion of the nature and aims of software testing. You'll find the latest methodologies for the design of effective test cases, including information on psychological and economic principles, managerial aspects, test tools, high-order testing, code inspections, and debugging. Accessible, comprehensive, and always practical, this edition provides the key information you need to test successfully, whether a novice or a working programmer.



Table of content:

Chapter 1: A Self-Assessment Test.

Chapter 2: The Psychology and Economics of Program Testing.

Chapter 3: Program Inspections, Walkthroughs, and Reviews.

Chapter 4: Test-Case Design.

Chapter 5: Module (Unit) Testing.

Chapter 6: Higher-Order Testing.

Chapter 7: Debugging.

Chapter 8: Extreme Testing.

Chapter 9: Testing Internet Applications.

I recommend it if you are related to software testing :)

15 survival tips for new IT managers

I guess everyone in IT area set some goals for himself. In common, it's a management direction. I'm not exclusion and trying to get following knowledge. Just found good article for beginner in management. So, the move from a technical job to managing an IT department requires a variety of new skills.


Tips for developing your management skills:
1. Read the One Minute Manager series of books by Ken Blanchard
A one-minute manager is someone who gets good results without taking much time, according to Blanchard. Apply his three easy steps to management and situational leadership.

2.Learn the internal politics of your organization
Network with peer and upper managers. Ask their advice. Managers usually like to help other managers.

3. Find and understand your own weaknesses as soon as possible
Remember, you're allowed to take training, too, so make sure you do.

4. Develop your budgeting skills
Learn to manage an IT budget down to the last penny. You want to be able to clearly show the business where money can be saved.

Tips to improve your communication with executive staff
5. Don't take day-to-day problems to your boss
Instead, take recurring issues and optional solutions to the problem. Then, ask which approach your boss would recommend.

6. Try to keep project work and support work separate
It's a lot easier to justify bringing in extra staff members for a new project, as long as their salaries are included in the cost of implementing the project. Don't allow your staff to be pulled in both directions.

7. Record and report everything
Require your team to fill out timesheets so you can show where resource time is spent and back it up with data. This will aid in any arguments for extra resources and will keep you current on what the team is doing. It will also make writing your monthly reports to executive staff members easier.

8. Know your role in the event of a disaster
If you're faced with a disaster, remember that your team's job is to get the systems back in place. Ensure you have good disaster and recovery plans for mission-critical systems and leave the business recovery to others.

Tips for motivating your team, negotiating politics
9. Don't get buried in support obligations
If you have no formal help desk protocol and find that you're getting swamped with help calls, create a centralized help desk. Outsource this function if necessary. If you go this route, you should create service level agreements (SLAs) that outline your complete services.

10. Set boundaries for your team
Invest your time in enabling your staff to succeed and fend off any counterproductive requests from other departments as much as possible.

11. Learn Monkey Management
When employees come looking for help, be sure to send them away with the next action. Don't take on your employees' workload, because you'll have enough to do.

12. Perform staff appraisals at least once or twice a year
Provide staff members with clear objectives and then help them reach their goals.

13. Hold regular team meetings
This is difficult because of constant deadlines and because everyone always seems too busy. If absolutely necessary, have lunch meetings, but be sure to provide the sandwiches.

14. Don't forget recreation and rewards
Treat your team to a meal out at least once per quarter. If you control the budget, you can manage the cost.

15. Recognize that the sum capability of your staff is your team's maximum output
Just because you have high standards, don't expect your team members to hold the same values. Praise and encourage them in their areas of strength and provide good training for their areas of weakness.

Original article here.

Top-Manager's salary survey for Russia by Antal International Russia

Just read one article about salary survey on CNews and must say that top-managers in Russia have a good salary. Please check it out below.

Average month salary for top-manager in Russia (thousand RUB)
	Russian Company	Foreign Company
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)	600	500
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)	375	350
Chief Information Officer (CIO)	250	225
Director of Sales	275	225
HR Director	300	275

Top 100 Most Influential Technology Vendors for 2008

I found an interesting list of top 100 vendors of 2008. It's obvious but anyway look through, set goals and achieve it :)

List:

1. Microsoft          35. i2                    69. Xerox
2. Oracle             36. EDS                   70. Front Range
3. SAP                37. QAD                   71. Internec
4. IBM                38. Ariba                 72. Manugistics
5. Cisco              39. CA                    73. Palm
6. Hewlett Packard    40. Epicor                74. Unisys
7. Dell               41. Juniper               75. Yahoo!
8. Salesforce.com     42. Sprint/Nextel         76. 3com
9. EMC                43. Tata Consulting       77. ABB
10. Sun Microsystems  44. ADP                   78. CANON
11. Google            45. Fujitsu               79. Capgemini
12. RIM (Blackberry)  46. Intuit                80. Informatica
13. Siemens           47. Manhattan Associates  81. Interwoven
14. Adobe             48. Novell                82. McKesson
15. AT&T              49. Red Prairie           83. Mincom
16. Apple             50. SunGard               84. Mitel
17. Sage              51. Telstra               85. Netsuite
18. Infor             52. BMC                   86. Omniture
19. Nortel            53. BT                    87. Progress
20. Avaya             54. CSC                   88. Rackspace
21. Red Hat           55. Skype                 89. SPSS
22. Motorola          56. Infosys               90. Syntel
23. Verizon Wireless  57. NetApp                91. Teradata
24. Dassault          58. Symantec              92. T-Mobile
25. Accenture         59. Huawei                93. Toshiba
26. Sony Ericsson     60. IFS                   94. Websense
27. Alcatel - Lucent  61. Microstrategy         95. Servigistics
28. AutoDesk          62. Aruba                 96. Genesys
29. Intel             63. CDW                   97. Logility
30. SAS               64. Concur                98. Kronos
31. Citrix            65. Exact                 99. Rockwell Automation
32. Nokia             66. Hitachi              100. Checkpoint Systems
33. PTC               67. Qlikview
34. Lawson            68. Vonage

Original survey here.

What I'm reading now. "Time-Drive: how to have time for live and work"

It's a cool book how to organize yourself and to do more, have more and do it faster. Such book for you If you feel you don't have time to do all you want.

ISBN 978-5-902862-41-3, 978-5-902862-37-6
Publication: 2007
Language: Russian
See review

Czech Republic, Prague. Cost of living.

Today I'll outline amazing country Czech Republic. Namely, I'll writing about Prague.

Quote: “Prague is like a vertical Venice steps everywhere.”
Author: Anonymous

So lets start.

Currency:
At first i'd like to reminder current index for eur/czk and usd/czk
1 USD = 15.5159038 CZK
1 EUR = 24.7307991 CZK

[http://google.com]

Tax:
Individuals who are permanently resident in the Czech Republic (as determined by their circumstances) or are usually domiciled here (i.e. spend more than 183 days per annum in the Czech Republic) are considered to be tax resident in the Czech Republic and are liable to Czech tax on their world-wide income. If the individuals are present for less than 183 days, then they are liable to tax only on their Czech-source income. These rules apply to Czech as well as foreigners.

Everybody working in the Czech Republic is liable to Czech social and health insurance payments. It is only in the case of short-term secondments that non-Czech nationals may be exempt from contributions to the Czech system. The employer is obliged to deduct tax advances under a payroll deduction scheme and at the end of the fiscal year, any differences between the amount due and amount advanced would be settled the following tax year. It is possible following the end of the tax year to claim tax relief for certain payments such as mortgage interest and life insurance (if the individual’s Czech income exceeds 90% of his/her world-wide income). If the employee received any additional income exceeding CZK 6,000 (except exempt income or, for example, dividends), then he would be obliged to file an income tax return.

The czech income tax rate for individual's income in 2008 is flat, a 15% rate. In 2007 tax on the income of individuals was payable at rates of 12% - 32%.
Mandatory social and health insurance payments are: Employee- 12.5%.

[http://www.worldwide-tax.com/czech/czech_tax.asp]

Well, common tax will be 27,5%

Useful links:

• CzechInvest, the inward investment agency: www.czechinvest.cz
• Ministry of Finance: www.mfcr.cz
• Ministry of Interior Affairs:www.mvcr.cz
• Czech National Bank:www.cnb.cz
• Czech Trade:www.czechtrade.cz
• Ministry of Industry and Trade:www.mpo.cz
• Ministry of Labour and Social Affairswww.mpsv.cz

Average salary:
Sr. Software Engineer - 40000 USD
Software Engineer - 25000 USD

[http://www.payscale.com/research/CZ/Country=Czech_Republic/Salary]

Property to rent:

Area: 62m
Size:2+kk
Furnished: yes
Transport: metro, tram, bus
Price: 14000 CZK (892 USD)

[http://www.expats.cz]

Transport:
One-way Ticket - 14.00 CZK
Transfer Ticket - 20.00 CZK
24-hour Pass - 80.00 CZK
Monthly Pass - 460.00 CZK (30 USD)
Annual Pass - 4,150.00 CZK
Taxi (airport to center) - 400.00 CZK
Taxi (within center) - 150.00 CZK

[http://www.dpp.cz]

Food cost:
Milk (1 liter) - 16.00 CZK
Loaf of Fresh Bread - 24.00 CZK
French Baguette 19.00 CZK
Eggs (10) - 24.00 CZK
Cheese (100g) - 20.00 CZK
Water (1.5 liter bottle) - 12.00 CZK
Bottle of Czech Wine - 80.00 CZK
Domestic Beer (0.5 liter bottle) - 12.00 CZK
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle) - 30.00 CZK
Pack of Cigarettes (Marlboro) - 60.00 CZK
Pack of Cigarettes - Czech Brand - 40.00 CZK

[http://www.expats.cz]

Other:
UTILITIES, ETC. (Monthly)
Basic (Gas, Electricity, etc.) - 2,500.00 CZK
Phone (Land Line) - 500.00 CZK
Mobile Phone - 700.00 CZK
Internet (512 kbps ADSL) - 600.00 CZK

[http://www.expats.cz]

So to sum it up:
I've calculated that live in Prague will monthly cost you 25000-30000CZK (1600-1900 USD). Let do a small calculation here. If average salary is 40000-45000 CZK (2500-2900 USD) then your income after paying tax will be 30000-33000 CZK (1900-2200 USD) and finally, after all expenditures you will have 5000 CZK (300 USD).
Well, to be honest, it's not good situation but if you receive 60000-70000 CZK then you will be live without complain.

What I'm trying to say, your life is in your hands.
Good luck and hope for the best.

Ireland, Dublin. Cost of living.

Tax:
Ireland taxation of an individual's income is progressive. In other words, the higher the income, the higher the rate of tax payable. In Ireland the tax rates for an individual in 2007 are 20% and 41%.
1. Tax base (EUR) = 0 - 34,000; Tax (%) = 20%
2. Tax base (EUR) = 34,001 and over; Tax (%) = 41% on base exceeding 34,000
For more detailed information please see www.revenue.ie or www.worldwide-tax.com or www.irelandtax.com.

Average salary:
Software engineer - 36.000 EUR
Sr. Software engineer - 50.000 EUR
Project manager - 57.000 EUR
For more detailed information please see www.payscale.com

Property to rent:
I just have a quick look for properties rent and have to say you can rent 1bedroom flat for 1.000 EUR. It might be cheapest but convenience would be considerably worse.
For more detailed information please see www.draft.ie or www.myhome2let.ie.




Transport:
Dublin has a wide range on transport systems. Each system have different fares and prices. You can see it all if you follow by links defined below. However I just want to show approximate values. So please see:
Bus adult - 85 EUR
Bus+Rail - 119 EUR
For more detailed information please see www.dublinbus.ie or www.transport21.ie or www.transport.ie or www.softguides.com.

Who moved my cheese?

Every time I fly (i mean on the plane) I try to find some short-term entertainment. Last time (it was on Saturday) I bought small book "Who moved my cheese?". I was pretty impressed because it gave me big value in despite of small size. I spent above 2 hours to read it all but I'm thinking about such things until now. It just can give you kick and you move yourself and your thoughts.

The sense of the book is simple. it's just one story about mice that are looking for cheese all time.

If you're interested in such book and want to buy it or download it from somewhere, please read a few pages from it here. Or read review on wikipedia or see it on Amazon.

P.S. Next time I'll be in London or somewhere I'm going to read another books of Dr. Spencer Johnson that also very popular.

Slovakia, Bratisliva. Cost of living.

I've already written about Belgium, Brussels a few days ago and I'm going to continue write the next country's survey. I had conversation with my friend which currently works in Slovakia, Bratislava.

Tax
38%

Transport

Taxi
A 10-minute ticket costs SKK 14, and a 30-minute ticket SKK 18, which is under 50 Euro cents.

Food

Clothe

Average salary

Flat rent

Cost of living is xxx.





you know, as i saw average salary ~50k. don't forget that they pay tax :), as i saw it was ~50%.
so perhaps salary grow down to 25k ^). because in my case as i told you they proposed me near 1.7 euro per/month so ~20k per year (but -25% because of tax). but the appartment in the center of the city in bratislava ~350euro+70-100 euro(charges). ~450euro. and food costs not so expensive like in Beussels, i'm sure. but the idea is great. maybe you should create something like table where you show everything.

sorry fro misstakes, i took one bottle of wine in fridge... he he.. it is one of our benefits on a job.

i'm still waiting you here, in Bratislava... here a good point to move to the Austria or any other country.