SI Developer Story
#1. Is it true that SI companies should be avoided..?

There are common stories that new developers or junior developers share when they meet.

It's "I heard you shouldn't go to an SI company..?" In my case, I started my first job at an SI company, so I can empathize with what they are struggling with.

Today, we will talk about whether you should go to an SI company or avoid it.

❓ SI's Business Structure
First, you need to understand SI's business structure. SI is led by the three giants, Samsung SDS, LG CNS, and SK C&C, which receive orders from companies that want systems (principal) and find subcontractors for the project. At this time, many SI companies will be in a position of B, C, D... Of course, the lower you go, the lower the price will be because there is a commission in between. Due to this problem, the public sector has restrictions on participation by large corporations, but looking at the recent incident with the 4th generation education system Nice, we can see that there are limitations in the technological capabilities of small and medium-sized companies.

❓ Reasons to avoid SI companies

1. Inflated experience

Some manpower dispatch (companies that only send manpower to companies and receive commissions) called "Bodo-bang" inflate the experience to get more money, usually sending new recruits as 3 years of experience (junior). Therefore, if you get a job at a Bodo-bang, you may be punished for forging official documents, and it will also harm the other personnel on the project, so such companies should be avoided.

Reports on inflated experience

2. Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Friday-Friday due to schedule pressure

Due to the nature of S/W projects, most of the cost goes into personnel costs. Therefore, the principal wants to finish the project quickly, and the performing company wants to finish it quickly and reduce personnel costs, so there is a lot of push about the schedule. Therefore, depending on which client company you work for, you may end up working Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Friday-Friday.

3. A structure where you can't make money

As mentioned above, lower-level SI companies receive lower prices because they have to pay commissions in between, so they have a structure where they work a lot but earn less, so it is difficult to expect a large salary or benefits. Therefore, most of the people working at lower-level SI companies aim to jump up to higher-level companies by building up their skills.

But there are also good SI (?) companies out there.

In my case, I worked on SI projects for about 2 years, and I worked overtime only a handful of times. I think I gained a lot of experience and skills during that time. I think I grew the most during this time. Therefore, I don't think it's absolutely necessary to avoid SI, but if you want to get a job as a developer but are having trouble finding a job, I think it's a good choice to start at an SI company. Of course, you have to choose a good SI company. I will explain how to choose a good SI company and how to choose a good SI in the next post.