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Judy Ann Santos - Philippine Superstar
If there is someone that I hate more than Ms. Judy Ann Santos, that someone would have to be a person who has a job that he or she is not passionate about.
I don’t know if it’s the Philippine economy or just the Filipino culture that makes it “okay” for someone to live a life of suffering; enduring a job he or she hates for exchange of a comfortable life and a prestigious career. I’ve heard countless stories of teenagers being forced by their parents to take a course like Medicine, Law or Engineering (Courses which will attach fancy-sounding, age-old, titles to their child’s name) against their child’s will. I’ve accidentally watched countless Pinoy movies with the same theme. (Kid wants to major in Fine Arts, MOM aka Mrs. Attorney wants the kid to major in Law and be a lawyer. Sounds familiar?)
Five years ago, Nursing became a popular course for High School graduates to take in college. I know that because that was the year when I graduated from High School. During that time, some of my classmates took Nursing courses not because they want to be nurses but just because being a nurse would almost guarantee a free-work pass to the US and a chance of snatching that American dream. And you know what? I think majority of the newly graduated nurses thinks the same too.
Nursing school in the Philippines
Is this already a deeply-ingrained practice in our society? Seems so.
In College, I have met a lot of people who did not know the exact reason why they took Computer Science. Most of them did not even know what Computer Science is when they took it. Some of them took the course because they heard from their Uncle’s Friend’s Cousin’s who is the Executive Vice President of a multinational company that being a programmer pays well. True Story. Some of them took computer science because they thought computer science is EASY and because they thought computer-related jobs are easy to get.
For me, the only reason that you should take a course is because you absolutely love it. No other reason should override that. Your course will more-or-less dictate your life long profession. It will define you. You will breathe it, you will think about it, most of your waking hours will be used to deal with it. IT WILL DEFINE YOU. Why waste it in something you don’t really want? That’s stupid.
This pattern is not limited to Nursing or Computer Science. Look around you… Technical support staff, Call center agents, etc. I bet you that majority of them are there not because they love their job but because of the money. And you wonder why you are getting crappy customer service when you call your DSL support hotline? The moment they pickup the phone, they are already thinking of the best and fastest way to put it down. The more calls they get, the more money they’ll receive. This should stop. (One could argue that the system is to be blamed, but who can change the system?)
When I was in college, I really believed that everyone working in the software industry are passionate, nerdy, geeky programmers. But reality begs to disagree. I have met my share of software developers who are just here for the money, for the career.
So what is wrong with having a job that you are not passionate about? Well, I believe that if one is not passionate about his or her job one will always produce average and mediocre result. The Filipino culture of “Puwede na yan” (That’s good enough) fits the image perfectly. Maybe this is why you can see this pattern everywhere?
If you don’t really like what you are doing and if you are only after the rewards of finishing the job, you would never go the extra mile to rise above mediocrity. Well, if there is an additional reward for doing so, then you just might. But you would never work unpaid on an overtime just because you want to add that last “touch” that will make your result or product a little more perfect, because there is no additional reward for doing so.
I really admire the Japanese work ethics… they always aim to perfect something. I call that the Samurai Mindset, the art of the samurai. On the other hand, the unpassionate Filipino worker would outright claim that “nothing is perfect”, “perfection is impossible” then give up trying.
During my college days, I’ve met my fair share of these unpassionate programmers. Some of them are even dean’s listers and cumlaudes. Its just sad. You can see it on their projects (Computer Systems)… Since projects only accounts for 15% of the total grade, they would submit these mediocre systems that just meet the requirements. They would argue that its pointless to make your project perfect since its only a portion of the grade. Never trust the grades. 
It is a well known fact that the local IT industry gives one of the highest salary and that is making the situation a lot worse. Just like in Nursing, teenagers and their parents are most likely to choose IT courses because of the eventual monetary payoff and that is attracting more potential unpassionate programmers.
And Software companies hiring non-technical graduates for a programming job isn’t helping either.
Without passionate programmers, the local Software Industry would never be able to produce really innovative products. We will just be stuck as a source for cheap software “labor”. Making and remaking the same boring “business” systems. Producing average products, for average people.
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: http://blog.ianuy.com/2009/09/14/high-salary-is-killing-the-software-industry/trackback/ 
This one is a great article… actually I’m a fourth year student taking computer science right now.. I guess it is part of the culture.. There are also a lot of Filipinos who are undecided on what course they are going to take after high-school… But I just wanted to add that there are some students that in the middle of their course they could embrace their course because they see the beauty of the course or any other reasons… I wanted to add some more but I have a class now…
Great article Ian. I work for an American company setting up an office in the Philippines & spend most of my day interviewing developers. Passion for programming is the one of the main things I'm looking for and sadly 90% of candidates just don't have it. I can train people on specific technologies, but the people I'm looking for just "get it" and love what they are doing. Without a love for programming, the end result can never be awesome software.
Any ideas on where I can find the awesome developers I'm looking for?
Don't lose hope Rick, there's still a lot of geeks running around in the city.
As the great Joel Spolsky have once said, the best way to recruit passionate Software Developers is through an On-the-Job trainee program.
I think your title is kind of misleading. TBH, I was shocked when I saw it and thought you are a hypocrite. But reading through your article I do agree with most of your points.
One should go for the job he/she has the passion for(I'm a software developer and creating something with a computer is my passion since grade school), but we should not also forget the fact that survival comes first, which you point out and which I also agree should stop. However, it's not only people who are trying to get a decent job who should do something about it, instead the more important player should be the people in the industry who's responsible for hiring them.
Also, let's not blame the high salary that most of us are being offered, it's only right that we should be compensated for what we do.
Thirdly, I don't believe that a course or a degree should justify if you're fit for the job. This only contradicts what you said about going for what you really love to do. Let's give chance to people who only realizes what they really want to do after they graduate. And in fact, you also stated that most of the people who goes for Computer Science as their course only got it for the money. Moreover, there are a more of graduates who have IT-related courses who do crappy software than what you call non-technical graduates. If in the future I get lucky and establish my own software development company I will hire people not highly based on their degree or their highest educational achievement but based on their character, their passion and willingness to learn and improve.
Lastly, the IT industry in the Philippines is quite young until now compared to other countries so let's give it time and I'm sure skills and technical know-hows of Filipino IT professionals will improve and progress. Also, instead of blaming those crappy people, let's try and help them do their job better, if not at least make them realize that they can do much better in other fields, of course in a good subtle way.
Cheers!
It's play on words.
Like Joel Spolsky's blog titles.
Agreed. However, as I grow older (and become less naive), I came to understand that employers don't always need the best of the best (or the most passionate for that matter). For instance, a certain employer only needs a guy to fix the UI bugs, he won't hire a very passionate developer that cost 80,000 PHP a month. He would just hire a fresh graduate who's a lot cheaper… it doesn't even matter if he/she is passionate or not.
I am not really blaming the high salary directly (who doesn't want to get tons of money?). I am just saying that due to the particularly higher-than-average salary of Software Developers, parents usually coerces their child to opt for IT related courses. The real problem, I think, has more to do with our culture and society than the salary.
Me too. In fact, some of the most brightest programmers are not Computer Scientists.
All I was saying is that Kids going to college should have the guts to fight for what they're passionate about. I mean, if a Kid is not sure what to get and the parents suggested IT, fine. However, if the Kid wants to be a Musician, but the parents wants him to be a Software Developer, the Kid should have the guts to go against his parents.
During my time, I've decided that if my parents were to go against my will to opt for a Computer-related course, I will just not go to college. I believe that people should have that kind of commitment.
Thank you for commenting.
Hello po! Just read this post. Or rather, randomly stumbled on it after reading your entry on why Kpop is jologs.
I know, totally unrelated. Just wanted to say share this tiny bit — It’s not all the time I comment on blog entries I randomly stumble on, anyway. 
I'm a recent HS graduate and soon to be a BS Computer Science freshman at UP Cebu (Hopefully!), and I'd really like to say that your words here hit home.
Out of 189 of us in our batch (all girls, mind you XD), only two of us aspire to get into the IT field — not because of the money, but because it's where we think we belong. Been computer geeks since our elementary days, and proud of it. 
It just saddens me to hear that most of my batchmates are going into Nursing/MedTech, not because it's what they want to do (or what they love to do), but it's due to the insistence of their parents — with the belief that their daughter's chosen course is a surefire way of getting a free work pass abroad. Sayang talaga, because some of these friends are really intelligent, and could excel even better in fields that they wished to go into. :'(
I've also realized that I'm blessed to have a family who supports me in this endeavor of joining the IT industry, partly because I would be the first in the family to do so, having come from a long line of educators and teachers.
So, yeah. Just a little sharing. :') Thanks for this mind-opening post! I'll be sure to share this with other friends who're lost and confused on what to pursue in college.
And now off I go to read more of your past blog entries… I love the content you post.
I haven't seen bloggers who present with content with a caliber such as yours since 2006. o.o;
Cheers!
– Joanna
Glad that I have inspired you, Joanna. Along the way, you will meet a lot of these "unpassionate" programmers; don't let them demoralize you.
The best software in the world were not written by bricklayers; they were written by rockstar programmers.
Can you hack the password of my e-mail on this comment?
Yeah, I feel your pain. I'd love to do the job I'm MEANT to do. I just don't know how what that is yet.
For me, passionate is not synonymous to work ethic. Someone with a good work ethic delivers the job to the best of his abilities because that's what he committed. He may not like the client personally; he may not like the project. Heck, he may not like the programming language being used. But he's a man of his word, and he sticks to it to the end.
Passion is a capricious emotion, but work ethic is constant. As professionals, we should strive for the latter.
Another thing. Sadly in this country, not everyone has the luxury to "pursue his/her dream". For a lot of people, having a decent job that feeds the kids and pays the bills is a great blessing already.
but you must take into consideration that our country is a third world country. and poverty kicks out most of the citizens.
i so much agree that passion is what drives your life long profession but again, poverty hinders this mentality. 
so sad but it's the fucking truth.
as they say, in order to work well, you first have to eat well.
but this applies to the extreme portion of poverty. i guess what you wrote applies for the people who have enough resources; and for the people who are too much busy thinking how to get RICHER. 
nicely put!