I bet you guys are they ones who ate my cake aren’t you? You totally ate it even though the voices told you to stop. I hate you.
“You deserve to work at a company where software engineering is respected.”
Amen brother!
a href="http://softwareindustrialization.com/PreparingTheWorldForSoftwareEngineeringPart2.aspx"http://softwareindustrialization.com/PreparingTheWorldForSoftwareEngineeringPart2.aspx/a
Hey Now Jeff,
This was great to read first thing this morning. I agree with you I really enjoy the environment I work in too.
Coding Horror Fan,
Catto
I may have to look you guys up in a year or so when I’ve got enough .NET experience. Not sure I’ll be able to get used to playing xbox 360 on such a small TV though… 
I grew up in a small town where there are two types of people - those that stay and focus on family; and those that leave looking for something more. I have my 6 figure salary enjoying the 60 hours I spend at “work” and loving every minute of the more intense (but shorter) time with my fiance. While for them, as long as they get paid they can get onto the good life after work.
Honestly, I can’t condemn them for finding a different path. I don’t get how anyone could spend so much of their life doing something that they don’t really care about. But they’re happy and that’s what it’s all about right?
On the other hand those that are not passionate about work or passionate about !work are truly people to pity.
I totally agree. I truly do love software, but I don’t necessarily have to love the job where I create software. But, I like it enough to be mostly satisfied. I think that if you really like what you do, you’ll eventually start your own company either building a product or offering a service. It’s pretty scary, but definitely worth the risk. BTW, Vertigo was a great place to work, you must’ve started after I left.
I’d love to work at Vertigo, even considered applying last time I was looking for a job but I live in Toronto Canada. I’m not ready to move and less likely to get hired but would love to find a company that is as fun to work at as Vertigo.
Well Jeff, if you ever need a Toronto office, give me a call. You have an avid following here who would be keen to start one 
PS. - IT’S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!
apeinago
People focus on spelling mistakes because they are indicative of a sloppy careless approach. Whilst I agree that Dyslexia is a valid excuse and indeed an issue that should be taken into account to some degree, the readers of your thoughts are not aware of this issue and judge upon what they read. In everything that you write you must take care to go back over it with a fine tooth comb to rectify any mistakes. If some get through and people pick up on them then learn from it and ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
In Software development terms spelling mistakes indicate the coder is sloppy and they can’t be bothered to revisit and improve their original solution. Its ok to hack out a solution or to write out a stream of consciousness just to get it down on paper but you must factor out mistakes as your understanding of the problem or comment increases.
If you leave in spelling mistakes no one will take you seriously and you will end up in a mediocre company as the best guy in the room – believe me this is a place you don’t want to be. You need to be in a company where you are the dumbest guy in the room.
http://markeseremet.blogspot.com/2006/12/dumbest-guy-in-room.html
You seem like you have the aptitude and passion to work in software development so my advice would be to seek out the companies you really want to work for. Apply to them line up about 9 or 10 interviews with your least favourite companies first leading up to your most favoured companies. These interviews you will mess up so learn from them and by the 8th or 9th interview you will be in the zone. From this approach you will get the job you want.
good luck
Good article Jeff, I have just found my dream job where i am definitely the dumbest guy in the room and they respect software development.
how fitting for todays Dilbert to be somewhat related to office feel goodness?
http://www.comics.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20071016.html
At my job things are mostly great, we don’t get a XBOX, or any kind of games but;
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flexible work hours
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free snacks, drinks, and food (breakfast/lunch/dinner)
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we get to order our own hardware (most have at least 2 monitors)
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we get any software we want
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Herman Miller chairs
I tru;y enjoy doing what I do, and wouldn’t change it for anything short of being a multi-millionaire living in the Carribean.
At my last job, software basically drove 1/2 of the companies revenue, easy.
But we were treated like sweatshop employees. Oh – you have to dress nice, but we’ll buy you crappy chairs, give you refurbished machines, put you in a windowless, overbright cube farm with falling apart cubes, and generally tuck you back into a hell hole while everyone up front gets nice offices.
The place I am at now is much better … while Vertigo sounds much more fun, this is still a pretty great place. It’s strange (and hard) getting back on the ‘real dev’ track after being on a grinding treadmill for a year.
–N
It sounded to me like you were setting up an announcement that you were moving to another job, say, at Microsoft. Not sure if you were intending to mimick the tone of some other recent blog entries by some newly-minted blue badges or not, but my first thought when I read the title was, “He’s going to Microsoft.”
I have had a love affair with software for a few decades. What better world to play in - all day math/logic puzzles. HOwever, I have worked in far too many places where I (software) was a cost center or an inconvenient truth (Sorry Al, we were that first).
It took my last layoff (on 06/06/06 no less) to put me where I need to be - an independent contractor. It scares me not to have a guaranteed paycheck but where I go people want me to be there and appreciate what I do for them. After a couple decades of being “one of those” - this is nice.
Any of you developers want to feel what it is like to be a commodity - Join a Taylor company - odds are there is one near you.
Cliff,
Instead of those 60 hours at work which you merely “enjoy”, wouldn’t you rather spend more time with your fiance? If so, are you sure you enjoy your time at work? It seems to me that if it gets in the way of better things, it’s not something to be happy with.
So it’s a compromise. It’s “good enough”. Personally, I don’t like to strive or be happy with a compromise, because it is per definition not what I want. On the other hand, it’s impossible for everyone to get what they want.
So I guess my point is, all people are truly people to pity. Perhaps it’d be a good thing to stop creating new people. Ah well, here’s me again, bringing love and happiness to the Internet.
I’m one of those jerks who gets to work at home most of the time so I really can’t complain about much of anything. Occasionally I have to travel out of state for long periods of time, but recently travel has been few and far between and I’d almost welcome another extended engagement.
This article could not have come at a more important time in my life. I recently switched work groups in my organization. Now, instead of being one of those people that show up to work because I have to, I will be able to persue my career dreams. I will be testing applications for security vulnerabilities instead of mindlessly coding what other people tell me, even though their design is flawed, the usefulness of the app is minimal, and the time spent is great.
Thanks so much for this article. As I said earlier, it could not have come at a better time.
Not sure if I’m lucky, but my internships and job offers right out of school fit into the sort of good end goal you’re talking about.
Maybe it’s because I never even bothered to apply at large companies, despite the slightly higher pay offered, or maybe I just got lucky. But I know my parents set a strong example for me that working at something you love or can at least be proud of is worth more than your paycheck.
I don’t know, until I just plain can’t find a job anywhere else, I will always be interviewing companies as much as they are interviewing me. And if that fails, my old summer construction experience can at least keep me fed.
Oh if only I worked for a company that loves software, instead of the government, who, as you so aptly put it, views software as the necessary evil. It seems that most civilians working for the government are only here to collect a paycheck. I have the fortune(sometimes misfortune) to work with my brother, who is one of those paycheck-collectors. Several times when he’s seen me upset about some new asinine decision to pervert and destroy something that I created, he’s looked at me and said “stop complaining, you’re getting paid, aren’t you?” I’ve always looked at him like he was crazy. Is that what life is about, throwing away 40 hours a week of my life in return for a paycheck that I can spend on what little time I have left? I don’t think so, and I never have. Do what you love, even if you have to live in rags to do it, because all the money in the world isn’t going to help you get over the fact that you just retired from 30 years in a job where you accomplished NOTHING of any substantial personal value because you only wanted your paycheck.
Lucky for me, software development pays really well
I’ve often had people tell me I should just go with the flow, accept decisions from above me because they are from above me, dress differently because I should ‘dress for the job I want, not the job I have.’ My response is that even management can be wrong, and if I have to wear a suit to work, I’ve screwed up somewhere.
I suppose at some point I’ll have to move on to something better for me, but for now I kind of enjoy the fight to bring innovation to a decaying organization. I feel great after a day of meetings and bludgeoning people with what I call my “Warhammer of Logic.”
I’ve realised that I am probably the “best guy in the room” at my current company. This is a major problem as I’m actually not the brightest spark (see my question below).
Can someone please tell me the meaning behind the book title/question “What color is your parachute?”
After many years of thinking about it I take it to have an ironic meaning: If the parachute saves your life, who gives a flying %$^#$ what color it is. So, relating it back to job hunting, if you have a job that makes you happy, who cares how much money it pays, what your friends think about it, what city etc. It makes YOU happy.
Am I right?
AJ
Great article. I think I’m hitting this point in my carreer where I am wanting to move on to greener pastures, to work with people that share the same passion I do about software and products. Only a couple of things are holding me back: family and not having the “5 years” under my belt.