Kinda makes you want to lie on your resume, don't it?

Post #119,863 by bbronson 10/2/03 3:44:53 PM Reply	Kinda makes you want to lie on your resume, don't it? Good luck in the search. Brian Bronson
Post #119,882 by broomberg 10/2/03 6:12:36 PM Reply	Great cover letter / resume: [link\|http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/mstoll1.html\|http://www.thesmokin...hive/mstoll1.html] "I am VERY hungry right now," Toll promised prospective employers that, "If my mother's funeral was the day of a key deposition, I would do the eulogy via teleconference after the deposition." And if his wedding was on the date of a key trial, "the wedding would be postponed. If the wife to be did not like it, I would inform her that work comes before EVERYTHING ELSE and that if she does not like this, she is free to find a competing husband." And, considering the tight job market, the kid is not afraid of getting his hands dirty: "If a piece of evidence was accidentally dropped into the garbage, I would have no problem going to the local dump and spending days covered knee-deep in the worst foul-smelling sludge imaginable to search for the evidence."
Post #119,883 by hnick 10/2/03 6:19:38 PM Reply	99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name...
Post #119,885 by tuberculosis 10/2/03 6:23:08 PM Reply	It doesn't matter how hungry you say you are - they are concerned with "fit". You have to be exactly the right size of cog for the machine. If you are too big they worry you won't stick around. If you are too small you are unqualified and not expected to grow on their dime. Most important - do not mention anything remotely connected with career path or ambition - you want to do this job and nothing else forever. That's how its working these days. Oh, and don't look too much like you know what you're talking about - you're not here to bring ideas - you're here to fit in and make your coworkers feel good about themselves. In Java, you can't escape the creepy feeling. --James Gosling
Post #119,890 by gdaustin 10/2/03 7:01:19 PM Reply	Not the problem... You're supposed to be technically proficient in the technology, but not "smart" enough to ask good questions about the product, direction, or ANY of the decision-making. You're supposed to be a zealot for the project, doing it EXACTLY the way the boss wants it, even if it is wrong. You're supposed to volunteer at least 55-60 hours a week, and be willing to do more when the boss asks, without giving it a second thought. You're not supposed to have your own opinions about how things SHOULD be done, because they might get in the way of what the boss wants to do (even if it's totally and completely wrong). You're supposed to listen and not speak, unless asked. When asked how long something will take, the answer should be "a day or two", even if it means that you'll be up for the next 48 hours straight to complete that something. I'm IN that environment right now. We just went through a 102 item list of "customer requirements", which we're supposed to have coded, tested, and feature complete by the end of next week. No architecture, no thinking about it. Not allowed. Just DO! DO! DO! This is for the new product. And the owner hasn't even given a thought to why his current product is an "also-ran" in the market he was supposed to dominate. He doesn't understand why it's "too complicated", "too hard to use", and "advertised features don't work". The system architect has proposed a new "architected" product, but it just got put on the back burner, because the VC owner guys don't think we'll be able to convince people to switch. Funny, but I'm predicting our new product will probably be an "also-ran", too. Perhaps I'll have a new job by then, or maybe I should talk to my "old job" boss (not fond of that). Glen Austin
Post #119,892 by ben_tilly 10/2/03 7:17:50 PM 10/2/03 7:40:51 PM Reply	If you want to get depressed... Read [link\|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0738204633/002-8952320-5849624?v=glance\|Winning at New Products] to learn how the process of project choice and definition should go. This is depressing because you will have trouble finding an employer who does even a marginal job at it, and the main failings are in marketing, not technology. (Disclaimer: I am only about half-way through. My belief that the advice is good is based on its making sense, the fact that he makes it clear what evidence his theories are based on, and the fact that when I borrowed this, I was told that it is a classic in its field.) Cheers, Ben PS a good review can be found at [link\|http://www.pdma.org/bookstore/books/winningatnewproducts3rd_review.html\|http://www.pdma.org/...ts3rd_review.html] "good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not" - [link\|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html\|Stefano Mazzocchi] Edited by ben_tilly Oct. 2, 2003, 07:40:51 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #119,910 by gdaustin 10/2/03 8:53:23 PM 10/2/03 9:02:49 PM Reply	I Don't Want to Get Depressed! I WANT TO WIN! I want to create a software product in a market that people want, and that I can deliver, hopefully via some kind of Internet model. I'm thinking more and more that instead of working for these bozos, that I need to do something different for a while, like teach school and use the free time to work on a software product, following good development processes. I can't just quit my job, because we would be out of money in about 3-4 months, and I don't think I can get a good product built in that time. But, if I had a job with defined hours, and I wasn't obligated after hours, but still make "decent" (30-40k) money, then that 3 months could end up being a year or more. If my wife worked full time, I might even be able to continue teaching for several years to get the product right. I would have to start in August, with the school year, so I'd wouldn't have 3 months of unemployment prior to working. I'm just getting really tired of working for people who think they understand software, systems, and feel like they have to lie, cheat, work their people unreasonable hours, and steal to win. I do believe that nice guys DON'T finish last, because they're straight with their customers. Glen AUstin Edited by gdaustin Oct. 2, 2003, 09:02:49 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #119,971 by ben_tilly 10/3/03 10:46:33 AM Reply	In that case, that book may be useful "good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not" - [link\|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html\|Stefano Mazzocchi]
Post #119,916 by tuberculosis 10/2/03 9:31:56 PM Reply	Too late In Java, you can't escape the creepy feeling. --James Gosling
Post #119,972 by ben_tilly 10/3/03 10:46:59 AM Reply	Sorry... "good ideas and bad code build communities, the other three combinations do not" - [link\|http://archives.real-time.com/pipermail/cocoon-devel/2000-October/003023.html\|Stefano Mazzocchi]
Post #119,981 by inthane-chan 10/3/03 12:08:14 PM Reply	Ben, you sure your full name isn't... Ben "I make grown men want to slit their wrists" Tilly? [image\|/forums/images/warning.png\|0\|This is sarcasm...] In that final hour, when each breath is a struggle to take, and you are looking back over your life's accomplishments, which memories would you treasure? The empires you built, or the joy you spread to others? Therin lies the true measure of a man.
Post #119,887 by tuberculosis 10/2/03 6:24:43 PM Reply	I can't figure out the balancing act I have to sing and dance my ass off to get the interview - then I'm supposed to sandbag it? I thought I was supposed to be dazzling. But maybe not too dazzling so as not to outshine the others... I don't know. In Java, you can't escape the creepy feeling. --James Gosling
Post #119,922 by Ashton 10/2/03 10:39:37 PM Reply	By now could there be underground classes with specimen dialogues (perhaps featuring a freshly captured, trussed-up Authentic PHB) -- illustrating how the minds of these folks function? (Seems clear that one's ordinary processes of deduction are relatively useless in - imagining how one would perform via a broken methodology. This seems perilously close to one classic test for full-Consciousness BTW) "Juggling two contradictory ideas at the same time" - so I guess such a class wouldn't come cheap.. (especially if they don't dare let the specimen go, afterwards ;-) HTH Ashton PS - 'disgusting' - that word comes to mind in most of these stories. Dumbth combined with Pride is .. umm unspeakable.

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