career-development

One piece of advice

If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice at the start of your programming life/career to help you on your way what would it be ? ...

Finding good small software companies

Anyone have any advice for finding good small software companies to work for? I've found that they rarely seem to advertise job openings, or basically will wait for someone to come to them...which I get since they are small are obviously wouldn't be that way if they were hiring a lot. I'm talking about some place a lot like Joel's FogCre...

Fear and Loathing in Windows

I noticed as a JR programmer, bright eyed and excited about new technologies, is the serious amount of loathing Windows developers have for Windows platform. It's starting to take it's toll. Really. My question is: How do you deal with the constant carcinogen? Especially when you are afraid to publicly disagree with EVERYONE on you...

Dev's technical track - what's next?

I'm a tech-minded dev. I analyze, design, code and debug - and I'm good at it. On the other hand, I'm not that good with people, especially those who I think are slacking off or not put enough effort into learning new things. Also, I'm highly competitive and usually stubborn. This probably closes the management door for me - I'm not good...

Higher pay for advanced degrees?

Are advanced degrees such as Master's degrees or PhDs beneficial for software engineers? Should they be compensated for their advanced degree? There are plenty of programmers that don't have a degree that are better then programmers with advanced degrees so by which metric do you rate programmers? KLOC is not a good metric. For many area...

Do you think using websites like Elance, to obtain side jobs while still working full time, could help my programming career?

Do you think using websites like Elance, to obtain side jobs while still working full time, could help my programming career? ...

Career planning – any tips ?

What advice do you have on planning a long-term career for a newly qualified programmer ? ...

How would you train a new employee in X (put your programming langauge here)?

Sure, we all wish for all-knowing, all understanding, no-training-required new employees / co-workers. However, sometimes you just have to make due with green recruits (budget, availability...). How would you train new employees in your language of choice (the one he's going to work in)? What obstacles would you tackle first, what later...

How do I transition to management?

I finished my undergraduate work in computer science about five years ago. I like programming, and I'd like to continue doing it, but I'd also like to start getting into project- or people management. What things should I do at work to make this transition (a) easier and (b) happen faster? It seems to me that it's hard to get upper ma...

Tools Budget

Does anyone work at a place that offers developers a "tools budget?" I would like to argue that something like that would not only make for happy developers but more efficient use of resources. I was trying to ask about getting a copy of TimeSnapper and with a cost around $20 it seemed like in between me stopping my boss to ask, and doi...

What's the most embarrassing moment of your programming career?

I don't think I've experienced this one yet. Probably the closest was when we converted VB6 modules to C#. It was a GUI application and I converted the controls one by one, including the position, color, etc. It took me almost a week to convert it. Turns out Visual Studio can convert it to VB.Net and my coworker is already doing that. I ...

Should developers be specialists or generalists?

There has been some discussion of late within my organisation about whether we should be technical generalists - as we currently are, doing a bit of analysis, a bit of design, a bit of testing and a bit of coding - or whether we should be specialists - specialising in a particular discipline(s). There are obviously pros and cons to each...

Developer Feeling Stuck At Current Job

I have a bit of a problem and I thought using SO would be a good way to address it. I'm a full time developer for a very large Wall Street firm. It pays well and has great benefits and is, for the most part, not worthy of being posted on TheDailyWTF. I'm worried that I'm begining to feel stuck where I am. My firm uses completely prop...

Study Strategies

OK, I am not sure if I should be posting this question since it is not obviously a programming question per se.. However, I will throw myself to the wolves, and if deemed inappropriate, I will happily delete ^_^ As you can see on my profile, I am studying towards the MCAD (yes I know it is soon to be obsolete, which is why I am studying...

How to stop yourself from going rusty?

I've been a software engineer since graduating from University 4 years ago with a top grade Computer Science degree. However, I feel that in my current job I may be going a bit rusty as I'm not coding as much as I would like. I don't code as much mainly because we use great tools that hide a lot of the code from us. E.g. we use Eclipse W...

Is a College/University Degree Still Relevant?

In an age where experience seems to be paramount, does anyone still see great value in having a college (specifically Computer Science) degree? Would those three years be better spent working in a top-shelf software company? ...

Is a masters degree overkill?

After reading the responses to Is a College/University Degree Still Relevant?, I'd then ask, once you complete a university technology degree, would pursuing a masters in the field be worth it? Or is the experience you would gain working for those two years be more valuable? Or is a masters degree something that is more valuable after ...

Should I use a recruiter?

Knowing how to find a good job is an important part of being a programmer. I know it's a good idea to post my resume on different sites like Monster and Dice. I also know that networking is important. But, what I'd really like to know is how everyone feels about using a recruiter (aka headhunter). What are the pros and cons? Is it...

Salary.com accuracy for Software Developers

I have used Salary.com in the past to get a feel for what the base salary for someone with my experience is in my area. I personally have had jobs that deviated greatly in both directions from the average given by salary.com. I was just wanting to see if anyone else out there saw the same thing, or if I am just an anomoly. ...

When do you decide to walk?

As a programmer/developer/software engineer/what have you, when do you decide it's time to move on from your current position? I'm trying to come up with a generally accepted set of criteria that will help me grow a nice career with an upward arc that I find satisfaction in. I want to develop a way to critically evaluate current positio...