Joel stated on the latest podcast that the current Global Financial downturn has not impacted remarkably on the tech sector. As an Australian, I was heartened to hear this from the US. My company shed 10% just before Xmas (thankfully I am still employed although 1/2 of my Innovation department was lost), and I was happy to hear a siza...
When your company is bought out by a competitor what are the most important things for you to know about the software development environment of that competitor? What would help you become integrated as part of the team the fastest? What things would concern you? ...
I work in what is effectively a large corporate - I say effectively since the company I work for is relatively small, but depends upon the network infrastructure of a larger parent company. Recently due to reasons I won't go into, the parent company who provides our Internet access decided to restrict Internet access in a blanket fashio...
I worked for a company for 18 months as a full-time consultant developer doing R&D and architecture design and the things I wrote for this company literally runs the company. I'm still good friends with most of the senior development staff but considered the anti-christ by the company owners. My crime, refusing to sign a non-compete ag...
When companies place job ads, they often ask for "X years of experience in Y". My understanding is that when they say this, they mean professional experience. They don't want to hear about my years as a C++ hobbyist before I started my day job, they just want to know what I've used on-the-job, on a commercial project. Right? So, how doe...
The role of outsourcing firms with large employers like Microsoft, Oracle and Google has grown in economic significance, and is likely to remain strong for the next few years as hiring freezes persist, and human resource needs get filled using contingent workers. Part of this is driven by the regulatory regime, as permanent employees ha...
I currently am an 'intern' with a managed services company (much more IT/hosting than development, to my woe) that pays the bills and puts experience on my résumé. The issue I am having is really with what defines the "core" of an internship - learning. I personally have always thought that an internship is an opportunity to receive a k...
Back in 2000, I got a bunch of programming certifications from Brainbench. However, they didn't seem to be doing me any good, and they needed to be renewed every year, so I let them lapse. Recently I've been hearing more about Brainbench, and I've been wondering - do these certifications impress potential employers at all, in 2009? What ...
I'm dealing with an outsourcing firm that refuses to provide a written letter of offer prior to my first day of work. To confound this problem, it's necessary for me to relocate for this position. Given the current employment market, I feel compelled to act, but it's starting to look like I should be searching for work elsewhere in adv...
Between school and personal exploration I have dabbled in a range of languages, but I wonder what is the best language to focus on to make myself more valuable to possible employers? I've done work in C++, VB6 & .Net, java, and I've just started playing around with Delphi. I feel like I have a good understanding of the basics of progra...
I'm finishing M.Sc. in physics soon but I want to work as software developer. I have broad yet often shallow knowledge of programming. I can learn programming-related things easy, I have no problems with pointers etc... However I have no experience working on large or even medium scale projects, only writing code for myself for fun, topc...
Over time, any decent developer creates a set of tools that helps them get the job done. Things like Utils classes, build scripts, etc, that aren't really part of any business logic of the company you're working for. Some of these things are trivial, while others may have been developed over years. My question is- what do you do with ...
I just found out that my workplace has installed software that analyzes source check-ins for such things as who checks in the most lines, when they mostly do their check-ins, which files have the most changes, etc. I'm a bit concerned that this has something to do with the economic situation, and they are looking for a way to measure "d...
In my last job at a small firm, I was paid in billable hours. I was not a contractor; the firm provided an office, computers, software, books and customers. They also took taxes out of my check. If I bid 30 hours on a job, the company would bill the customer for 30 hours at their rate and I would get paid for the same amount of time at...
Are dev shops that use generic recruitment agencies usually not as good to work for than companies that hire directly? ...
I'm in my final year of Computer Science studies at an Australian university. Everywhere I look, somebody is asking if I "have any plans for when I graduate". Aside from wanting to work in a small programming shop, I have none. Should I be applying for jobs now even though I don't graduate until October? I was planning to simply send ou...
I'm soon going to look for a new job and is trying to put together a portfolio. I have a hard time deciding which of my projects that I should include. I've decided to categorize different kinds of projects and then get some feedback from the community as to what kind of code should be part of a portfolio. Type A: These projects are wri...
I'm a programmer specialized in a couple of non-mainstream fields. Think signal processing, DSP, assembler coding, low level graphics, embeddeed systems and so on. I'm currently looking out for a new employer, and from my experience it's easy to get a job if you manage to find a company that is working in the fields. They're always hap...
Hi, I started a new Java job just over a month ago and it hasn't been going well. The main problems are: Quality of source code is disgraceful No automated build/tests There is resistance to change/improvement and a severe case of "not invented here" All the experienced team members work in a remote office, which makes knowledge trans...
Hi, I'm applying for as a Java software engineer in a company in a couple of days. I really want to get hired in this company. Do you guys have any suggestions on what I should review or learn so that I'll be prepared? Also do you guys have any tips? Thanks in advance! ...