Super Volatile

Krzysztof Szafranek's link blog

Hi, I'm Krzysztof and I make websites.
When I'm not making websites, I read these.
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May 18, 2012 / 12:34am

Life's Too Short to Write Shitty Software

Job Security is a Myth - I’ve only been programming professionally for a few years, but I’ve learned that all jobs are temporary. That cushy job you have that pays for your nice car and mortgage can easily disappear with budget cuts. Those certificates that you’ve been working on for internal promotions probably won’t be valuable at the next company you apply to. You could be laid off with the 25% of your company even if it gets acquired.

Shit happens. Jobs come and go. Why not let shit happen while you’re doing something you love?

more on team.adzerk.com

Software industry is one of the few where one can be picky about a job and get away with it, so why not use this opportunity?

Filed under: work  
 
Apr 22, 2012 / 1:54pm

Reader Story: I Quit My Passion and Took a Boring Job

As an experiment, I thought maybe GRS readers would like to know that one of your fellow readers has, in fact, done the opposite of what many of these bloggers recommend: I’ve gone from a touchy-feely feel-good job to one that’s boring and practical — and I couldn’t be happier for it.
more on getrichslowly.org

A story of an adult growing up.

Filed under: money   work  
 
Apr 22, 2012 / 1:35pm

I Guess Im Not A 501 Developer

You don’t love programming. I respect that. But the second part makes it sound like your days of learning and creating ended when you got your diploma. I can’t respect that.
more on adit.io

A response to the 501 Manifesto.

Filed under: open source   programming   work  
 
Jan 22, 2012 / 9:55pm

8 Things You Ought to Know If You Do Not Know Anything About Hiring A Software Developer

I would ask for proof of talent. Although a degree from an ivy league university might do the trick for some, quality experience does set the good developer apart. My developer friends have loads to show to testify for their talent. For some, from past work done, for others, from apprenticeship projects, but for all, from hands on development.
more on blog.8thlight.com

How to find a programming “friend”. Tips that, when applied in real life, would almost guarantee you would die lonely.

Filed under: hiring   programming   work  
 
Jan 22, 2012 / 9:53pm

Onboarding: Making the most of joining a new team

Don’t be too critical too early. Sometimes when you arrive on a new project, there may be things that do not make a lot of sense: a choice of tool, technology or practice that no-one appears to question but to you as an outsider seems substandard. It’s worth just hanging back on that criticism just for a couple of weeks. Ask your team mates for back story and try and get their opinions too. It’s alway worth digging around for the reasons first. Then you might be in the position to change things and make a positive contribution to the team.
more on jennifersmith.co.uk

Tips for programmers joining new teams.

Filed under: programming   work  
 
Dec 31, 2011 / 3:11pm

Pay Your Programmers $200/hour

Which situation would your rather be in: risking $100,000 investment for a $200,000 return, or risking $1,000,000 investment for a $50,000,000 return? This might seem like a self-answering question, but virtually all programming hires fall into the first category.
more on abtinforouzandeh.com

The rebuttal from the first comment is by far more interesting that the article itself:

I will counter with this -- what if I could invest 1 dollar to get a possible return of 206,000,000 ... the lottery is an AWESOME INVESTMENT... wait, odds of success matter, dam
Filed under: software development   work  
 
Nov 20, 2011 / 1:31pm

Jack Dorsey's Twitter & Square Work Schedule

As CNN reports today, Dorsey has a minute-by-minute plan for pulling everything together, and by his own admission, it requires a great deal of discipline to work a 16-hour day, as he noted during a talk yesterday at the Techonomy conference in Arizona.
more on thenextweb.com

Inspiring article on how to effectively manage your suicidal life.

Filed under: startups   work  
 
Nov 13, 2011 / 11:41am

Don’t Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advice

There’s nothing wrong with this, by the way.  You’re in the business of unemploying people.  If you think that is unfair, go back to school and study something that doesn’t matter.
more on kalzumeus.com

Harsh but true career advice for programmers. A lot of it may seem obvious if you have been in the industry for a while, but it's not something one can get from academia. However, the article made me appreciate the fact that I took courses in economy instead of studying computer science alone.

Filed under: hiring   networking   programming   work  
 
Aug 28, 2011 / 9:19pm

Corporate stereotypes, and why Microsoft could kill your startup career

In reality, Microsoft just epitomizes the large bureaucratic environment that seems to confine an engineer to become just that, an engineer.  This typically leads to detailed knowledge in some proprietary technology which is not compatible outside of the company it applies to.  Moreover, larger companies tend to position engineers to remain engineers.  If you want to someday start your own company, you will need to have a network of investors and people with diverse and complimentary skillsets to your own.  And after three years at Googlesoft, the only people you know will be engineers.
more on mattswanson.org

How the work for large organization impairs the ability to join or build a startup.

Filed under: startups   work  
 
Jun 23, 2011 / 11:12pm

NDAs and Contracts That You Should Never Sign

On a similar note, a lot of companies have the audacity to put non-compete clauses in their employment contracts. Typically, this says that you agree not to work for one of their "competitors" or even "potential competitors" (which is never very well defined) for a period, usually 1 or 2 years, after leaving the company.

This is completely outrageous. I signed such a contract at Microsoft without paying too much attention. When I left, I realized that because Microsoft has a finger in everything related to software, technically I could not work in my field AT ALL for 12 months after leaving Microsoft.

more on joelonsoftware.com

Note to self: read this article before signing up for the next gig.

Filed under: Joel on Software classics   work