Does anybody actually enjoy the place they work?
-
I don't like the office pettiness. We sit by accounting and they run to the GM with any grievance. Like, they saw me reading the news one day. The most recent complaint is that my neighbor spends too much time in the lunch room making tea. Why has time to record this stuff? We have to meet with HR now next week to get this resolved. My boss is a really great guy, but his programming drives me crazy. I had a post about programming standards because he had one file 10k lines long, one function being about 5k. Stuff isn't commented. He doesn't keep track of changes. The other annoying thing is people who don't understand that programming takes time. It's not like I have magic jellybeans and can fix your issue instantly. Life is great, except for the people.:-D
leckey wrote:
Why has time to record this stuff?
I wondered the same thing at one place I worked until I found out how little people do in a day... :)
-
Dustin Metzgar wrote:
Good luck with your side contracts.
Thanks, I am trying not to get into a panic because it is a bit of a scarry step. I don't expect to get automaticly successful but it wouldn't hurt :)
Hey don't worry, I can handle it. I took something. I can see things no one else can see. Why are you dressed like that? - Jack Burton
Chris Austin wrote:
I don't expect to get automaticly successful but it wouldn't hurt
Success is nice and it is also a relative term. Success depends on who you talk to. I have a roof over my family's head and a full fridge, so I must be successful to some degree :)
-
On school holidays, my work usually gets shifted to "the midnight hours" thus no disturbances until the following morning. Assuming I am not woken too early through arguments and shouting matches.
Marc Clifton wrote:
without TV or video games
Now that is most unusual in this day and age, and is some achievement. How often were the tantrums?
Richard A. Abbott wrote:
Now that is most unusual in this day and age, and is some achievement.
It's strongly encouraged if you have your kid go through Waldorf kindergarten up to and including 8th grade.
Richard A. Abbott wrote:
How often were the tantrums?
What tantrums? Ian would have tantrums as an infant during changing and feeding, but quickly learned that tantrums got him nowhere except banishment in his room until the tantrum passed. Coddling children during a tantrum was not in my book. Of course, there's the difference between a tantrum and a truly understandable "ouch, I really hurt myself" cry. And certainly, it didn't stop his infant tantrums, I mean after all, infants are not the pinnacle of self control, but the lesson was learned so that I never, ever, have experienced tantrums with Ian after about the age of 3. Frankly, I'm the one who still has tantrums. :sigh: Marc
Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
-
Richard A. Abbott wrote:
And now UK School holidays have started.
I really enjoy summer vacation. I shift my work schedule so that I can spend the mornings with my son, biking, etc., and make up the time in the evenings after dinner, when my girlfriend is usually prepping for the next day at her daycare. But then again, my son is 15, and he can entertain himself. Actually, he's been able to do that since he was little, mainly because I "forced" him to learn how to occupy himself at an early age, like 4, and without TV or video games. Marc
Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
Marc Clifton wrote:
But then again, my son is 15, and he can entertain himself. Actually, he's been able to do that since he was little, mainly because I "forced" him to learn how to occupy himself at an early age, like 4, and without TV or video games.
That's how I grew up, my Mom being a doctor and single there was no one to watch me so i was usually home alone till about 8 yo, that's when my grandparents decided i should live with them Roswell
"Angelinos -- excuse me. There will be civility today."
Antonio VillaRaigosa
City Mayor, Los Angeles, CA -
Dustin Metzgar wrote:
CodeProject Lounge seems pretty alright to me :) Well, that's a given. :)
Yep. Thanks a million to Chris for starting this site :-D
-
I've thought this over more. Forget about IT. IT is for the birds. Companies like Infragistics are software shops, not IT shops. IT is the mire that people sink into because it's ubiquitous and pays well - reports, LDAP, authenticating users, invoices, blah, blah, blow my freakin' head off plz. If you want to get into a shop with really great devs where you work with great code, don't go to a shop that calls itself an "IT shop." Go to a place where they make software. Software. Not IT. Perhaps I'm just hung up on the acronym. :)
:josh: My WPF Blog[^]
I work for an IT department in an insurance company and I like my job. My project manager is awesome she nver bugs me and has my back 100%. My boss is really cool. He met with a staffing firm just so we could get the remote controlled helicopter and went outside with us (during work) to play with it. They purchase all the latest software tools for us, we do all new development work and it is in .net 2.0. Also, I got to set my own schedule so I work from 7:30 to 4:00 which is nice. I'm home by 4:30 every day! I get paid training during work (a trip to dev connections) and at least some of my coworkers are competent. I started in a small software shop and it was really cool until my paycheck bounced and I was unemployed. I'll take stable over dynamic any day.
how vital enterprise application are for proactive organizations leveraging collective synergy to think outside the box and formulate their key objectives into a win-win game plan with a quality-driven approach that focuses on empowering key players to drive-up their core competencies and increase expectations with an all-around initiative to drive up the bottom-line. But of course, that's all a "high level" overview of things --thedailywtf 3/21/06
-
Richard A. Abbott wrote:
Now that is most unusual in this day and age, and is some achievement.
It's strongly encouraged if you have your kid go through Waldorf kindergarten up to and including 8th grade.
Richard A. Abbott wrote:
How often were the tantrums?
What tantrums? Ian would have tantrums as an infant during changing and feeding, but quickly learned that tantrums got him nowhere except banishment in his room until the tantrum passed. Coddling children during a tantrum was not in my book. Of course, there's the difference between a tantrum and a truly understandable "ouch, I really hurt myself" cry. And certainly, it didn't stop his infant tantrums, I mean after all, infants are not the pinnacle of self control, but the lesson was learned so that I never, ever, have experienced tantrums with Ian after about the age of 3. Frankly, I'm the one who still has tantrums. :sigh: Marc
Some people believe what the bible says. Literally. At least [with Wikipedia] you have the chance to correct the wiki -- Jörgen Sigvardsson
People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
In Britain there aren't that many Waldorf schools and none in my region. State education all my children (I have 5 girls) have received. 1 is currently between jobs, another has just finished post 16 college education, another is soon to start 2nd year of post 16 college education, another has just left statutory schooling and is due to start post 16 college education, and my youngest has just finished UK year 8. It is my partner who is studying Early Years and Waldorf she had to research and your earlier post (couple months ago) was very helpful. Had Waldorf existed in my region of UK then they would have been considered for earlier years but the high school my youngest 3 went to has results that put them within the top 100 schools nationwide so I am happy with their school. As far as tantrums are concerned, all parents suffer that, and there are many ways to deal with them. They can be most embarrassing, I remember occasions when tantrums happened in shops and shopping centres - that ain't fun. And yes, I get very annoyed from time to time. I had a good head of hair just a few years ago, sadly, that it no longer true.
-
I work for an IT department in an insurance company and I like my job. My project manager is awesome she nver bugs me and has my back 100%. My boss is really cool. He met with a staffing firm just so we could get the remote controlled helicopter and went outside with us (during work) to play with it. They purchase all the latest software tools for us, we do all new development work and it is in .net 2.0. Also, I got to set my own schedule so I work from 7:30 to 4:00 which is nice. I'm home by 4:30 every day! I get paid training during work (a trip to dev connections) and at least some of my coworkers are competent. I started in a small software shop and it was really cool until my paycheck bounced and I was unemployed. I'll take stable over dynamic any day.
how vital enterprise application are for proactive organizations leveraging collective synergy to think outside the box and formulate their key objectives into a win-win game plan with a quality-driven approach that focuses on empowering key players to drive-up their core competencies and increase expectations with an all-around initiative to drive up the bottom-line. But of course, that's all a "high level" overview of things --thedailywtf 3/21/06
ToddHileHoffer wrote:
ital enterprise application are for proactive organizations leveraging collective synergy to think outside the box and formulate their key objectives into a win-win game plan with a quality-driven approach that focuses on empowering key players to drive-up their core competencies and increase expectations with an all-around initiative to drive up the bottom-line
Nice use of buzzwords :laugh:
-
Mine is the lack of interesting and challenging work, the equipment, the IT security restrictions, and the lack of flexible hours. I could go on, but you get the idea...
Dustin Metzgar wrote:
the lack of flexible hours
That is a problem of mine. I just need to drum up more clients :)
-
What is it that makes it enjoyable? Do you have a good manager or a poor one but good co-workers? Is the work exciting or is there some other perk to the job that helps you forget how boring the work is? There are a lot of great programmers on this site, I'm curious if you were able to find jobs you enjoyed. If so, how long did it take you to find it?
I sure do. I work from home, and I work for CP ( so I guess if I didn't like it, this would not be the place to say so :P ). I also work for a guy in Texas. But, I have always had great co-workers and management, although I've worked in places where I was one of the few to think so. In my observation, the people who hate the managers were people who were hell bent on doing no work ( not saying this is always the case, I'm sure I've been lucky, too ). The work is really cool, between the two places I get to work on web apps, on MFC/C++ code, on image processing, on all sorts of stuff. I am never bored.
Dustin Metzgar wrote:
If so, how long did it take you to find it?
I started to teach myself C++ in late 1999. About 6 months later, I found my first job. I moved from that job after about 2 years, and worked for a local company for 4 odd years. Along the way, I got contract work via my CP articles, which turned into the regular work I do now, and I started working for CP in December last year. I've loved all my jobs.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog
-
I don't like the office pettiness. We sit by accounting and they run to the GM with any grievance. Like, they saw me reading the news one day. The most recent complaint is that my neighbor spends too much time in the lunch room making tea. Why has time to record this stuff? We have to meet with HR now next week to get this resolved. My boss is a really great guy, but his programming drives me crazy. I had a post about programming standards because he had one file 10k lines long, one function being about 5k. Stuff isn't commented. He doesn't keep track of changes. The other annoying thing is people who don't understand that programming takes time. It's not like I have magic jellybeans and can fix your issue instantly. Life is great, except for the people.:-D
leckey wrote:
I don't like the office pettiness
I cannot stand that either.
leckey wrote:
I had a post about programming standards because he had one file 10k lines long, one function being about 5k. Stuff isn't commented.
I remember that and yikes about the no commenting.
-
I sure do. I work from home, and I work for CP ( so I guess if I didn't like it, this would not be the place to say so :P ). I also work for a guy in Texas. But, I have always had great co-workers and management, although I've worked in places where I was one of the few to think so. In my observation, the people who hate the managers were people who were hell bent on doing no work ( not saying this is always the case, I'm sure I've been lucky, too ). The work is really cool, between the two places I get to work on web apps, on MFC/C++ code, on image processing, on all sorts of stuff. I am never bored.
Dustin Metzgar wrote:
If so, how long did it take you to find it?
I started to teach myself C++ in late 1999. About 6 months later, I found my first job. I moved from that job after about 2 years, and worked for a local company for 4 odd years. Along the way, I got contract work via my CP articles, which turned into the regular work I do now, and I started working for CP in December last year. I've loved all my jobs.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog
Well, it's not hard for me to imagine that the guy that works at CP likes his job. :) It's great that you've loved all of your jobs. Maybe you've skillfully picked quality positions or maybe I just need to stop complaining so much.
-
Well, it's not hard for me to imagine that the guy that works at CP likes his job. :) It's great that you've loved all of your jobs. Maybe you've skillfully picked quality positions or maybe I just need to stop complaining so much.
First job was a combination of getting lucky and being a person who makes the most of things. After that, any job interview I've regarded as going both ways, I've always looked while having a job and taken a job only if it all looked good, not just the money.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog
-
What is it that makes it enjoyable? Do you have a good manager or a poor one but good co-workers? Is the work exciting or is there some other perk to the job that helps you forget how boring the work is? There are a lot of great programmers on this site, I'm curious if you were able to find jobs you enjoyed. If so, how long did it take you to find it?
Yes and it takes many things - management, people, environment and work. The only problem is that the better we do the more work gets thrown at us. Elaine :rose:
-
What is it that makes it enjoyable? Do you have a good manager or a poor one but good co-workers? Is the work exciting or is there some other perk to the job that helps you forget how boring the work is? There are a lot of great programmers on this site, I'm curious if you were able to find jobs you enjoyed. If so, how long did it take you to find it?
Absolutely! The boss is as bright as I am, and more knowledgable in our field - something I've very rarely experienced. The company is small and agile, and everyone has to wear several hats for it all to work, so it's never boring. The company culture is relaxed, except during a power system emergency, and ad hoc trips out to breakfast or unplanned barbeques are frequent. When the occasional emergency strikes, all hands turn out together, fully professional and on the jump. The boss' one shortcoming is that all tasks are equal in his mind, and though all he cares about for weeks is task X, out of the blue he'll demand to know why task C hasn't been completed. We're working on him in that respect. Best of all I'm doing real work, not service crap suitable for crackheads and high school dropouts, but real engineering designing and maintaining power services for a tribal population. It requires all of my engineering judgement (though admittedly very little of the engineering ability I needed in electronics design), and a lot of gut-level knowledge about electrical physics to do the design wrk and determine causes after the fact when problems do occur. It's a great challenge, but not an insurmountable one, and a fun and necessary field in which there are far too few new entry-level candidates. If the trend doesn't reverse, in 10 years this country will be outsourcing electrical substation and transmission system design and construction. The existing pool of experts is dying of old age, and no young ones are entering the field. So, yes, I was able to find a job I enjoy. How long did it take? Fifteen years since the last one, and worth the wait...
"...a photo album is like Life, but flat and stuck to pages." - Shog9
-
What is it that makes it enjoyable? Do you have a good manager or a poor one but good co-workers? Is the work exciting or is there some other perk to the job that helps you forget how boring the work is? There are a lot of great programmers on this site, I'm curious if you were able to find jobs you enjoyed. If so, how long did it take you to find it?
Dustin Metzgar wrote:
What is it that makes it enjoyable?
A combination of things. I have a great manager and supervisor, I even have a good project leader even if we sometimes clash on issues dealing with work pressure. And I have had much, much worse in the past, I know all of those are at least trying. The primary thing is content, and usefullness. Much of what I do is used often and thus gives a sense of worth in that I am actually doing something that is used. Variety is another, R&D monies are always a plus, but not always available. Still the variety and chance to try something no one has tried before is great fun. Currently augmented reality is a blast. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
-
Dustin Metzgar wrote:
What is it that makes it enjoyable?
A combination of things. I have a great manager and supervisor, I even have a good project leader even if we sometimes clash on issues dealing with work pressure. And I have had much, much worse in the past, I know all of those are at least trying. The primary thing is content, and usefullness. Much of what I do is used often and thus gives a sense of worth in that I am actually doing something that is used. Variety is another, R&D monies are always a plus, but not always available. Still the variety and chance to try something no one has tried before is great fun. Currently augmented reality is a blast. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
Jeffry J. Brickley wrote:
Much of what I do is used often and thus gives a sense of worth in that I am actually doing something that is used.
Cool. Everytime I see a client using software I had written it's very encouraging. It does make you feel useful.
-
Yes and it takes many things - management, people, environment and work. The only problem is that the better we do the more work gets thrown at us. Elaine :rose:
Trollslayer wrote:
The only problem is that the better we do the more work gets thrown at us.
Sometimes I feel I could use a little more work.
-
Absolutely! The boss is as bright as I am, and more knowledgable in our field - something I've very rarely experienced. The company is small and agile, and everyone has to wear several hats for it all to work, so it's never boring. The company culture is relaxed, except during a power system emergency, and ad hoc trips out to breakfast or unplanned barbeques are frequent. When the occasional emergency strikes, all hands turn out together, fully professional and on the jump. The boss' one shortcoming is that all tasks are equal in his mind, and though all he cares about for weeks is task X, out of the blue he'll demand to know why task C hasn't been completed. We're working on him in that respect. Best of all I'm doing real work, not service crap suitable for crackheads and high school dropouts, but real engineering designing and maintaining power services for a tribal population. It requires all of my engineering judgement (though admittedly very little of the engineering ability I needed in electronics design), and a lot of gut-level knowledge about electrical physics to do the design wrk and determine causes after the fact when problems do occur. It's a great challenge, but not an insurmountable one, and a fun and necessary field in which there are far too few new entry-level candidates. If the trend doesn't reverse, in 10 years this country will be outsourcing electrical substation and transmission system design and construction. The existing pool of experts is dying of old age, and no young ones are entering the field. So, yes, I was able to find a job I enjoy. How long did it take? Fifteen years since the last one, and worth the wait...
"...a photo album is like Life, but flat and stuck to pages." - Shog9
Roger Wright wrote:
The existing pool of experts is dying of old age, and no young ones are entering the field.
I wonder what keeps the younger crowd away. Is it that they just don't know about the job or because it seems like an undesirable profession on the surface?
-
Roger Wright wrote:
The existing pool of experts is dying of old age, and no young ones are entering the field.
I wonder what keeps the younger crowd away. Is it that they just don't know about the job or because it seems like an undesirable profession on the surface?
Probably the latter; it's hard, dangerous work, and the crews are required to be out in the absolute worst kinds of weather. But those who do it are dedicated, proud, and well-deserving of respect for what they do for all of us. For some people the respect is worth everything...
"...a photo album is like Life, but flat and stuck to pages." - Shog9