Job Hacking

Do you ever wonder about mentors?

I've been fortunate in having a couple of good mentors during the course of my career, and they were relationships that just sorta happened. Not very directed, and without strategic foresight, but nonetheless valuable beyond gold.

Kris Dunn over at Fistful of Talent has an interesting post expanding this to a Personal Board of Directors or PBOD. Great thought, increase the numbers, improve the help you receive.

And remember, a mentor isn't doing this strictly because they want to give back. They are getting something out of the relationship, too. Good chance you won't know what that is until you mentor someone yourself.

You and your brand

Sometimes I think I write too often about posts that Seth Godin writes. But, I can't help myself - they are too good, and too relevant to the world we work in.

His post on Sept 20 was particularly pointed regarding MSFT's recent ad campaign with Jerry & Bill.

And, it points up something that many don't quite understand until it's far too late: Affiliation and your brand.

Yup, you've got a brand. It is made up of the thoughts and perceptions others have about you. Some of it is made up of your work, part is from your achievements, and other bits are from the places you've been associated with in the past. You know, Carnegie-Mellon, IIT, Standford, Cal-Tech, Enron, Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, Defense Language Institute, Microsoft, IEEE, etc., etc.

Seth is absolutely 100% correct when he says that, "For more than twenty years, Microsoft has relentlessly commodified itself and the software it makes. It has worked to become a monopoly, a semi-faceless organization that cranks out very good (or pretty good) software that gets a job done for the middle of the market. It's been a profitable strategy."

For all of you that work at Microsoft, for better or worse, this is the way the world sees you. When you go looking for a job, this is one key aspect that hiring managers tune in on. Some like to see this, others less so. But be clear, this is an attribute you own, and use it to your best advantage.

Kinda makes you think hard about where you want to go work next, doesn't it? Or, how to attract people into your organization that are a good fit w/your brand.

In need of Career Advice?

Career Hub has a nice post regarding Career Advice from Richard Branson. It's a good list, very inspiring.

I'd add one thing: Keep your vision in front of you always.

For all you first-timers out there... managing your network

After picking your future company, er, network, you need to then manage your network.

What does this mean?

Make friends. Go to lunch with people. Help those who ask. Be polite to everyone. Make connections.

Easy to say, hard to do sometimes. So, set some goals. Go to lunch once every week with people on your team. Go to one lunch every month with someone or a group of someones who are not on your direct team. Attend conferences, when you can. Do a good turn daily.

Over time, e.g. years, this pays off in big ways because you never know who will end up helping you later. And remember, the only person who makes your career happen these days is you!

For all you first-timers out there... Three posts by Marc Andreessen

I've recently discovered Marc Andreessen's blog, and it's pretty darned good. For you new to the job market out there, he has three great, thought-provoking posts regarding Career Planning:

The Pmarca Guide to Career Planning, part 1: Opportunity
The Pmarca Guide to Career Planning, part 2: Skills & Education
The Pmarca Guide to Career Planning, part 3: Where to go and why

BTW: Job Hacking Technorati Profile

For all you first-timers out there... picking your network

One of the things that isn't commonly thought about when deciding to go to work for a new company is that you're making a very long-term choice regarding your comrades-in-arms.

Because very, very few people work at any given company for more than 5 years anymore, your career opportunities will be driven more by the people you work with and how they view your work. In other words, your yearly review will have less impact on your future than the daily (usually unspoken) reviews you receive from your peers.

With that in mind, how do you feel about EVERYONE you're about to go to work with? Do you like them? Do you respect their Development skills based on your interviews with them? Would you want to have them on your team when the project is on the line?

For all you first-timers out there... working at a big company

I worked at a big company once. It was a movie theater chain, American Multi-Cinema.

It has a great story regarding its beginning.

The founder, Stan, was running a theater in Kansas City in the early 60s. Problem was, he wasn't making any money. And, he knew that unless something changed, he wouldn't be in the theater biz for too much longer.

It's well known that theater owners make their money on the concession stand. And this has been the case for a long, long time. So, our intrepid hero said to himself, "How can I get more people in the door to buy my popcorn?" And, his answer was to divide his theater down the middle, creating two theaters in one location - the first multi-plex. Big suprise, it worked. Leading us to where we are today with H-U-G-E multiplexes showing a lot of movies with staggered showtimes, and AMC being one of the top companies in this business.

Here's the thing: AMC did not start big. It started small. And it got big by being innovative in the face of adversity.

As this relates to Development talent, there are very few small, start-upish, entrepreneurial companies that want to hire people from big companies. And, there are very few big companies that want to hire talent from small companies. The reality is that there are very different skills required for success at a small company v. a large company. They each have strong appeal, and like most things in life, different people like one over the other. Large companies tend to be bureaucratic, political, and very clear about taking risks (maximize the profit for the perceived risk). Small companies tend to be nimble, low on process orientation, and working on finding their riches in a new part of the eco-system.

One thing: Big companies are not less risky, career-wise than small companies. In both cases, you can be out of your job in a heartbeat. The market shifts, the company decides to allocate resources elsewhere, they go through a re-org, or they lose it all to hubris (see Enron & Anderson Consulting).

For all you first-timers out there... thinking about the future

For my first post in this series, let's talk about the future.

First, I'm going to state outright that I'm not a big fan of the 'generational differences' club. It's not that there aren't trends out there that one should pay attention to, but rather that I think this thinking is out there to help people sell stuff, like books, or magazines, or blogs, and I'll even bet the random movie or YouTube video. It does this by making people feel bad by whipping up a frenzy of envy between these 'groups'. I hate stuff that makes people feel bad!

Before we get into the future, a couple of bits to clarify. First, most everyone has similar needs and wants. For Developers, the overwhelming attribute is usually the desire to create. And not just a module, or what-have-you for the given project. They want to create a great thing, something that is used by a lot of people. Best of all might be something to show to their buddies, their significant other, their parents. "Lookit this, you'll dig it!"

But, how does one know WHAT to create. What will be the next big thing? Tough to say. Could be something you're really into. Might not. But chances are, it's something that will be an evolutionary step from technology that exists today. Sorta like the horseless carriage.

The three sources that I use for helping me view the future are the Mark Anderson's Strategic News Service, the work of Glenn Hiemstra, The Futurist, and most notably his book "Turning the Future into Revenue", and Robert X. Cringely.

One last thing: Remember that the horseless carriage was not created by a big corporation. It was created by several inventors who were not working for anyone other than themselves.

India v. U.S.

Had a great conversation the other day w/a Sr. SDE in India who was pondering the following question:

Should I stay here and develop my career and skills, or should I go to the U.S. right now and do the same?

This question was about three things: 1) Is it a good time to start doing your own career development in the U.S. if you're not already living here because the economy is not the best; 2) Are there things here that one can learn in the U.S. that are difficult to learn in India; 3) What do I want to do?

There is certainly no question that the overall economy in the U.S. is troubled, but pull the covers back, and the software/internet sector is doing fairly well (exceptions being products that are related to housing, autos, finance, travel). So, for a Sr. SDE looking to work in a company that is focused on delivering technology-focused products, not such a big deal.

As to what such a person might learn that might be more difficult in India, that one is a tough call. India today is not the India of 20 years ago. If someone really needed to learn the U.S. market, or needed to integrate into the culture for some long-term benefit, that makes a lot of sense. Or maybe, to go get their MBA at a top-10 school. It's not the clear-cut choice it was 20 years ago, and ask any of the former expats who have returned to India (Happy Birthday, Nagesh!).

But the last point, "What do you want to do?" is the really big nag. My sense of it is that there are a lot of Indian Engineers who are torn between two stark realities. First is the rather traditional path into reputable companies, doing reputable things, thus building a reputable career. Your parents will be so proud! But, wow, talk about the stress on an Engineer! The other is the entrepreneurial zeal to start your own company.

These two choices are not mutually incompatible, of course. And, most importantly, they are not uniquely Indian choices - we all face these same choices.

So, what do you want to do with your life? What do you need to learn to get to what you want? Big world out there, just waiting for you!

Knowing your strengths

One of the things in my life I focus attention is staying in shape. 'Functional Fitness' is the idea, and while it's not for everyone, it appeals to me (see blog). Oh, and it works, too.

Yesterday, we did a couple of sequences that were geared toward learning - who woulda known that at a workout class, learning was required?

The one thing that captured my attention was rowing. The learning part about this was the conversation we had regarding resistance on these machines. The basic gist was that for some people, they will be able to get a better time if the resistance is set high, and others will do well if the resistance is set low; generally, a high resistance will also yield fewer strokes per minute, and a low resistance will give one more strokes per minute.

On our rowing machines the damper controls the resistance. Usually, we set these at 5, at the mid-point. Yesterday, we were learning, so we did the first round at 5, and the second round at 10, which is the max resistance setting. For me, I did better at the highest setting, which was an interesting result, especially given that this was the 2nd row of 2 all-out effort experiences. Can't wait to try the low setting, and see what happens!

The other key learning bit that day was the notion that while a given setting may be effective now, later, and as you improve in other areas, that setting may not be optimal. So, you kinda have to play with it over time.

For candidates (hiring managers, too), knowing your strengths is very important in understanding how to position yourself. And, you should expect that as you grow in your career, the settings on these strengths will change, so your positioning will change as well.