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Winning the professional development lottery In the whole time I was in the IT field, there were times when I reflected back on the things I did or the companies I work that made me realize that by working there or doing things that way, really made me a better professional or really open my eyes--making the work I do all the more worth-while. If you'll allow me, I like to ask you guys the same thing: would you please share with everyone on JOS Forum some of the key events or employments that really change your perspective. This isn't about awesome compensation or company movie nights--it IS about who, where, or what action change you for the better. Was it a computer club? Making friends at a bookstore? IRC? Joining a world class software company? Starting your own business? Selling software? Looking at the problem from a lateral perspective? New habits? Lifestyle? Any stories would be very much appreciated!
Li-fan Chen
for me it was discovering Joel's writings & this forum (this was before I knew about RSS & aggregators).
Prakash S
(1) Books are forever
Sathyaish Chakravarthy
Books are forever.... refer also to
Ignore my ignorance
For me it was convincing my employer a hardware distributor to start selling consultingware. It didn't do them much good but opened a lot of opportunities for me as I moved from being a cost to the business to a revenue generator.
Tony Edgecombe (www.frogmorecs.com)
Matt H.
The hypnotist keeling over while he was working on me ...
Just me (Sir to you)
For me oddly enough it was the job I almost got. A little over a year ago I had a dead end job that was not in development. I had completely almost completely given up after months and months of looking for work. I was lucky to have a job but not in what I wanted to do and was ready to give up and accept my fate. I spent almost every evening preparing at least one directed cover letter and resume. One night I ran out of places and on a whim applied to Microsoft. I figured since I was primarily a Java developer and no chance. Well about a month later I got call from a Microsoft recruiter went through a brutal set of phone interviews. While I prepared for the grueling interviews I found JOS! I made all the way for a trip to Redmond. Ultimately, I didn't get the job. I handled every challenge they handed me but I got nervous and said some stupid things when I interviewed with the PM (I am still smacking my head, stupid stupid stupid!) But instead of getting more depressed I was motivated even further. I knew I had what it takes to run with the “big dogs” even if this time I didn't quite make it. I eventually landed a position at a awesome company, a private company that gives really treats their employee's well. I never would have made it to where I am now with out the boost in confidence. Strange, I owe my greatest success to my greatest failure.
Bill Rushmore
Mark Hoffman
Reluctantly I took a management position leading a small (7) group of developers. That is where I realized that management isn't "the next step" of a developer's career, but a parallel career track. The team was dissolved a year later due to new Sr. Management team. But I learned a lot in that year which allows me to be a better Sr. dev/team lead now.
apw
Getting on an embedded project with some other really good engineers, and them being willing and able to let me learn everything I could from them.
Chris Tavares
Sending my first bill and getting a big chunk of cash money in return. This was an eye opener. It made me realize that I had better know what Im talking about. From that moment on I bagan to really pay attention to the code I wrote and how it worked rather than the "fire and forget" style coding I had done before.
Eric Debois
1995, Getting laid off from a Unix and Mac job, I heard time and time again from agents "any Novell?". I didn't have Novell on my CV, and went back to the agency that I did occasional van driving for. They called a day later, and asked if I could temp at a place they normally placed warehouse staff, but this role was in IT. PC and Novell support was added to my CV 2 weeks later, and the interviews started to role in. I turned down an easy job to travel twice as far for no more money, but the oppotunities were a lot better.
Raddyboy
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