Yesterday I had a phone interview slash discussion with the CEO of
href="http://www.globe-soft.net" target="_blank">Globe Soft (I
later knew that he's the CEO from their website, he didn't introduce
himself). To cut the story short, the advertised position was for a
senior J2EE Developer, a few minutes into the discussion I recognized
that the company wanted a code monkey rather than a “senior” staff (
href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/11/great_marketers.html"
target="_blank">“senior” is indeed a generic word). As I was
basically too expensive for the position (around 150% of their pay
range) he followed a negotiation strategy along the lines of:
- Industry average [for a code monkey] is around half of what you're getting.
- You'd gain a very good experience working on that project.
- You have only X years and these are valued at Y value (proportional)
- You currently work at a manufacturing company.
<shameless plug>Despite the fact that he was trying to buy low with some unconvincing arguments, and that I didn't sell myself too hard by neither stressing the couple
of Master's degrees + 8 years sound experience working for both large and small organizations, nor mentioning the consultancy spot jobs, knowledge, passion, etc…</shameless plug> I should stop at one of his points:
“Working for a manufacturing company”.
I've heard the argument before, and I have to agree that working in an industrial/manufacturing company could sound like an “ordinary” life
for a developer. IMO this should not carry the impression that such an environment results in an experience-less time (for the lack of
a better wording). As a matter of fact, one of the key drivers to my love for my profession is that I experience, first hand, how the IT (and more
specifically development) could shape up a business and how they could transfer it from a state to a better one. I also, on a daily basis, HAVE TO deal with the good, bad, failed, unrecognized implementations.
With this in mind, It's impossible to deny the gains:
- Being immersed in user experiences
- Understanding and valuing the meaning of agility
- Gaining domain knowledge
- Dealing with a plethora of personalities with various level of expertise, cultures.
- Always finding Improvements for current solutions (as the interface with
customer/client never ends).
Unfortunately, I only came across a few (in fact one) who shared a similar experience during his career.
So, If you have worked/been working in an Industrial/Manufacturing environment, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.
As always, a wonderful learning experience and a true gain.
Thanks Mr. Galal.
(I will post this under java category for maximum readership. Apologies).
UPDATE: I've received many good and positive responses to my post on the favourite “The Business of Software” disucssion group.
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