I’m about to make a broad generalisation– there are two types of developers in the world. In all of the places I’ve worked, I noticed this dichotomy–I suppose it exists in all industries. There are the run-of-the-mill developers who code for the infrastructure at their disposal and there are the genuine players in the industry.

I’ve become more and more aware of this as I look around organisations and to see a few developers who only know the platform they are allowed to code for, between nine to five, every day. They live for their outside interests. A nice car. A happy family life. Maybe some night classes.

Then there are the genuine players in IT. Talk about any new technology or bleeding edge coding style and they will know of it and maybe even dabbled a bit while not in the office. They read, or better yet, write blogs about better ways of doing things. They look forward to the end of the day so they can go home and really code something remarkable.

I know a lot of Java players and Microsoft players. I’ve worked along side people who will code a giant if statement around a block of dated code just to avoid looking seriously at it. And I’ve also worked along side people who can fill you with excitement about a new browsers, an updated .Net version, or even better quality Source Control Management.

A person on the cutting edge knows about Flickr, Ajax, .Net 2.0, etc. The majority of developers know about the servers they officially support.

Last month I met up with some friends from Barcap. Within 5 minutes the discussion turned to .Net 2005 and how it’s better than 1.1 but still has a lot of bugs. Then, we eventually talked about women (we are men after all).

I’ve known people who have taking holidays to learn a new technology shut up in a spare room of their house. I’ve known developers who devour Wrox books and offer knowledgeable critiques of them.

Then there are the developers who swear they can’t learn a new language unless they have a project to work on and swear that computer books are too dry. They copy any code they need from the web and modify it to fit they’re needs (often leaving a dangling variable somewhere).

A pointless rant, I know. I want to be more of a player and sometimes stray from the path. I admire those who say, “I am a developer. This is my industry,” with head held high.

I once blew a job interview because I told the interviewer that I get bored easily. Well, actually, I answered his question.

After telling the guy about all of my accomplishments, about my optimism for the future, and the work I do on my own to keep my skills sharp, He asked me the question. I told him how I keep up on various areas of study. I told him how I wake up at 4am every morning to read or develop my technical skills. He was impressed with my enthusiasm. Then he asked me, “Do you get bored easily?”

I didn’t know the right answer. I couldn’t bring myself to say no. I do get bored easily. When I told him yes, I knew it was over. After interviewing for an hour, I threw it out because I couldn’t answer the question right.

“My concern is that we don’t always work on new and exciting things here. I’m concerned that you would find the more tedious aspects of meeting with clients and discussing the same thing over and over again to lose your interest.” I backpedaled as much as possible after that, but it was no use. I found out later that I wasn’t hired because I might get bored easily.

It was one of those moments when you know the right answer as soon as you leave. How could I get bored easily when I spent an entire year learning Mandarin? How can I get bored easily when I sat through hour after hour in history lectures when I’d been up all night working in a motel.

The place I was working at the time I had been at for two and a half years. Still, I missed the question.

This was nearly three years ago. When I look back at that interview, despite the awful feeling I had driving home afterwards, I’m glad I said what I did. I do get bored easily. We should all get bored easily.

When the world moves as fast as it does, some are going to cling to the quo and others are going to move forward falling all the time.

Which would you rather be?

Originally Posted 05-Sep-05

There are times at work when I marvel at how many people do nothing but go from meeting to meeting. We have people in our company (where I’m contracting, I mean) who set up meetings, attend meetings, make comments at meetings, go back to their desks and draw up minutes no one will ever read (and possibly a flow chart that is too complicated for anyone) and then go on to the next meeting.

I was in a meeting last week with 9 people. As the meeting progressed, I realised I was the only person with any technical skills. I came away with every action point. It’s nice to know I keep 8 people in jobs.

It has been an incredibly busy day. It’s been mad.

Did you ever have the feeling that you have so many things on your head was going to explode?

It felt great.

The ChangeThis website has an excellent manifesto at the moment by Mark Cuban.

Basically, Cuban talks about his salad day and starting out in business in Texas. He briefly mentions getting fired a few times in his life, but then goes into his rise to success.

Probably the most pivotal moment of the article-possibly of his life-was getting fired from his dream job as a computer salesman.

If you got a minute, I highly urge you to read it.

I read this yesterday morning. One thought in the article has stuck with me. Cuban says that he was surprised that people in his industry did not read the same articles he did. When he would mention a book, article, or whatever, he expected people to nod and say, “Oh, yes, I read that too.” But it was the opposite.

In fact, the majority of the people Cuban dealt with did not spend a considerable time reading. He, as he confesses, knew nothing of computers-but often knew more than the experts he sold to.

I found this fascinating. I read at least one self-improvement book a week. There are times when I don’t see the point. There are times when I think that the opinions of the entire world are changing at the same time mine is. Then I get hit with what I was hit with today.

If you’ve ever read any books on interviewing techniques (job interviews, not news interviews) you will know that they all basically say the same thing. Dress nice. Don’t try to shock. Try to be funny, but don’t TRY to be funny. And never, never, never bad mouth your previous employers. You could have been working for Satan himself, but you still must grin and say, “they were good people. We had a disagreement from time to time, but that’s healthy in a growing company.” Then, long after you get the job, you can tell everyone what bastards they are and how you might be persuaded to hit them with your car if you ever see them crossing the street.

I know someone who has been looking for a job for two years. His problem? Well, this is my opinion and I think he would disagree with me-his problem is that he likes to talk about how much other people try to screw him over. It’s not that he doesn’t have accomplishments-he’s got loads. If he focused on positives, he would be fine. But he doesn’t. He talks about how great he is and the only reason he isn’t greater is that “those bastards keep holding him back.”

I assume this advice, like most that I read, is really just common sense. Surely, we all know this already. Surely, if we got ready for the interview, combed our hair, ironed our suits, drove to the office building-we wouldn’t want to through in the towel because we can’t let go of a grudge.

Mark Twain said it-”Common sense is not common.”

Last night I was at a meeting of one of the organisations I belong to. I won’t tell you which one, since I don’t really want you to guess who this guy was. We had all just entered the pub and I sat down at a vacant table.
This guy sat next to me and said, “How is Eric.” I told him I was fine and asked how he was. “I’ve been made redundant. I have until the end of October and then I’m without a job. I haven’t been to an interview in seventeen years.”
I told him how terrible I thought the situation was and tried to help brainstorming with things he could try. He was very negative about it all. He would say things like, “there are a few jobs over here, but they’re really hard to get. Besides, they’ll probably just hire someone out of university.”
I asked if he had a lot of contacts and he told me he was trying to re-establish contact with other people in his industry. I asked if he could become a consultant, work as a salesman for offshore firms in his industry, write articles, etc. All suggestions weren’t met with too much enthusiasm.
He said he may have to move to Cambridge which would be a drag pulling his kids out of school when the only town they knew was the one they grew up in. He was very negative, but I really felt for him. I’m certain he could turn this into an opportunity if he just looked at it right.
Then I said, “Hey maybe you can find something in London. Sure, it’s a commute, but I do it every day and it’s really not that bad. You can probably double your salary, or at least increase it.”
Then, he and everyone else at the table started talking about what a terrible idea that was. “That’s an 90 minute commute each way!” “Who could never work in London, what a dump.” “Only desperate people commute to London.”
I was shocked. I was amazed. A commute I make every day and think nothing of it-and he would rather move several hours away. But more than the illogical decision was the fact that this guy had taken a very viable (probably the most viable) option off the table for his future.
I stopped offering advice. He didn’t want it anyway and I can’t help someone who won’t help himself.
Having your back against the wall is not easy. It can be horrible. I’ve been out of work more times than I’d like to admit. But the greatest benefit of being backed against the wall is that you open up to whole new possibilities about your life. You can change professions, go into business, work a fun job for less pay, determine how much money you “absolutely, positively” need and look for the job in the industry you always wanted to try.
One of the great things about being a contractor is that being out of work is always-always-on the forefront of my mind. Money has to be invested. Skills have to diversify as well as improve.