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I currently work remote for IBM Watson and I love it - I'm more productive, have more time to spend with my family, etc. My team and my direct manager are fanta

I currently work remote for IBM Watson and I love it - I'm more productive, have more time to spend with my family, etc. My team and my direct manager are fantastic. I've worked remote before, and led remote teams with good results, but this has been my best experience yet. However, my position is in peril due to management changes a few rungs up the ladder. While the previous guy in charge of Watson wanted the best people, the new one wants everyone on-site in about 10 cities. (Previously, folks were spread out across ~50 offices + remote workers like myself.) I received a "temporary exception", and I don't honestly think they'll actually go through with it when that's up. But it's still a frustrating position to be in, and has caused me to start looking elsewhere. So far, I can't seem to find a combination of: * Remote * Comparable pay * As much fun as my current job I'm seriously contemplating just starting my own company again.

splatcollision 10y ago
I know what you're talking about re: the management changes, as I work for an agency that has a close relationship with IBM. I was looking at applying to Watson for remote work of some kind, but due to that short-sighted shift, I've ruled it out for now!
alexbeloi 10y ago
If you don't mind me asking, what is it like (going back to?) working for a large company after working for yourself.
- nfriedly 10y ago
  There was a little bit of culture-shock, but honestly, it wasn't too bad. I had a few years at a startup in-between being self-employed, so it wasn't an instant switch, and my role at IBM provides a fair level of autonomy. This is my first time at a big company (e.g. > 50 employees). IBM in particular is huge, almost inconceivably big. It still surprises me how frequently I'm be asked for help/advice/whatever from people within IBM who I've never met before and who aren't on my team, or even in the Watson division. (This may be in part due to the fact that I have a more visible role than most.) On the flip side of that, I frequently have no idea who to ask about a given issue. (Although this doesn't happen as often now as it used to.) Nice points are that I don't have to worry about keeping up a pipeline of clients or having to be mindful of what's billable and what isn't. It may be partially due to having more experience, but I find it a lot easier now to walk out of my office at the end of the day actually be done working. I might think about work a bit, but I rarely feel compelled to actually go and do work when I'm spending time with my family. When I was self-employed, there was always a nagging feeling that I should be working whenever I was doing anything else. As an extension of the last point, paid vacation is awesome. I also get to publish a lot more open source work now then I ever did before, although that obviously depends on your role. On the down side, I'm supposed to get written permission from my manager for each open source project I want to contribute to. She always replies "yes" and usually quickly, but it still wastes time and feels silly. (I generally send the email, begin working on my change, and then wait for the "yes" before publishing it and sending a PR. That usually works out well.) Spending company money is also tricky. Placing an order from Adafruit is a convoluted process that can take several weeks. (To be fair, there is an internal shopping site that makes ordering more common things like a monitor less painful.) Overall, though, I'm glad I did it. My time at IBM has been good and, assuming they'll keep me, I think I'll probably stick around for a while longer.
nfriedly 10y ago
It's too late to edit, but since a couple of people have contacted me, I wanted to add a few details: if I do start my own company, it would probably be self-funded and mostly do work for external clients on things like websites and apps, process automation, AI/deep learning, A/B testing and optimization, and maybe a bit of embedded/IoT work. And, of course, it'd be all remote. If that sounds like your cup of tea, feel free to send me an email: nathan@nfriedly.com and maybe we can work together. But, bear in mind that I'm still more likely to stick with IBM than start my own thing at this point. And even if I did leave, it would be at least a few months before I'd be ready to take anyone on full-time.

splatcollision 10y ago

I know what you're talking about re: the management changes, as I work for an agency that has a close relationship with IBM. I was looking at applying to Watson for remote work of some kind, but due to that short-sighted shift, I've ruled it out for now!

alexbeloi 10y ago

If you don't mind me asking, what is it like (going back to?) working for a large company after working for yourself.

nfriedly 10y ago
There was a little bit of culture-shock, but honestly, it wasn't too bad. I had a few years at a startup in-between being self-employed, so it wasn't an instant switch, and my role at IBM provides a fair level of autonomy. This is my first time at a big company (e.g. > 50 employees). IBM in particular is huge, almost inconceivably big. It still surprises me how frequently I'm be asked for help/advice/whatever from people within IBM who I've never met before and who aren't on my team, or even in the Watson division. (This may be in part due to the fact that I have a more visible role than most.) On the flip side of that, I frequently have no idea who to ask about a given issue. (Although this doesn't happen as often now as it used to.) Nice points are that I don't have to worry about keeping up a pipeline of clients or having to be mindful of what's billable and what isn't. It may be partially due to having more experience, but I find it a lot easier now to walk out of my office at the end of the day actually be done working. I might think about work a bit, but I rarely feel compelled to actually go and do work when I'm spending time with my family. When I was self-employed, there was always a nagging feeling that I should be working whenever I was doing anything else. As an extension of the last point, paid vacation is awesome. I also get to publish a lot more open source work now then I ever did before, although that obviously depends on your role. On the down side, I'm supposed to get written permission from my manager for each open source project I want to contribute to. She always replies "yes" and usually quickly, but it still wastes time and feels silly. (I generally send the email, begin working on my change, and then wait for the "yes" before publishing it and sending a PR. That usually works out well.) Spending company money is also tricky. Placing an order from Adafruit is a convoluted process that can take several weeks. (To be fair, there is an internal shopping site that makes ordering more common things like a monitor less painful.) Overall, though, I'm glad I did it. My time at IBM has been good and, assuming they'll keep me, I think I'll probably stick around for a while longer.

nfriedly 10y ago

It's too late to edit, but since a couple of people have contacted me, I wanted to add a few details: if I do start my own company, it would probably be self-funded and mostly do work for external clients on things like websites and apps, process automation, AI/deep learning, A/B testing and optimization, and maybe a bit of embedded/IoT work. And, of course, it'd be all remote. If that sounds like your cup of tea, feel free to send me an email: nathan@nfriedly.com and maybe we can work together. But, bear in mind that I'm still more likely to stick with IBM than start my own thing at this point. And even if I did leave, it would be at least a few months before I'd be ready to take anyone on full-time.