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That certainly is a valid choice, and if it's what makes you happy, then great. I wish it was what made me happy because, as you've pointed out, it's a lot easi

That certainly is a valid choice, and if it's what makes you happy, then great. I wish it was what made me happy because, as you've pointed out, it's a lot easier (at least in some ways). But that's the problem: it isn't the right choice for everyone. People have complex motivations but, for me, working in some giant corporation where it can be really hard to get things done due to politics and ingrained bureaucracy is nigh on intolerable. When I do it at all I do it for the money and for no other reason. And this is not "special little snowflake" mentality (which is infuriating): it's pretty common for people not to like working in big organisations, to prefer smaller companies, or to want to see if they can "make it" themselves. Horses for courses.

scarface74 10y ago
That's easy and I agree with you. In 20 years I've only worked in a large corporation with a lot of bureaucracy for two and I said I would never do it again. I only work for small companies for the same reasons you cited. But the same thing applies. I worked for a company where any day the doors could be closed if the VCs gave up on us. Management was very open about the situation but there wasn't really a mass exodus, and I slept well at night not worrying about it, thinking that worse case I would be out of a job for at most a month. We all got laid off during an acquisition, no one was overly concerned, we all went to lunch had fun and looking at my coworkers LinkedIn profiles, we all had better jobs in month. Security for software engineers should never come from our jobs. It should come from keeping our skill set up to date and keeping our network of former coworkers and recruiters.
- bartread 10y ago
  Again, I couldn't agree more with that. Most of my jobs have been with companies where it could go either way. Red Gate turned into an exception and became successful, and I stayed there for a long time. Subsequently I've come to the conclusion that, professionally, this was a mistake. For the first few years I definitely developed a lot of new skills there, and had opportunities that otherwise I wouldn't have had, but the value tails off after that. When it came to the point where I absolutely, positively wanted to leave and nothing was going to change my mind (this is far too late - to anyone reading, do not do this), I felt rusty and behind the curve. It became an 18 month process whilst I skilled up in the areas I needed (again, Red Gate provided the opportunities to do that, so props). That was tough going. Red Gate's a decent company but, you know, when I'm done I'm done, so keeping up the motivation was hard. This is all a very roundabout way of saying you're absolutely right about keeping your skills up. If you do that (and you're not an asshole) you'll have absolutely no problem securing employment. You might need to relocate, but you'll always find work.

scarface74 10y ago

That's easy and I agree with you. In 20 years I've only worked in a large corporation with a lot of bureaucracy for two and I said I would never do it again. I only work for small companies for the same reasons you cited. But the same thing applies. I worked for a company where any day the doors could be closed if the VCs gave up on us. Management was very open about the situation but there wasn't really a mass exodus, and I slept well at night not worrying about it, thinking that worse case I would be out of a job for at most a month. We all got laid off during an acquisition, no one was overly concerned, we all went to lunch had fun and looking at my coworkers LinkedIn profiles, we all had better jobs in month. Security for software engineers should never come from our jobs. It should come from keeping our skill set up to date and keeping our network of former coworkers and recruiters.

bartread 10y ago
Again, I couldn't agree more with that. Most of my jobs have been with companies where it could go either way. Red Gate turned into an exception and became successful, and I stayed there for a long time. Subsequently I've come to the conclusion that, professionally, this was a mistake. For the first few years I definitely developed a lot of new skills there, and had opportunities that otherwise I wouldn't have had, but the value tails off after that. When it came to the point where I absolutely, positively wanted to leave and nothing was going to change my mind (this is far too late - to anyone reading, do not do this), I felt rusty and behind the curve. It became an 18 month process whilst I skilled up in the areas I needed (again, Red Gate provided the opportunities to do that, so props). That was tough going. Red Gate's a decent company but, you know, when I'm done I'm done, so keeping up the motivation was hard. This is all a very roundabout way of saying you're absolutely right about keeping your skills up. If you do that (and you're not an asshole) you'll have absolutely no problem securing employment. You might need to relocate, but you'll always find work.