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This is great reading for any young engineer graduating from school and considering where to place his talents. I would draw such attention to the 'death march
by dotBen 16y ago
This is great reading for any young engineer graduating from school and considering where to place his talents.
I would draw such attention to the 'death march' that occurred - where people knew the project was a failure but the company continued to build and ship because of a contractual obligation. This is the stuff of big enterprise, where the costs of shipping a failed product are less than the cost of missing an obligation.
Even if you have decided you don't want to work at a startup, there are big companies (SME's) and and there are BIG companies (massive corporations). Microsoft is obviously one of the latter, and so you gotta ask yourself whether this is a situation you would want to risk finding yourself in.
It's fine if you are a middle-aged "9-5 career programer" who doesn't really care what he is building and just wants to earn money to give his family a comfortable life, pay for his golf habit... but it is not an environment any young aspiring engineer should end up in.
Sadly many do and I fear this very eventuality for friends who tell me how excited they are to be applying to Microsoft... :(
- rbanffy 16y agoI would like to point out that being attractive to a "9-5 career programmer" just makes it totally unattractive to a bright young programmer wanting to change the world. It's tragic, really, because a company like this can turn a young bright programmer into a 9-5 zombie.
- code_duck 16y agoThat's what public school is for, isn't it?
- Elepsis 16y agoMicrosoft is a very different company depending on what division you're in and what you're working on. Sure, there are parts of the company that are less exciting for your typical just-out-of-college hire, but as someone who joined a little over a year ago in a similar situation, I can say I'm quite happy with what I do and with my experience so far. Don't paint the entire company with a single broad brush.
- dotBen 16y agoWhich division do you work in? Would you care to talk a little more on methodologies, decision making, release schedules, etc are handled in your department?
- raganwald 16y agoI imagine that's exactly what the folks on the Pink team were saying right up until Lees pulled his coup and wrested control away from Allard. Mobile was moribund and Pink was a fresh break from the past. They must have been exciting, heady days full of optimism and fighting spirit. Then suddenly it all changed, and that's the problem with companies run as warring city states. You're at the mercy of a change of weather.
- dcreemer 16y agoDon't confuse age with enthusiasm for work. I've seen many young 9-5'ers, and plenty of older programmers who work long hours in fun startups because that's what we love to do :-)