4 ms·

If you're a dev, don't work for a company where software development is viewed as a cost center--you want your work to be viewed as something that brings in rev

If you're a dev, don't work for a company where software development is viewed as a cost center--you want your work to be viewed as something that brings in revenue. (Learned the hard way when I worked at a large bank.)

kokx 8y ago
I think that these days, the best large banks do not view software development as a cost center anymore. I'm hearing more and more from people in banking that banks these days are basically IT companies with added security constraints.
- markdoubleyou 8y ago
  Fair point. My particular experience was at Washington Mutual, about 13 years ago, which was not one of the "best large banks" by any objective measure. I left about a year before the collapse while they were still raking in money from shady loans... everyone there thought I was nuts for leaving.
- bitfhacker 8y ago
  True and false in my oppinion. Mandatory developments, impositions of central banks, national vat's, auditings and bussiness as usual is seen as a cost. You must do this developments. These are fixed costs and banks tend to minimize them. New products that inovate/diferentiate one bank from another are seen as strategic and costs are seen diferently. What banks optimize in the fixed costs, banks spend in the proof of concepts.
CoolGuySteve 8y ago
I learned this from finance: Don't join a team that's mediocre and/or where you're the only one with your skills. When it comes time to evaluate your performance or assess how long something should take, your manager and your team will be clueless. Useless people survive by playing politics. And when you quit they'll play games you can't win.
- itronitron 8y ago
  >> And when you quit they'll play games you can't win Can you elaborate on this? Things to avoid when quitting such a position?
  - CoolGuySteve 8y ago
    In finance on the east coast, most shops have non-competes, non-disclosures, and non-disparagement agreements. Between those 3, there's a lot of ways they'll try and coerce you into staying without paying you market rates if your bus factor is high enough. It's so bad that I've known people who have hired lawyers to help them quit one firm and join another.
smilesnd 8y ago
I agree with this full-heartedly I work for a company where my boss told me a couple months in having a dev department was a waste of money for the company, and we were lucky to have a job. The company bread and butter was software that transcribe medical records from paper to digital. What the CEO and sale force didn't tell anyone it was actually a cubical farm of humans transcribing it all since the software was horrible. The environment was so horrible every worth while dev/IT person regularly drop out as soon as there contract was over or till they just didn't show up one day. The only reason the company even keep "functioning" was out sourcing everything to India. There database was duck tape and string together in ways that only the elders understood how to pull things out of it. If you walk into any company where different departments get praise more then others it is a sign to walk out. You will always get treated like a second rate employee in those environments.
- alexcnwy 8y ago
  Sounds awful! I've been working my butt off with some friends on a system to extract data out of scanned forms and documents (incl. handwriting) and I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts about it. Couldn't find your contact deetz so please send me an email - address in my profile :)
- itronitron 8y ago
  Was this company's HQ ever in Massachussetts?
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

kokx 8y ago

I think that these days, the best large banks do not view software development as a cost center anymore. I'm hearing more and more from people in banking that banks these days are basically IT companies with added security constraints.

markdoubleyou 8y ago
Fair point. My particular experience was at Washington Mutual, about 13 years ago, which was not one of the "best large banks" by any objective measure. I left about a year before the collapse while they were still raking in money from shady loans... everyone there thought I was nuts for leaving.
bitfhacker 8y ago
True and false in my oppinion. Mandatory developments, impositions of central banks, national vat's, auditings and bussiness as usual is seen as a cost. You must do this developments. These are fixed costs and banks tend to minimize them. New products that inovate/diferentiate one bank from another are seen as strategic and costs are seen diferently. What banks optimize in the fixed costs, banks spend in the proof of concepts.

CoolGuySteve 8y ago

I learned this from finance: Don't join a team that's mediocre and/or where you're the only one with your skills. When it comes time to evaluate your performance or assess how long something should take, your manager and your team will be clueless. Useless people survive by playing politics. And when you quit they'll play games you can't win.

itronitron 8y ago
>> And when you quit they'll play games you can't win Can you elaborate on this? Things to avoid when quitting such a position?
- CoolGuySteve 8y ago
  In finance on the east coast, most shops have non-competes, non-disclosures, and non-disparagement agreements. Between those 3, there's a lot of ways they'll try and coerce you into staying without paying you market rates if your bus factor is high enough. It's so bad that I've known people who have hired lawyers to help them quit one firm and join another.

smilesnd 8y ago

I agree with this full-heartedly I work for a company where my boss told me a couple months in having a dev department was a waste of money for the company, and we were lucky to have a job. The company bread and butter was software that transcribe medical records from paper to digital. What the CEO and sale force didn't tell anyone it was actually a cubical farm of humans transcribing it all since the software was horrible. The environment was so horrible every worth while dev/IT person regularly drop out as soon as there contract was over or till they just didn't show up one day. The only reason the company even keep "functioning" was out sourcing everything to India. There database was duck tape and string together in ways that only the elders understood how to pull things out of it. If you walk into any company where different departments get praise more then others it is a sign to walk out. You will always get treated like a second rate employee in those environments.

alexcnwy 8y ago
Sounds awful! I've been working my butt off with some friends on a system to extract data out of scanned forms and documents (incl. handwriting) and I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts about it. Couldn't find your contact deetz so please send me an email - address in my profile :)
itronitron 8y ago
Was this company's HQ ever in Massachussetts?

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]