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One tip if you join a bigger company: make sure you join a team that knows how to ship and is critical to the company. I don't think you want to spend another

One tip if you join a bigger company: make sure you join a team that knows how to ship and is critical to the company. I don't think you want to spend another three years on something that doesn't get traction. Working at Microsoft for several years, I saw too many team that didn't know how to really arrive at a meaningful feature set and ship. Well established companies often have so much money these teams don't get weeded out as quickly. Fortunately, I didn't have to ever live through this first-hand. And that was by far my favorite aspect of working at a big company, I knew that I was working on something that tens of millions of people would use, and it would be a significant part of their lives. Go for it! There's plenty you'll learn and you can get financially rewarded a lot more than many startups.

jrockway 16y ago
This is not that important. What's important at a big company is title or pay grade; after you're there for a while, it's going to be very hard to get a significant raise. But when you're coming in, it's very easy. Plan how long you want to be at the company, then ask for the title and salary you want then. Otherwise you are just going to be bitter, because the people that have no programming ability but have been warming the chairs for ten years are going to make a lot more money and have a lot more decision-making power than you. Remember, as a programmer: they need you more than you need them. There are plenty of other places to work.
- brown9-2 16y ago
  "Not that important" depends on what your goals are. Sounds to me like the GP is taking the view that job satisfaction and the pleasure of seeing the work you are doing contribute to the bottom line will be significant to the OP - I think this is good advice. Your advice also makes sense if all you are concerned about is the size of your paycheck. But we all have different goals at different time, taking a good look at which ones are currently important to the OP will help him/her find a happier spot in life.
  - jrockway 16y ago
    You don't need a job to have fun programming.
    - cpeterso 16y ago
      Real programmers have day jobs? :)

jrockway 16y ago

This is not that important. What's important at a big company is title or pay grade; after you're there for a while, it's going to be very hard to get a significant raise. But when you're coming in, it's very easy. Plan how long you want to be at the company, then ask for the title and salary you want then. Otherwise you are just going to be bitter, because the people that have no programming ability but have been warming the chairs for ten years are going to make a lot more money and have a lot more decision-making power than you. Remember, as a programmer: they need you more than you need them. There are plenty of other places to work.

brown9-2 16y ago
"Not that important" depends on what your goals are. Sounds to me like the GP is taking the view that job satisfaction and the pleasure of seeing the work you are doing contribute to the bottom line will be significant to the OP - I think this is good advice. Your advice also makes sense if all you are concerned about is the size of your paycheck. But we all have different goals at different time, taking a good look at which ones are currently important to the OP will help him/her find a happier spot in life.
- jrockway 16y ago
  You don't need a job to have fun programming.
  - cpeterso 16y ago
    Real programmers have day jobs? :)