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"Lots of places are just looking for smart developers because there's lots of things to do rather than looking for somebody to fulfill a specific task." That.
by Swannie 14y ago
"Lots of places are just looking for smart developers because there's lots of things to do rather than looking for somebody to fulfill a specific task."
That. If you are that company, I don't want to work for you.
You have to have a mission. The big hairy audacious goals guide your week to week work. If they don't then "You're doing it wrong".
If you don't know what I should be working on, then I am unlikely to be able to move you forward in a meaningful way. Sure, Google as a whole may not have a "thing" for me to work on, but each department will have it's key thing... again, if they don't, what the are they adding to google? Is my job secure? Or will I get axed in the next product that doesn't serve to organise the worlds information?
- derefr 14y agoBut even the biggest, hairiest, most audacious (audacious-est?) goals a company has will eventually get 'solved' to a satisfactory extent; that feature of the product you were hired to get working will be essentially "done" and go into maintenance mode, etc. Then what will the company do with you? Are they even sure you're good for anything other than the one problem they hired you to solve? Hiring for general problem-solving ability means being able to rely on the same already-meshed team of people for your next big hairy thing.