Author: SK

I pretty much decided. I am going to work for NBC! I need a change and a simpler environment and NBC can provide that for me. If I were to stay here at Markit, I am just not going to feel too comfortable. I think I have better growth opportunities elsewhere.
But there is one major thing I need to change. When I join a new company, any company, I want to spend the first few months just digging into the domain. I want to feel really comfortable, an expert almost, in the environment. I have not been doing that so far and I think it’s a big mistake I’ve been making. I need to take the time and really dig into how the environment works, how to do different things, and really understand why things are working.
One other thing that I have to do at the new company is to be a big contributor right from the start. I know that the first few months at the new company are very important. They are especially important for me! If I can be happy in the first few months, I think I am going to be really successful over there. It’s been the case with companies and with the classes in college that I took.
I am starting to become really excited about the new opportunity! There is still a lot of time remaining till March 3rd, but I will do the most that I can.

OK, I got it off my shoulders. I gave notice to my manager today. I just finished talking to him.
I started the following way, “A few weeks ago we had a talk and I told you that I want off of Connex on March 1st. I think it’s going to happen. I got a call from my friend a few weeks ago, and I am going to join his team.”
We had a very good conversation. The best I have had so far. He asked me, what would it take to keep me here? He offered a job on Compliance, which is an interesting team and an interesting (desired) environment. But I told him that I would like to move on to a different environment. It might be that he will try to recruit me more and more, but I think it’s time for me to move on.
My time at Markit is ending!

Guess what, I got a new job! Yes, yes, yes! I am very happy, actually. Throughout the day, I was waiting, waiting, waiting… and nothing was happening. And then when I got home, my wife told me that Alison from NBC called. And that she was happy. I called Allison back, and we’re in business! I got an offer from NBC for 120K! That’s great! I went from 98K, just a few months ago, to 120K! Over 20% increase! Unbelievable! Somehow I get lucky from time to time. I really am.
Even though I might have to learn a lot of new stuff there, things are going to be much easier. I think I am going to love the environment there. I am going to get back to fast-paced delivery and a fast-paced environment. And I should get great benefits – much better than what I’m getting here at Markit!
All in all, I think I should do well there. I hope to stay for at least a few years. I really do. One thing that is nice over there, is that I can get a chance to move to other teams.
Once I get an offer, I should get it tomorrow or on Thursday, I will review it, and I’ll will talk to Tim about it.
It great that I got to be a team lead, but I am not sure that I am ready to be one on such a complex and troublesome project as Connex. It’s just not for me. At least not for now.

I thought I’m going to get the NBC job but I am no longer that sure. I did not have a great talk with the newly hired manager. He asked me some tough questions, and I did not know how to answer a couple of them. I did not hear anything from them… yet. I would like to know whether I’m even being considered… or not.
I think it’s time for me to start searching for a new job. If I don’t get into NBC, I don’t think it’s going to be the end of the world. I could learn quite a few things there, but on the other hand, it’s more of a web-development position. Ideally, I would like to get into more established company, with some procedures in place, and one which will utilize my skills.
I am going to add my resume to career-builder.com and see what happens. I’ve had some good experiences with them.

I am finding things that I need to change. Big holes in the way I learn and acquire new skills.
The bottom line, I need to be digging deeper. I need to be acquiring knowledge on a deeper level and try to make sense out of it.
Otherwise, I am not going to have enough understanding of how things work.
One way to accomplish that is to read more about a given subject/technology. For instance, when I’m trying to learn JSF, I shouldn’t just read one book on it and forget about it. No! (But that’s what I’ve been doing!) I need to read other material, other books on the subject, and I also need to practice. Probably the first things would be to run some examples from the book. But after that, I need to come up with a project of my own. I need to put that knowledge to the test. That’s the only way I’m going to acquire a deeper knowledge of the subject.
I had an interview today and I did just OK. I am not sure it’s going to be enough. I still don’t know. But if I’m not going to get the offer, I will know it’s because I could not really answer some of these questions. True, some of them were out of my domain (to be honest, if I don’t get the offer I could understand that), but some of them I should have been able to answer on a deeper level.
The bottom line: it’s time for a change in the way I acquire knowledge. If I want to be considered excellent candidate for any job offer, I have to do that! And I will!

I think things are progressing in a good direction in terms of my employment at NBC. I got a pretty good set of interviews yesterday. I talked to mostly nontechies, but I think that I was able to answer the questions in a fairly competent manner.
What was I asked about? Typical interivew. What’s your biggest accomplishment? What is my biggest failure? I was not really prepared for the interview, so I had to come up with answers on the spot. I think I did pretty well.
What’s next? I am going to talk to a recently hired manager. I am supposed to talk to him tomorrow. Depending on how it goes, I might get an offer. It will also allow me to ask questions about his concepts, what technologies he prefers, etc. What is the development cycle he favors? What technologies he’s in favor of? I think this talk is more important than the one I had yesterday. I hope it goes well.
One strong point for me is that I am staying on top of things. I learn new things on a daily basis. I have strong viewpoints on architecture. I am a big fan of clean, craftsman’s like designs. People generally like that.

I am going for an interview tomorrow. At NBC Universal. It’s a startup within NBC. What should I expect? It’s hard to say. I am just going to go there not really prepared, since, after all, they’re the ones that are trying to recruit me. If they don’t like me, hey, it might be a good thing at the end. I am not rushing myself. I want to pick the best company that I can stick for at least a few years. Without bureaucracy.
I think NBC might be such a company. Altough, judging by the application process, there is a lot of bureaucracy there. They have a meeting scheduler, coordinater, interview panel. Whoa! That’s a lot of unnecessary connections that I have to go through…
But we’ll see. If I just went to work for NBC, the big guy, then probably I would not have even considered it. But Roy did indicate that this is doing work without all the fuss and bureaucracy. I hope it’s true.
Things are OK here at Markit. At least for a day. Yesterday, I had a really tough and a stressful day. I could not even sleep at night. I am really glad that it’s over. I think coffee helped me in the morning.
I read an interesting article today, http://www.philosophicalgeek.com/2008/01/20/5-attributes-of-highly-effective-programmers/, I should re-read it every couple of months. The guys advacates being humble, having a love for learning, and then being able to apply the knowledge learned on your own projects. This is key for me. I have not been able to do that. I think one way to accomplish that is through reading a book more than once, possibly, and reading another book on the subject. Then I can get a really deep knowledge, knowledge I can put to use in interviews and projects .Otherwise, and this is what happens now, is that I just learn new stuff, and after a while, I just forget it. I have to change that.

“Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.”

1. I am an agressive learner by the end of 2008.a. I 1-2 books every monthb. I read 1-2 hours every day
2. I speak with confidence and energy by the end of 2008a. I speak with boldnessb. I look others into their eyes
3. I apply the knowledge that I learn by the end of 2008.a. I create a small program to put the learning into context
4. I practice new technology every day by the end of 2008.a. I find an hour at work to practice new tech
5. I learn AJAX by the end of 2008.
6. I learn SOA by the end of 2008.
7. I learn a new word everyday by the end of 2008.
8. I am a confident software architect by the end of 2008.
9. I have a challenging position by the end of 3/08.
10. I write a blog entry every week by the end of 2008

I really want to get OUT of Markit as soon as I can. I think I’m burned out. Things are not working out the way I want them to. This place is a mess in terms of development world.
I am trying to maintain an un-maintainable product and that has resulted in my stress level going up. I don’t need that. Plus, I have at least one opportunity that I think might materialize. There may be more than one, or none, if things do not work out, but if I get something specific, I think I’m just going to move on.
Sure, I would like to be a team lead. Yes, I like to set direction of the team. But I cannot lie. I cannot keep my team happy if I myself am not happy! That’s the bottom line. Period. That’s just who I am.
What do I want? Why do I keep switching jobs? (This is a question for my mom, especially. )
It’s a good question. I am partly happy that I became a team lead here. I can put that on my resume. Plus, it’s a good experience I gained in terms of leading others. But I did not really get anywhere in terms of my Java skills. Yes, I gained some JMS experience, some EJB, and a lot of app server experience, but I’m not totally happy.
I like to create things. I like to make things happen. From scratch, if possible… I am a hard worker, a programmer, a craftsman. I like to design things that work! I am a programmer first, team lead second. I think that’s true.