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I am going to start a new job soon! Oh, yeah. Actually, this decision is not an easy one. I still have to tell my manager about it. It’s not easy. But I think this is a right move for me. How it’s going to turn out, who knows.
One thing I like about Markit, my new company, is that they really have good guys there. They have a small-company environment that suits me well. Plus, they offered me a very good package so it looks like they want me there.
It’s a tough decision because it is not clear cut. Am I going to become a manager over there? Probably not. Do I have higher chance over there? I think so. Do I want to become a manager here? Not really, at least not anymore.
So when I think about it, maybe the decision should not be so hard. One thing against me moving is that I have only been here with Ask for a year and a half. This reflects bad on my resume. But on the other hand, I think that’s long enough.
I still have a chance of going to Google. But I think it’s a small chance. I am not too strong with algorithms anymore. They’re heavy on algorithms. Hopefully, they will not go too deep. If so, then my decision will be easy: I’m not going to go to Google. My wife does not even want me to try. I think I should. At least I will get myself familiar with the process, with the environement and I will get to see what they are looking for. If in the future, I want to go work there, I’m going to know more about it.
In either case, it’s going to be fun in the next couple of days.

Just like I said to my wife: I got the job at Markit!!! Oh, yeah! Jumping in joy.
I am happy, actually. I think it is the first job ever that will really require some advanced skills. I also think that the environemnt there is a good one. They have some really experienced and advanced people over there. They are the most advanced I have talked to.
The interview that I had at Markit was the toughest. I had to go there twice. And I got the second interview because I emailed them a thank you note and basically invited myself back. I think I did much better the second time.
I got 97K. That’s an improvement of 5K from my current salary. I would probably get the same amount here at Ask (and maybe more). But that’s not why I’m going to take that job. I’m going to take it because I think I can become a better developer there. I believe that I can improve the environment over there. Anywhere I went, I tried to do that. I am always trying to improve things. I will do the same at Markit.
There is only one thing that can stop me from going to Markit: Google. I am talking to them on Monday. I will hopefully land an interview over there shortly. It’s actually good timing because I’m going to give my resignation letter either on Monday or Tuesday and I will have 3 weeks to interview them. I am going to tell them right away, I have three weeks and if they want, they can do something in those three weeks. If not, goodbye google.
Probably the only negative about this job, there are two, actully, are the commute, and that I am not sure whether I can become a manager at Markit. We’ll see. The company is growing and there might be some openings. If anything, I might leave after 2-3 years. I should give myself 3 years to work things out over there. We’ll see.

A very good day for me so far. I received a reply from Google! And I’m also in the running for the job at Markit, which is also a positive.
A recruiter from Google contacted me today and told me that he wants to schedule a phone conversation — interview — with me. I told him my times and he’s going to call me Monday morning at 8:45! That’s great news.
I would love to work for Google. The job requirements are not so bad. I still need to brush up on everything but I think I have a good chance of landing the senior software engineer that I applied for.
I’m sure he’s going to ask me why I want to leave Ask.com. What am I going to tell him? I will tell him that I am almost like anyone else, and that I think Google is the best company to work for for a software engineer, and also that in the future I would like to become a team lead/manager and I don’t have too many prospects here.
My brother’s wife, Marta, delivered a girl today — Patricia, probably. My family is growing. Marysia, my other brother’s wife, is due soon. 🙂 Good times.

I don’t like it when I email someone and have to wait for a response. It kills me.
I emailed Mike W from Solbright and inquired about the interview, about me starting from the summer, etc. I thought he’s going to reply today. Yeah, right. I wonder if he got the email, though. It sucks. Email should have a protocol where you pay for delivery and get a confirmation receipt. Oh, well.
When I think about my family, about how they are happy, I feel good. My wife is very happy with her current situation. She likes to stay home and take care of the baby. She loves it. And our son is growing. He is getting better: less crying and more interested in things. He is such a sweet boy, oh man. I am actually thinking that three kids might not be such a bad idea.
On the job front, I think I will stay here at Ask till the summer. I want to hit the 2-year mark. We’ll see. But if I get a job that I can oversee others, I think I should take it. Even now. I shall have an open eye and if something opens up, I’ll grab it.

I guess some good (dissappointing) news. Why? I said that I don’t want this job at Lehman. But on the back of my mind, I wanted it. I’m not going to get it, anyway. They are going to pass on me. They think that I’m a strong candidate, they were impressed (really?), but they want somebody who can stick around for long. Interesting. I would like to hear their explanation, to tell you the truth, but since I did not really want this job, oh, well.
Over the weekend I thought about something else. I want the job at Solbright. It’s a small company. Small company culture. And a great manager. A manager I would love to work for. That’s what I want. I am going to contact Mike and ask him if starting in the summer is OK with him. I’m curious to see what he says. If he wants me, they will get me. In either case, I would like to establish contact with Mike.

A pretty busy day at work and things are starting to fall in place with my job search.
I had to do several things with search. I was working on it all day. Once I finished one, another came, and then another. Days like this are fun. When there are a lot of things to do, it goes quickly.
On the job search front, it was a quiet day. I would like to work for Markit, but on the other hand, I don’t think they’re going to offer me a lot of money. I would also like to be a manager/team lead and I cannot become one over there. So should I go there? Ideally, I would like to go there during the summer.
I have not heard anything from Lehman Brothers. I was supposed to call the recruiter today, but I will call him tomorrow.
I am realizing that the best thing for me to do is wait. Wait till March. Maybe I can do an intra-company transfer and go work in NY for Pronto. That seems like a good place to work for. Same benefits, etc. Plus, I would be able to go to Poland in the summer. This is a scenario that I would like the most.
I really should look only for team lead positions now. If I can land one, I can move even now. But to get just another developer position, what’s the benefit?

Yesterday was a busy day for me. Two interviews in one day! Wow.
Overall, I think I did pretty good. I went to Markit at 9AM (got ther 9:40 because of traffic). It started all good, I knew how to answer most of the questions. Then a new guy came in, Sergiej, and he just killed me. He ansked questions about transactions, and about AOP. Things I don’t really know and have not had a chance to work on. I did answer some of his questions, but those hurt me.
Then came the guys I interviewed couple of weeks ago. I think I did very good with them. I knew most of the questions. The questions that they had asked me before about synchronization and about collections, I could answer with no proble. So, even though I did not answer a lot of Sergiej’s guestions, I think I did good.
Now the queston is, what and whether I will receive an offer from them. Not sure, actually. And my recruiter thinks I might get something similar to what I make. Would I take it? Tough questions. I probably have a raise coming up, I have 5K+ unvested. Why give it up? I guess for a chance to work with a different group. We’ll see. Ideally, I would like to work from the summer.
I would like to work in NY, though. In the center of broadway. Lehman Brothers! Yes, that’s where I interviewed yesterday. I was tested first on Java, SQL, Perl, and Unix. I did good with Java and SQL. Not so good with the latter two, but simply because I have not worked on them a lot.
After that, I talked to several guys, Sam Sun, Lewis, and some other guy. I think I did OK with all of them. But I got a feeling that the atmosphere over there is not for me: almost impossible for me to move up (one manager has 20+ developers); long hours; resistance to new technologies; and a laid back non-best practices focused team. Do I want that? I have to see what type of feedback I get from them. But I don’t want to go to another Hertz. Even if the job pays over 100K, which is the case here.
We shall see what happens, if anything.

I hate days like today: nothing to do and waiting for tomorrow’s interview. Two interviews, actually. 🙂 I guess that’s a good sign.
I don’t like the environment here at Ask. I never did. Everybody is just doing their stuff, not much interaction. How am I supposed to feel energized 9 hours a day without too much interaction. This is the worse I have seen, actually.
The two interviews I have to nail tomorrow are at Markit at 9AM and at Lehman Brothers at 3PM. I should also notice and inquire about the environment. The interview at Markit is tough. They are very technical and the manager is tough as well.
I might have better prospects and higher pay at Lehman. Hopefully, I’ll do well. My objective is to find the environemnt where I have good growth prospects and somebody I can learn from. The manager I talked to yesterday seemed like he knew his stuff. Hopefully I will like the environment over there.
On the other hand, the environment at Markit seems like it is more technically advanced. They have a nice structure and stay fairly “cutting edge.”
I should come up with questions that I want to ask at both places.
I told Chris, my manager, that I am going with my son to a Cardiologist.
Marta got a “illegal turn” ticket. I think there are points for that. She’s probably going to go to court. The problem with that, though, is that it happened in Passaic. Who wants to go there?

Things I heating up on the job-search front. I have an interview, second, with Markit on Wednesday. Today, I talked to Lehman Brothers and they want me to come for an interview. The position at Lehman is… interesting but there are some things that I don’t like. First of all, it looks a little bit unstructured. The manager is OK I think, and he’s only been there for 4 months. I could probably work with him.
In any case, I would like to get job offers from both companies. I would then pick the better one. If I only get one, I will probably take it. Commuting to NY might prove a little bit painful, and the 10-hour workdays will not be so easy. But for my wife, it will be almost the same. I would have to leave an hour earlier but would probably come back at the same time.
Fabian is getting more active. He can roll over completely no problem. He wants to look around and is not happy when he cannot do that — a smart and demanding boy. He smiles a lot to me. My wife cannot live without him. He’s everything for her.

Some good news today: Markit, the company that I intereviewed last week and that I did poorly wants me back! That’s exciting. What do I think about it? I did not do so well on the interview, I had issues with synchronization, session questions, and others. And they told me, Vadim did, that I am not up to speed and cannot do the work. So what did I do? That made my competitive juices flow. I went ahead and wrote them a thank you letter. In there, I acknowledged that I did not know a lot of things, but that because of who I am, I think I can be up to speed from the first day on. I also gave them my website address. I think that this letter did it for me. I think they re-evaluated me because of this letter. I like Tom and I think he had a say in this as well.
But what now?
I will have another interview in a week or so. I have a lot of material to cover. Oh, man, a lot of studying to do. But I guess that’s a great thing. Even if I don’t get this job, I am going to be a better programmer as a result of this.
I also realized that for the next several months, I need to be up to speed with threads, new concurency, and deeper knowledge of Java. I need to get to the basics!
That’s the positive. Question still remains, do I really want this job? I still have a concern about working hours, about pay, about the work conditions, and also that I will not have a leader’s role. It’s not so good, actually.
But on the other hand, I hope to have my hands full on several different projects and technologies while working with senior people only.