The No Fun at Work Rule

I've got a pretty large government client at the moment. They feel better when they get to see me hangin' around the office (and can you blame them?). Problem is, hangin' around their office takes away some of the luxuries of my office. For example, my team and I like to go out to throw the football around from time to time.

Sometimes we get programmers block, or we need to talk about something, or we just need some sunshine so we mosey out to the parking lot for some ball. The other day, I asked one of my partners if it'd be okay if I brought a football to the client office. He looked at me like I was impaired.

Later that day, I was hanging out with another partner waiting to start a meeting. I said, "Hey Chuck, I'm gonna start smoking. I'm planning on smoking 6 cigarettes a day and I estimate that it'll take 10 minutes to smoke each one. Is that okay?"

Chuck said, "Well, Patrick, other than the fact that it's really odd that you are planning to start smoking, I don't really have a problem with it."

Then, I asked him, "Well, what if instead of smoking for an hour a day, Ryan and I spend 20 minutes a day throwing the football?"

Chuck leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Well, I'm going to have to think about that. I'm not sure that's going to look good to the client."

My point is, something is ass-backwards. If I want to spend an hour a day (on the clock) smoking cigarettes, nobody cares; but if I want to take a 20 minute break (off the clock) throwing the football, having a work related discussion, enjoying a brief reprieve from the stress of the work day, everybody thinks I'm going to look like I'm slacking off.

Don't get me wrong, Chuck knows that we enjoy our outdoor time back at the Emerald office. He knows there's benefit to it. Not only does it keep my team happy, but it helps keep the team cohesive and energetic. He's just concerned about how it will look to the client.

My point is, why is there this "no fun at work" rule? I've decided that I will, for the rest of my career, spend a portion of my time focussed on making sure that my employees are happy, comfortable, and healthy.

Your Field -- How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer

Well. This is it. My last post in the How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer series. I spent a lot of time deciding whether this would be the first post of the series or the last.

I thought about making it the first post because it's really the first step to becoming a software engineer, but I saved it for last because I wanted to make sure I gave these thoughts plenty of time to ripen. If you've been following the series, you probably know how this series came about in the first place.

Emerald Software Group has been interviewing programmers in search of new development talent. I've used a lot of examples (both good and bad) from real life interviews I've conducted in the past few months. This particular story is one of the most important lessons I've learned in my career, so it's really important to me to tell it correctly.

I know that my style and sense of humor can be pretty sardonic and I know that many would be readers find that off-putting, but I will do my best to convey my sincerity in this post.

A few months ago, I interviewed a candidate who had a masters degree in computer science from a relatively prestigious technical university in Georgia. I expected great things from this developer and was excited about the interview.

I went through my standard series of programming questions and was disappointed by his lack of understanding of the technologies he had spent the last 6 years studying. After a while, I started feeling bad for the kid and decided to move on with the interview. After all, like I've said before, just because you don't know the information doesn't mean I'm going to assume you're incapable of learning it.

I decided to ask him a little about himself. I closed my notebook, leaned back in my chair, and asked, "what kinds of things do you program in your spare time?" He said, "I don't really program in my spare time."

I was pretty surprised, so I asked, "Do you read programming blogs or books? How do you learn about new technologies and techniques?"

"I don't really bother learning it until I need it."

I was fundamentally confused. I didn't understand how he had spent 6 years in school studying computer science and was looking to begin a career in the field, but that he neither knew anything about it nor had any interest in learning it. I thought for a minute and I asked him, "Why are you here?"

He said, "I'm looking for a job."

"No, I mean, why do you want to be a programmer?"

"Because it pays well."

"Do you like it?"

"Not really."

I was dumbfounded. I asked him a few more questions so that I didn't have to end the interview abruptly, I told him we'd be in touch, and I walked him to the door. If you want to write software for a living, you need to love it. It's not just a job; it's a craft. If you're not doing it for the love of the field, then you're committing an injustice not only against yourself but also against your employer, your teammates, and the customers.

To be sure, I don't just feel this way about software engineering, but about all careers. Whatever it is you do, do it for the love of your field. If you don't like what you do, let alone love it, you'll be miserable for most of your life and there is no amount of money that will make up for a lifetime of misery.

Now, I know that there are plenty of people out there who would be perfectly happy spending 5 days a week doing something they don't care about so that they can have more fun the other 2 days of the week. You cannot be great at what you do if you don't care enough to try and I will not tolerate mediocrity, especially intentional mediocrity.

So chose your field carefully. Don't get a degree in software engineering if you don't like it. Obviously, don't get two degrees. Think about the things that you love to do. What would you like spending your weekends doing? Take those things and find a way to make money doing them. If you make your living doing what you love, you'll always love what you do, you'll always be proud of your work, and you'll be in the top of your field.

Your Communication Skills -- How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer

At long last (due to some intense deadlines), I'm getting around to the fourth installment of the How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer series. This concludes the job application sequence starting with your resume and ending with your interview.

This post is about maintaining good communication skills throughout the process. A very close friend of mine named Ryan LaFevre, who is a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer, once mused to me, "I don't write good; I are a engineer." Obviously said in jest, I bring that up because I know a lot of programmers who feel like even a cursory grasp of language arts is completely unnecessary for anybody in a technical field. My former English teachers would probably be pleased to see me say that communication skills are of fundamental importance.

Do you ever watch those court room shows? If so, you've probably seen scenes where one attorney makes a damning argument or the witness breaks down in an emotional display, at which point the other attorney objects. The judge says, "sustained" and instructs the jury to ignore the preceding outburst and has the text stricken from the record. Now, imagine being on that jury. Could you possibly ignore that? Even if you don't make your verdict based on said event, could you possibly remain unbiased by it?

It's the same thing with your communication (both verbal and non-verbal). While I'd rather claim that I focus primarily on the skills you actually need to do your job, and while I can ignore your communication inefficiencies, I cannot ignore the feelings I had when I communicated with you.

For example, I'm not going to refuse to hire a candidate just because he's 25 years old and still can't discern the difference between they're, there, and their; however, there's a pretty good chance I will assume she's not all that bright. Thus, when I sit down with the resumes and my notes from my three favorite candidates to compare them side by side for selection, ceteris paribus, he'll get eliminated first because I won't feel like he has as much potential as the other candidates.

Here are some actual excerpts I've received from job hopefuls:

Hello Mr. Caldwell, I just wanted to touch base with you to see how your doing.

What about my doing? You leave my doing out of this and I won't say anything about your dumb.

The sample project I sent you is very simple on the front end, but it's back end is where all the magic happens.

I just read your email and its dumb is showing; it is back end is where you are not getting a job. Thanks.

I know what you mean about taking your work home with you. I've spent a lot of time with my computer in my underwear coding until the middle of the night.

First of all, gross. Second of all, your computer codes by itself? Third of all, what was your computer doing in your underwear?!?!?

Thank you very much for meeting with me today -- I really enjoyed talking with you -- If there's anything else that you need from me, please feel free to ask for it -- I'm available by phone most of the day and I'll get back to you as soon as possible

WTF? The period exists for a reason; please use it. If, by some chance, your period key is broken and you can't find a working keyboard with which to send your email, please hold alt and hit 0046 in lieu of the double hyphen.

i'll be available tuesday afternoon around 1:30 or so. is there anything i need to bring to the interview other than my resume? i'm really excited about the opportunity and i think emerald software group will be a great fit for me

i hate you (alt + 0046)

Also, sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it (or, how often). Don't nag me please. I will get back to you; I promise. If you email me every day asking about the status of the job, on your third try (or second if I'm in a bad mood), I will simply let you know that you have been selected out of the applicant pool.

Written communication isn't the only place you can make silly mistakes. Oral communication is replete with its own difficulties. Sure, you less often misspell things orally than you do in written communication, but there are some things you're unlikely to get away with. For example, I really don't want to hear your stance on the adult entertainment industry, I don't want to hear a story about a time you were drunk, and I really don't want to know what crimes you've gotten away with. Keep it on a professional footing — please!

Here are some other hints for oral communication:

• Don't swear a lot; I'll just think you've insufficient vocabulary.
• Don't tell me a dirty joke you heard a few days ago. Let's get to know each other a little first
• Don't opine on politics or religion. Chances are you won't offend me, but on the other hand, chances are I know someone at the office you would offend.
• Don't tell me my school sucks. For that matter, don't tell me any school sucks. I don't care if you're just kidding and I don't care if you went to a rival school. If you say something disparaging about any school, I'm either going to think you weren't smart enough to get in or you're pompous. Either way, I don't want you on my team because I may later want to hire someone from that school.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that not all communication is verbal. There are plenty of ways you can non-verbally tell me you're not ready for the position in question. For example, don't be late. Don't smell bad. Don't wear your favorite pair of tattered jeans and raggedy flip-flops. Don't be over-confident. Don't be under-confident.

By all means, be yourself and try to have some fun. If you have fun, people are more likely to enjoy talking with you. If you have fun, the worst that can happen is you have a good time, meet some good folks, and learn some new skills.