I value creative freedom in a job over stability

On 6/5/06, Todd Cranston-Cuebas <[email protected]> wrote:


> Please do consider stability when weighing companies though. Remember that a
> "hot" market does not mean a stable market.

Having been around the block for 6 years as a developer, I can say
that job stability needs to be placed dead last in your job
requirements. Of course, I am a Taurus by horoscope, so this only
applies when you are as bull-headed as me.

But really, the last company that I was at (Friendfinder.com) forbade
the use of map or grep. And violation of the coding standards was
grounds for immediate termination. I was miserable at this company.
And they made you attach code samples to each finished project for
review by the CTO. They were trying to kill the Perlishness of Perl
and turn it into a Pascal or COBOL or something. Friendfinder is a
very generous and stable company with a great quarterly bonus pay
structure. That being said, I now know that programming is a way of
self-expression for me. If artists have to bag groceries and wait
tables to pursue their passion, then unfortunately, I will have to
decide just what really matters and I can never ever take another job
where I feel tethered to a stick doing a project manager's bidding.

My goal as a Perl developer is to blaze new trails, explode all common
patterns of thinking and make everyone wish they had my drive for
excellence over political correctness or popularity. I will make my
job stable by having the rest of the industry eating my dust, not
because I became someone's cubicle drone.

Of course, with only 450.00 in the bank and no unemployment checks
coming in, I might have to lower my standards for a little while :)