y'all can't all be wrong: Dearth And Death R Similar

Forget German cannibalism. If you want a real live Lord of the Flies experience, a slide down the bitter caustic hole of humanity, throw your high-tech-résumé-hat into the high-tech-sector ring. Ouch. In Seattle there used to be a modest amount of tech jobs that were advertised in the Sunday paper. Then, the tech boom came and high tech jobs got their own section. Presently, tech jobs have dwindled to two and a half columns, with half of the available jobs outside the city of Seattle (dearth, baby, dearth). It's over. Developers go home. And, once that giant on the east side of the bridge (MS for out-of-towners) finally goes to sleep -- not realizing that they are completely missing the boat in server technology -- it's going to be over-over.

In the meantime enjoy the soap-opera fights -- geek style. And, if you are currently in one of those fights, you'd better bring more than a pocket protector for defense. Try this for fun: call a few high tech HR departments -- do a little networking with some old developer contacts -- try to follow up on your résumé -- or, try to follow up on that interview you had where they absolutely said they'd have an answer for you by next Friday. Mmm, mmm, watch those defensive behaviors fly.

It's great to see humanity shit on humanity -- it's like free Comedy Central. Additionally, it corroborates trickle down theory: rudeness at the top slides to rudeness in the rest of the company, and rudeness in the rest of the company slides right out the company door. But, it doesn't matter, because tech job seekers will obsequiate tech job hirers until they puke. McSoftware, baby, McSoftware.

Comments

I guess I was lucky. My MS recruiter got back to me right when she said she would. (Unfortunately she did not have good news for me!) I hope somehow the high-tech jobs section of the paper will fill out again so that we can all feel more optimistic.

Posted by: Fran @ December 18, 2003 06:57 PM

You should consider working at Microsoft. Even if Linux is the Airbus to Microsoft's Boeing, there is still a lot of time left to get good work done. It will take years to deplete the existing lines of business, cash on hand and return on investments that generate Microsoft's income.

I've been at Microsoft for three years, and I'll tell you the truth. Before I worked at Microsoft, my colleagues and I would jokingly refer to the place as The Evil Empire, the Dark Side and the like. I wasn't a hater, but did assume that Microsoft might be a beehive full of drones mindlessly cranking out code 18 hours a day, gorging on coffee Sunday through Thursday, and beer Friday and Saturday. I also assumed that with Windows desktop and server and the Office businesses so firmly established, there were no exciting projects left.

I'll save you the "but-then-I-realized-the-err-of-my-ways-Microsoft-is-wonderful" conclusion to this speech. Suffice it to say, I still work at Microsoft--on a really cool project--and enjoy my job quite a bit. There are bad days and good days and nice people and jerks and geniuses and duds, just like at every other company I have worked at.

Final thought: At one time in their life, each person who works at Microsoft--and I'm one of them--did not work at Microsoft. Reconsider your options.

Posted by: Tom Harpel @ December 22, 2003 06:52 AM