[thechat] I want a new job!

Luther, Ron Ron.Luther at hp.com
Fri May 25 08:07:53 CDT 2007


Kevin Stevens opined:

>>I want a new job. 

Hi Kevin!

Thought about giving you mine, mate, but hey, it's used, it's really not
all that interesting, and, well, frankly I'd finally have to explain
that horrible bloody dent in the side!  The paperwork alone would be
pretty daunting. Not to mention the postage in shipping.  {Oh, and my
creditors (Thanks Mr. Soprano!) remind me that it really isn't in my
best interests at this time.}  <sigh />

Beside, as somebody [1] noted, you're really old!  ;-)  Dude!!  And you
know what they say about teaching a dumb dog new tricks.  No, wait.
Ugly dog?  Bad dog?  Sheep dog?  (Mmmmmm, sheeps!)  Something about
dogs.  And the carpet here is already stained.


>>My main source of income is from litho printing, 

Maybe you can get adopted into Elfur's family?  They do printing stuff
and it's probably about time they invaded London anyway.  <Icelandic
Batman voice /> ["To the ice cave, Aquavit!  Hurry!"]  Anyway, if you
wanna keep a hand in the printing crap, send me a note offlist and I'll
try to track down a name in the UK division of the 'printing as a
service' arm of that octopus I work for these days -- mind, could take
me a bit.  But I'll give it a go.


On the other hand, maybe I got a better dealio for ya.  My boss is
retiring at the end of this month!  (Boy, talk about old!  Another year
and she'll be as old as ME!  Sheesh!)  Anyway, she finally noticed that
coming into the office was cutting into the time she could spend riding
her Harleys. [2] So she's outta here.  And how hard could telling me
what to do be?  (Do be do be do.)


>>Most of you work in the industry and I'm hoping you can offer some
pointers on 
>>how I can play to my strengths, improve my weaknesses and, most
importantly, 
>>good places to look for jobs.

I'm not that big a fan of (other people's) small companies myself.  It
seems like 'Family' gets the cash when it's rolling and the 'Hired Help'
stay pigeonholed and underpaid forever.  (Naturally, none of that ever
happens in a larger company!) <cue slow eye roll (and a slight nod to
Steely Dan) />


Anyway, I would suggest attempting to capitalize on your experience in
'project management' ... which is really what you have actually been
doing when riding shotgun on those print jobs, keeping clients happy,
solving problems and keeping things on schedule and within budget.  No.
It's not coding.  It is, however, generally, a tad more lucrative. 

On the plus side, I certainly think there is room for a PM with techy
chops.  Being able to actually 'talk' to the lads (and lasses) down in
the trenches would be a considerably improvement over many who claim to
be doing this function today.  On the downside, (a) it would be an
interminable middle-management role explaining 'detaily crap' to the
higher ups in ways that they can understand (which can take a fair
amount of imagination - and a really really good flashlight [3]), and
(b) you won't often get the immediate gratification that, for example,
solving a thorny CSS or SQL issue can bring.


At any rate, Mucho Congratulationes on your next career!  Whatever it
be, be sure it be BIG FUN! (Arrrrrrrrr!)
RonL.

[1] Hi Erika.  Loved the transition from acoustic to electric!  Nicely
done.  That was very smooth.  I also thought it had a nice tinge of a
'House of the Rising Sun' vibe that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[2] No.  Not a typo.  She has three.  *!*   I, for those of you keeping
track at home, have exactly zero.  ;-(

[3] Wazzat?  Izzat uh "Torch", eh?



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