moving on
A couple of days ago I got the news that most tech people don’t want to be hearing at this time…”we are terminating your contract”….stunned and shocked, I was pretty much in a daze for the next couple of hours. Then followed the joyous part of having to break the news to my wife, not something to look forward to. Strangely enough though we were both a little amazed by the reaction to the news, we both had a feeling of relief and optimism. I have to be pretty honest in that the year and a half I had spent with the company I had struggled to settle in, however the last couple of months had been pretty good.
So the big question was what to do next? We had moved countries to take up the opportunity in the first place, our daughter was settled into school and making freinds (not to mention being fluent in the language), and we had gotten into the lifestyle. After talking things through we decided that we didn’t want to return to England and that I need to find something here that would make this work. So with that I move from out of a job to a feeling of optimism and looking forward to finding the next step toward being really happy.
This brought up another question….what would I really be happy doing? Well the one thing I have been on about for quite a while now is to go it alone and work for myself, no longer putting in the long hours, nights spent coding, and stressing about delivery deadlines for someone elses benefit. Now is the perfect time to set myself up and free myself from the office.
So this is my plan…..Like any good job hunt it starts with making sure you have an up to date CV. Then it’s on to recreating my ‘personal brand’, cue LinkedIn, Twitter, blogging, and checking google search results for my name. This last part is not something I have ever done much of, something a bit vain about it really, but when it comes to hunting for work in the IT spectrum people are going to be looking at my online profile for hints as to what sort of person I am. Thankfully everything looks good, partly due to another person with a very similar name and a much higher profile than mine.
So after a couple of days where am I? The CV is up to date….LinkedIn is done and a bit more complete than what it was…I now have an up to date profile on Elance….and with this post I am getting back into blogging.
Unfortunately blogging is something I have always struggled to perservere with, guess it has a lot to do with having a busy job and a life away from work. This hasn’t really left me with a lot of time to blog about what I am up to or my observations. However now that can all change, with my new incarnation as a freelancer I am able to make a solemn vow to anyone who might happen to find this blog….I will provide relevant and interesting content on a regular basis that will not waste people’s valuable time.
So I am now actually looking forward to doing the next post and hopefully some positive info on feedback and potential work that my new ‘personal brand’ has helped me procure…..
For anyone in a similar situation keep your chin up and a positive outlook on life…you now have the opportunity to do something special.
great idea…how quick can you go from idea to live???
Ran into this article over on Techcrunch about a small company in the UK that set out to build a web app in four days (32 hours). Meet Matt.
The result was Matt and the article outlines some great reasons why you should do it this way and how to keep the creativity an enthusiasm overflowing. Nice to see them encouraging people to take lunch, something I remember seeing in an article about working for Jason Calacanis is that developers away from their pc is not something he wants, Carsonified on the other hand see the need for taking a break. Mind you I gues Calacanis is allowed to lay down the rules his way given his success.
It is probably a little bit of licence to say that the app took 32 hours, given that the team of people ran to 9 people so it wouldn’t be considered 32 man hours. The other thing it doesn’t lay out is the actual hours people worked to achieve this. Still the concept and the lessons are true enough and we can now all look forward to taking a few days off the real job to create our own Jane, Bob, or Peter.
Good luck, worth a try.
Thoughts on testing
Image via Wikipedia
Integrating unit testing into Java development as a means to prove suitability and strength of the application. Is there any benefit to doing this or is it just a waste of time and effort?
What happens over time as the code develops and the tests do not, do they merely become a hindrance to the process of creating code?
Interesting…I wrote this a while back and never finished it….now I think I really understand what I was doing when I was writing the tests first and using them to develop the tool/application as I went along. Having just finished the first rewrite of a community contribution which involved rewriting the code in a more object oriented way I deliberately setout to ensure that this rewrite included unit testing. I also deliberately setout to write the tests first and not as a result of writing the code, in some areas I succeeded but in others I have to admit that I wrote the code first and wrote the tests around the code…unfortunately they were probably the classes that I had the most problems with.
Another area I had problems with was not understansing all the tests I needed to write to thoroughly test the application. Something that involves just as much thought as the actual design….tip no1 – think of every possible test case and write it….then write the code…you won’t get bitten in the ass when you deliver it….
Is there time for writing tests?? The real saving with writing tests comes after the fact…when there is a bug or when you need to alter the functionality, this is when you reap the rewards of putting the time and effort into creating tests in the first place…is there time?? yes, build the time into the initial estimate…if they ask why so long then tell them…I need the time to prove to the customer that it works…..
Feelings on the whole TDD process….much better and when you come back to working with the code again and having to refactor some of the code it is so much easier with tests in place that show you it works….do yourself and those that will come after you a favour and write the tests…
Related articles
- Why do we (not) write tests [via Zemanta]
The secret of Vanuatu’s happiness
The South Pacific country of Vanuatu has been voted the happiest place in the world so what makes its inhabitants such a happy lot?Jean Pierre John (photo: James Mair)Not having to worry about money – the secret of Jean Pierre’s happiness (photo: James Mair)Jean Pierre John is living the dream. That popular fantasy of owning one’s own island, complete with swaying coconut palms, coral sea and tropical forest, is his for real.
BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | The secret of Vanuatu’s happiness
I love this quote from the article….
The twin pillars of a classically happy life – strong family ties and a general absence of materialism – are common throughout this island nation.
The simple things in life, it seems, really do make you happy.
Simplicity makes life enjoyable…..and when you have to you make do…..bowls from washed up buoys!!!
Tags: happiness, vanuatu, bbc, life, improvisation, needs, wants, materialism
Tom Peters – Definition of Leadership
Tom Peters and his “Definition of Leadership”
When you need a kick up the backside to get on with things and to bring you back to the reality that it is all very simple at the heart of it then Tom is the man. Simple ideas, fantastic results…..
20+ Ways to Learn a Language Online – ReadWriteWeb
20+ Ways to Learn a Language Online
20+ Ways to Learn a Language Online – ReadWriteWeb
Found this today on ReadWriteWeb….something that I will find particularly useful, eespecially as I try to get to grips with Spanish. The problem for me is that I don’t have time between work and family to be able to spare the extra couple of hours each day to attend a formal class.
My wife and daughter have picked things up very quickly through schooling tuition so for me it will be interesting to compare the results from the likes of these sites and Michel Thomas tapes as to how effective and useful they are for actually learning a language well……time will tell and I will let you know how I get on with them.
Tags: translation, language, howto
Software application vendor Openbravo secures $12m in the largest ever round for Open Source ERP
New investors Amadeus Capital, GIMV and Adara Venture Partners fund next stage of growth and vouch for Openbravo as a leader in ERP software-
Software application vendor Openbravo secures $12m in the largest ever round for Open Source ERP
As an employee here it is nice to know that when it comes time to get
serious the product is attractive to potential investors. So it looks
like we will be around for a while longer, and with more time comes the
opportunity to upset the market more, provide better functionality, and
really start to get the wagon rolling…..exciting times and glad I am
here…
Tags: openbravo, erp, funding, vc, press-release
The top-10 open-source companies for 2008?
The top-10 open-source companies for 2008?
There is one thing I love about working for an opensource company, and that is when you get stuff like this. This is what I signed up for. Working for an organisation that gives it away and makes it worth while, the community and the spirit in the company is great. C’mon Openbravo…..
Blogged with Flock
Tags: openbravo, opensource, erp
Open Handset Alliance
So google have come out with the SDK for Android. One thing that I am curious about is what is going to be the effect of Google backing Ant over Maven?? I like both Ant and Maven but I have to say I have a preference for Ant (it’s what I grew up on as a developer) but was thinking that Maven has so much more power…..thinking again now.
Ant is good and one thing I did note about Maven was that it allowed you to still call an Ant script from a maven task, does this new announcement from Google spell the end from Maven? Will be keeping a foot in both camps for the time being but I guess time will tell.
Blogged with Flock
welcome to my blog
My first post….maybe my last….
Not going to spend too much time thinking through what I am putting on here because I want this to be an outlet for my thinking. Generally that thinking will have something vague to do with innovation (processes, techniques, ideas). I am not saying that I am anywhere near an expert on the subject but unless I start putting ideas and thoughts out there how do I know if there is any substance to them.
A lot of what goes up on here will probably be wrong or a mistake but that’s the best way to learn isn’t it?
The other thing I do is write code and run a small team of developers, unfortunately running the team doesn’t really allow me a great deal of time, other than personal time, to write much code. Very frustrating. So one way I look to use innovation is to try and give me back some of my work day so I can get back to writing code. How do I achieve this? I am still working on it but I will share with you how I get on in trying different techniques and methods to remove the day to day admin work which gets in the way of codeing.
About the team….a group of young, enthusiastic coders who are not the most experienced but who definitely make up for this with a willingness to learn and take on new challenges. Part of my role is to try and give them the knowledge and space to develop with both guidance and tasks that stretch their capabilities.
What is it they say
‘Necessity is the mother of invention’
how true. When your back is against the wall, time, resources, and people are working against you, how do you get the job done?
People are the biggest asset we have. What I am trying to do is give them the skills and the freedom to achieve the goals laid down by the organisation and by ourselves. This is where the creativity and innovation stream comes into play. How creative are the people you and I work with and how to teach them the creatvie skills necessary to produce the goods that WOW.
Welcome to my journey and I hope you will tag along to see how it goes. Please let me know if you have any little tricks or methods that you may have used to help the people around you learn to be creative and achieve fantastic results.
About
husband, father, java developer, kiwi living on the other side of the world.. Thanks for reading.
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