Comment Be a "project management superstar" (Score 1) 763
And make sure this is well known in the industry.
I'm not saying that I'm a superstar. But if I were, I'd look for a group with a track record solid project management. This means a group that
1. Keeps numbers on man-hours from previous projects and uses these numbers as a heuristic when scheduling future projects.
2. A company that puts out controlled revisions of its existing software at regular intervals, without much deadline slippage.
3. A company with low staff turnover.
4. Interesting projects that really attempt something new.
Things I would not touch with a 40-foot pole:
1. Long (multi-year) release cycles that never seem to quite make it out the door.
2. Execs who set deadlines based on thin air, or when the next trade show is.
3. A reputation for frequent and serious "crunches" where developers are expected to work 70 hour weeks. Occasional crunches are part of the business. If they happen too often, it's a sign of bad management.
4. Projects that basically reinvent someone else's product so the company in question can get a piece of the market.
Nothing kills a love of programming like constant crunch time, schedules based on thin air, and an incompetent, bureaucratic approach.
Sadly, it's most often the organisations whose project management is totally out of control who are seeking the "superstar coders" - they want guys who are 10x more productive in order to save them from serious scheduling mistakes they have already committed.
I'm not saying that I'm a superstar. But if I were, I'd look for a group with a track record solid project management. This means a group that
1. Keeps numbers on man-hours from previous projects and uses these numbers as a heuristic when scheduling future projects.
2. A company that puts out controlled revisions of its existing software at regular intervals, without much deadline slippage.
3. A company with low staff turnover.
4. Interesting projects that really attempt something new.
Things I would not touch with a 40-foot pole:
1. Long (multi-year) release cycles that never seem to quite make it out the door.
2. Execs who set deadlines based on thin air, or when the next trade show is.
3. A reputation for frequent and serious "crunches" where developers are expected to work 70 hour weeks. Occasional crunches are part of the business. If they happen too often, it's a sign of bad management.
4. Projects that basically reinvent someone else's product so the company in question can get a piece of the market.
Nothing kills a love of programming like constant crunch time, schedules based on thin air, and an incompetent, bureaucratic approach.
Sadly, it's most often the organisations whose project management is totally out of control who are seeking the "superstar coders" - they want guys who are 10x more productive in order to save them from serious scheduling mistakes they have already committed.
