Comment Re:As a manager... (Score 1) 270
I find your use of "many highly-qualified candidates" contradictory. On the one hand, this "highly-qualified" programmer is simply asking for quality in his work, on the other hand, you are intimating that quality work production is not an attribute of "highly-qualified candidates." This is an oxymoron. I am a twenty year plus developer, spending most of my time working for myself. My philosophy is when someone pays me their hard earned money they deserve the highest quality I can produce.
Currently I find myself in a similar circumstance. For the last three years I have had to take a position with a company that produces middleware products in the electronic payment transaction processing industry. All the products are well over eight year old technology and definitely not OO anything. In fact, the new C99 standards have introduced "bugs" because the legacy code was strongly based on K&R compilers. I have made several proposals to bring our product lines into the 21st Century, however, all have meet dead ends in management. The director of software development empathizes with me, however, even he cannot convey the need to redesign our products.
So, here I am in my own ethical dilemma. We, the developers, are brought in on conference calls and must defraud prospective clients on what our products offer while clandestinely writing down the clients wants and desires and figuring out the hacks necessary to add these to our existing, and aging, products. This practice troubles me very much, not only because of the lying, but, because the hacks take ever longer to add and invariably produce side effect bugs that are very difficult to find and correct (all the while the clients' business is suffering).
Somehow our ideals have shifted from pride in our work to money in our bank accounts. I for one don't work simply or the money, but rather for the love of the work. Yes, I have bills to pay, however, there is a point where facing paying bills or standing up for quality becomes a dilemma. I am currently finding it difficult after three years of producing crap to justify staying at my present job solely for the money. As you say, upon my leaving the company will most likely provide a less than favorable response to my next employer, mostly out of revenge because I left than because I was a poor employee.
Mr manager, listen to the talent on your staff, and don't simply write us all off as "geeks."
Currently I find myself in a similar circumstance. For the last three years I have had to take a position with a company that produces middleware products in the electronic payment transaction processing industry. All the products are well over eight year old technology and definitely not OO anything. In fact, the new C99 standards have introduced "bugs" because the legacy code was strongly based on K&R compilers. I have made several proposals to bring our product lines into the 21st Century, however, all have meet dead ends in management. The director of software development empathizes with me, however, even he cannot convey the need to redesign our products.
So, here I am in my own ethical dilemma. We, the developers, are brought in on conference calls and must defraud prospective clients on what our products offer while clandestinely writing down the clients wants and desires and figuring out the hacks necessary to add these to our existing, and aging, products. This practice troubles me very much, not only because of the lying, but, because the hacks take ever longer to add and invariably produce side effect bugs that are very difficult to find and correct (all the while the clients' business is suffering).
Somehow our ideals have shifted from pride in our work to money in our bank accounts. I for one don't work simply or the money, but rather for the love of the work. Yes, I have bills to pay, however, there is a point where facing paying bills or standing up for quality becomes a dilemma. I am currently finding it difficult after three years of producing crap to justify staying at my present job solely for the money. As you say, upon my leaving the company will most likely provide a less than favorable response to my next employer, mostly out of revenge because I left than because I was a poor employee.
Mr manager, listen to the talent on your staff, and don't simply write us all off as "geeks."
