Tag Archives: technology

Software Prototyping: Please Throw This Away

Software Development, Software Engineering, , ,

I believe in the value of prototypes.

So do manufacturers, designers, and silicon valley. New hardware concepts at large coprorations like Google, Apple, and Microsoft are accompanied by many prototypes (for example Google Glass).

prototypes

User interface prototypes are key to discovering usability and are commonly used by designers. Often this starts with pen and paper before a single mouse is clicked or keystroke registered.

uiprototype

One similarity shared by all prototypes I want to mention before continuing is this: prototypes are never meant for use by the end user. In the case of Agile software development, we may have a select group of users work with prototypes with the knowledge that they will never see production usage in their current state. Additionally, if a piece of software serves some purpose in a production environment, it must be developed as such.

Opinions will vary on this subject, but here are the most important traits of a software prototype in my opinion.

  • A software prototype is developed in isolation. No (or absolute minimum) interaction with existing code.
  • A software prototype follows coding standards. We write clean code regardless of its final use. Perfect practice makes perfect results.
  • A software prototype is written by people who are constantly learning and training to hone their craft. More on this later.
  • A software prototype is written by people who will be responsible for writing the finished product.
  • A software prototype is discarded. I repeat. Throw it away after demoing it.

When the above specifications are followed, we gain some specific benefits.

  • We are provided the opportunity to experiment with a few of the myriad different solutions to a given problem.
  • We have the opportunity to learn from mistakes before creating a production-worthy solution.
  • We have the opportunity to use the best design possible based on first-hand knowledge when creating the final product.
  • Product/business people see their concepts in action earlier in the software development lifecycle.
  • Other groups/departments aren’t paying people to learn to develop software they aren’t ultimately going to create.
  • The company enjoys faster overall development times as technical debt remains low.

everyoneWins

My continued belief is that many companies have a large disconnect between technical and business people on the purpose and value of software prototypes. Prototypes are as much for developers and engineers as they are for business and product people. Technical teams should own prototype implementations.

Thermonuclear War: Or How To Make Recruiters Behave

Career, , ,

If you’ve ever posted a technology-related resume on Monster, Dice, LinkedIn, or any number of job board sites, you know that tech recruiters/headhunters can be a huge time sink. We spend time building an online reputation and sometimes it seems that our only reward is to be bombarded by calls and emails from people who barely grasp computer basics let alone the complex work that we do.

Recruiters Want You!

My take on recruiters varies. Some are spambots (or just as annoying) and many don’t understand our industry very well having only memorized a few buzzwords so they can “sound” knowledgeable. These are the emails and calls we get regarding positions for project management, that esoteric language we had 6 months of experience with 8 years ago, or some other equally random position.

The trouble is, when you’re looking for work (or worse, out of work), recruiters can be something of a necessary evil. Also, in the current job market, I’ve had the occasion to point several unemployed friends to specific jobs that had been forwarded to me by recruiters.

There are also an elite few technical recruiters who have worked in the tech industry and ACTUALLY GET IT. These recruiters can be valuable allies and will only work with quality positions/professionals/companies. Having a few in your email and LinkedIn contact lists is highly recommended. They can advise you on preparing for your interviews and help negotiate acceptable salaries. Most importantly, they point you to positions that are exactly what you are looking for in every respect.

My advice is to start building a list of recruiters you feel comfortable working with now and filtering out those who spam you or merely fail to stand out from the crowd. I know that networking is distasteful to many technical people, but it is worth the time it takes in terms of finding interesting, meaningful, and lucrative work with people and companies that you like.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Thermonuclear War

  1. Unsubscribe from automated emails. This will save many hours of headaches reading job descriptions that are barely related to your skills. If this does not have the desired effect, filter them to spam.
  2. Be direct with recruiters. Tell them exactly the kind of positions you are interested in. Include background, preferred companies, technologies, and locations. See Example 1.
  3. Don’t be a complete jerk. Like everyone else in the world, technical recruiters are trying to earn their paychecks… Also, if you make a name for yourself as being difficult to work with, the best recruiters will avoid you.
  4. Proactively manage your recruiting contacts. Let recruiters know your policy of not working with them if they aren’t useful and nuke the ones that have been ineffective. See Example 2.
  5. Follow through. This probably goes without saying, but stick to your guns! There are plenty of recruiters out there, choose to work only with the best!

EXAMPLE 1: An approach I took when looking for work (but not too urgently).

Subject: Opportunity Search and New Resume/CV

As may you know, my current employer has recently performed layoffs. I still work for the company but I’m seriously entertaining other options at this time.

Management has always interested me and my experience has grown in this area so I will be focusing my search on leadership roles (Software Development Manager and equivalent). I am willing to relocate to make this career jump and am searching far and wide but I am particularly interested in opportunities in the states of Utah, Texas, Oregon, and Washington. I am mainly interested in permanent positions but contract-to-hire could be acceptable as well.

I’m attaching two recently updated copies of my resume for your review. Please note that one is management focused and the other is software engineering focused. All of the differences between the two resumes are on the first page. As always, I welcome any and all feedback: positive or negative.

Sincerely,

William Munn

EXAMPLE 2: Clearing out ineffective recruiters now that I am settled in my new position.

Subject: Recruiters/Talent Sourcers

Friends,

You may not have noticed, but I’ve recently trimmed my LinkedIn contacts to remove people I have little connection with and that includes about half of the recruiters who were connections. I’m trying to keep the list more clean and will continue to blow the cobwebs out of the corners occasionally.

The point of this email: If you and I have ever worked together and it resulted in my being offered an opportunity with a company, GOOD NEWS! I probably won’t be removing you… ever (but don’t let that stop you from writing a recommendation for me)  Those of you who haven’t, you should consider this notice that you might want to find a good reason to stand out in my mind from time to time or I will likely drop you as a connection in the next 6 to 12 months. This will be even more difficult because I’m happy with my job and not currently looking for a change of any kind. Most of you have already done this to an extent or I would have cleaned you out with the recruiters who made no impression on me at all. You are the cream of the crop. The best of the best. Insert more Top Gun references here!

I know this is very blunt and probably a bit brash as well but I feel it needs to be done. Remember, I’m still more than happy to stay in contact with professionals who I feel can bring something to the table that might be interesting to myself or my large pool of talented former/current work colleagues. I know I’ve alternated the tone of this message between serious and lighthearted but I assure you I am very committed to working with people who have something serious to offer. Just keep in mind that this is an ongoing initiative for me and my memory is short!

All the best!

Sincerely,

William Munn

Please email or tweet me your comments and suggestions on how you manage recruiters and I will update this post with the best of them. My contact details are available on my profile website http://www.dubmun.com

P.S. Special thanks to my proofreaders: Dwayne, Kelly, and Jeff!

 

Technology Internships: Paid or Unpaid?

Career, , , ,

I recently tweeted the following:

Devs/Designers: did you have a paid internship when you were in college? If so how much did you make? #howtechnologyinternshipspay

My goal was to get some perspective for a friend who was considering various options for his upcoming college career. He was hearing conflicting information on getting a paid internship while going through a Computer Science program and had only my own experiences to go by.

Once I started reviewing the results, I found very them interesting so I thought I would share with anyone who cares to know. Namely you: my friends and tweeple.

Now the facts. First, most of the responders interned at some point during the past 15 to 20 years. The range of pay during that time was between $8-$22 per hour with the majority falling between $12-$15 per hour. Of the those that responded who are currently interns or were interns between 2010-2011, the common range seems to be $15-$20 per hour.

It is also worthwhile to note that many respondents also received other perks that I did not attempt to monetize. Examples of perks range from free food to tuition assistance to free rent.

The reality of the situation seems to be that future technology interns should not be asking if you should take a paid or unpaid internship. The real question is: “How MUCH should you be paid?” I’m certainly not suggesting that you should avoid creating a class website for your professor or a quick shopping cart or inventory app for your mom’s side business for free. These experiences are good and valuable… I did many projects like this and learned a lot!

If you are looking for an internship doing software or web development in the current market what should you be looking for in terms of compensation? I would probably suggest you hold out for a minimum of $15 an hour. Also, consider asking prospective employers for additional benefits once it is clear that they want you on staff. These figures may vary from market to market. I highly recommend checking with your college or university’s career guidance counselors for the going local rates. Some schools even publish expected rates (eg. Waterloo in Ontario, Canada http://www.cecs.uwaterloo.ca/employers/salary.php ).

Whatever you decide to do, get out there and create some experience for yourselves! You will be more prepared for work in the field and have a much easier time finding it. Don’t be afraid to ask for compensation for your efforts. You are in a high demand field where your talents are needed. There is no time like the present to start paying off those student loans!

P.S. Much thanks to @shanselman and @mayhemstudios for the retweets! The exposure of my question was much broader thanks to you. Also thanks to @nshirazie for the link to Waterloo’s salary guide.