(no subject)

[fj]

Actually, it's really not that bad; there have been issues with my job since day 1 here, 17 months ago, and this 60-day lay-off period is a rather excellent way to end if it has to end. I hope to finally take some time for myself like I wanted to do when I left Nokia.

From a distance, I know my life this year looks like a country song: partner gone, cat dead, job gone, now all I need is for my truck to break down and my trailer to be re-possessed. But in reality, me getting a kick in the pants to leave Disney Mobile by virtue of Disney Mobile shutting down is not just ok, it's all right. I have been prospecting, but due to the nature of how recruiters find jobs through keyword hits, all I have been offered so far are Symbian C++ coding jobs. My answer has been identical every time: "You couldn't pay me enough to go back to that. I'd rather work a garbage truck." Oddly enough, recruiters do not answer that email.

I guess I won't get a chance to have a snippy exit interview in which I tell management how they obviously are losing the best person ever to work for them!

Comments

[feste-sylvain.livejournal.com]

You obviously want to update your resume. While you're at it, you should probably rephrase the jobs where you used Symbian C++ to emphasize what you did, rather than what you did it with.

That should beat the keyword monkeys, at least.

[fj.livejournal.com]

I did. It's not even in there. I just mention that I have designed UIs for Symbian, and way down that I studied C++ in college. Ta-daaaa, a hit.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

Change it to LISP and see what happens.

[fj.livejournal.com]

Ok, you made me LOL.

And then you made me think: LISP would actually fit on a Symbian phone. But in the immortal words of Bill Shatner: "But why?"

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

Ok, you made me LOL.
I win!

But in the immortal words of Bill Shatner: "But why?"
I did, initially, recommend LISP, because it's something else you would often learn in college. That said, though, I read an article about a year ago about (I think) yahoo's hot jobs site. It was originally some other site that yahoo absorbed. The original site was one of many other similar sites that started around the same time and was done by a start up. The owners felt strongly that if you could not do something new, then do something old in a new way. So they built their site using LISP instead of C++ or Java or whatever people used for e-commerce websites 7-10 years ago. (I was using an unholy combination of Java, and ASP then) They also felt strongly that the LISP helped them make changes to the site in a quicker manner than other OO languages, and that allowed them to stay ahead of everyone. Anyway, I don't know if there is really a use for LISP beyond college or grad school, but it does have it's uses.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

Yahoo's shopping site was originally written in LISP. That was Paul Graham's startup. Now, he writes obnoxious essays about why people who start companies are better than everyone else. I think Yahoo had to eventually port it to another language, because LISP progammers are at the bottom of the easy-to-hire list, but I don't recall for sure.

[raimondas.livejournal.com]

+1, yes Paul Graham is the messiah of "you-should-only-hire-20-somethings-who-know-LISP-everyone-else-is-an-idiot". :)

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

If the wanted scheme programmers, I think NU puts out a bunch.

[mondragon.livejournal.com]

I wish I could get a job doing LISP (or better yet, SCHEME or T) development.

I still design in it.

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

or better yet, SCHEME

Did you go to Northeastern Univ, by any chance?

I enjoy LISP. In fact, I have the type of bug right now that LISP could sort out pretty easily, but Java is a mess with. I can't imagine doing LISP full time, though.

[mondragon.livejournal.com]

No - UCI, and then worked at a company connected with Yale. We used T, which was an object-oriented scheme.

I did T full-time for a couple of years. It was glorious.

[fj.livejournal.com]

Try ITA Software in Cambridge, http://www.itasoftware.com . They created Orbitz, which runs exclusively on LISP.

I can't find an opening on your level but they are searching (http://jobview.monster.com/getjob.asp?JobID=61035192&JobTitle=Computer+Scientist%2fProgrammer%2c+Performance+Analysis+Team&q=LISP&brd=1&cy=us&vw=b&AVSDM=2007-08-13+12%3a27%3a00&pg=1&seq=35), so give them a shot. Also, when Dean is back from his whirlwind tour, maybe he can point you to his contacts at Franz, they seem to be on top of every commercial LISP deployment.

[fj.livejournal.com]

You know, we actually never did LISP. For an intro to functional languages, I was made to briefly touch Miranda.

you'll have an exit interview

[henare.livejournal.com]

i've only ever had one job where i haven't had an exit interview and that was because the entire firm shut down.

[mattycub.livejournal.com]

That's a shame, because exit interviews can be so good for the soul.

Sorry to hear that you've got one more thing piled on the stack of suck that the year has given you. But hopefull you'll look back on this all a year from now and think "well, thank god that happened, because look where I am now!"

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

Recruiters are pimps to our hos.

[phornax.livejournal.com]

Yeah, do they actually ever read a resume before sending out feelers, or is it all just keyword-generated spam? Why do they always ask for your current resume when the board they got your info from has the resume and its date of last update? Grrr.

[jss]

You presume they know how to read.

[missionista.livejournal.com]

Yay for new opportunities!

[fuzzygruf.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping that better opportunities come your way.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

From a distance, I know my life this year looks like a country song: partner gone, cat dead, job gone, now all I need is for my truck to break down and my trailer to be re-possessed.

"Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song, and he told me it was the perfect country and western song. I wrote him back a letter and told him it was NOT the perfect country and western song, because he hadn't said anything about Mama, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or gettin' drunk.

Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to the song and he sent it to me, and after reading it, I realized that my friend had written the perfect country and western song. And I felt obliged to include it on this album. The last verse goes like this here:

Well, I was drunk the day my mama got out of prison,
And I went to pick her up in the rain,
But before I could get to the station in my pickup truck —
She got run over by a damned old train!"

(I'm glad you have opportunities to look forward to.)

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

This is good news. Aside from the paycheck issue, of course. It may be the perfect moment to reinvent yourself. And you still have great shoulders.

[allanh.livejournal.com]

I'd say I'm sorry, but that would be hypocritical, because I know you were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the job and the division.

Instead, I'll say "congratulations!" because I believe you'll find something you like much better, as well as have some time to take off just for yourself.

[chestertodd.livejournal.com]

here's to the next great job - glad you are out of there - but i know you'll go through feeling bummed here and there.

ironically - my co just did a lot of redeployments today - to the tune of 250 folks - not sure how many are going to literally be out on the street.

i'll pass your resume on to our mobile world - they are sort of scattered but mostly up north. lets see you soon! M is well enough to make ice cream.

[zurcherart.livejournal.com]

All right.

Good luck.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Well, if your life looks like a country song, imagine all those hot cowboys you'll get to pick up!

Good luck.

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you're going to lose a job you were wanting to leave anyway, that sounds pretty much ideal. But I hope your next job is *really* ideal!

[enhydrasf.livejournal.com]

you'd be a hot garbage man...anyhow, hope this work to not working to eventually working again, transition goes okay for you..

[ranger1.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're landing on both feet, so to speak. I've never been in that situation myself. I hope the next gig is better. Enjoy your well-earned vacation.

[nanne.livejournal.com]

Schijt!

Op naar de volgende baan. Of zelf wat beginnen. Of een leuke suikeroom vinden. Aan jou de keuze! In elk geval succes!