Are There Any Fun Tech Jobs Left?

er0ck asks: "My first job out of college was working for an Internet Startup. They gave me some books and told me to learn Perl. Our office was a refurbished factory, with lots of light and open space. Best of all, we could bring our nerf toys in to work (and use them!). Four months later, the company went under. Several dot bomb jobs later, I work for my state government. Is anyone still having fun at their tech job?" I think that with the economic downturn, more companies are concentrating on survival more than being "fun". Are there any "fun" tech jobs left, or have they all suffered from the Economic Darwinism of the early 21st century?

"[Government work is] steady work, but boring at times. (I don't think they'd approve of the Nerf guns). Without the pressure of staying in business, projects sometimes stagnate, leaving us with little to do. During these slow times, I help behind the scenes at NerfCenter.com; It's a fun site, and they are switching to Perl for their admin backend. It keeps my skills sharp, and wards off the boredom.

My questions to the Slashdot community are:

1. Can you have a fun tech job, without the worry of being suddenly unemployed?
2. If you are you forced (as I am) to get your fun on the side what are some good projects to get involved in?
3. What do you to unwind and have a bit of 'fun' in the workplace?"

Comments

Right...

[SilentChris]

"Best of all, we could bring our nerf toys in to work (and use them!). Four months later, the company went under."

Gee, imagine that.

Re:Right...

[FFFish]

Even better, they apparently hired him to write Perl scripts, when he didn't know Perl at all.

Whatta stellar business plan!

Me, I'm gonna hire rubbies outta the back alleys, and go for an IPO. I figure they'll work for aftershave, so I won't even have to give away stock options!

Re:Right...

[dlaur]

Okay, maybe this is off-topic... you decide:

The really sad part is that people think that you can write software after you "learn" a language. Some college grads come out of school having "learned" a few languages, but unless they were involved in a large scale university project, they haven't learned how to really write software since each of the programs they coded usually didn't grow beyond what could be completed in a semester or two. (Forgive me for generalizing, but this has been my experience with new-hires.)

Additionally, lots of managers where I work think that they can go buy someone some "Java training" or "PL/SQL training" or "Solaris admin training" or whatever and suddenly they will have transformed a junior support person into a senior developer, DBA or sys admin.

This is analagous to sending someone to school to learn the French language assuming that they will return with the skills required to write a novel in French. I only speak one language (English, obviously) and I am nowhere close to having developed my skills with the language to the point where I could write a novel.

I don't care what language I work in as much as I care about the archiecture of the system, the process used to design/code/test, how much peer review and interaction is involved, what scheduling methods are used, whether or not I can live with the mandated coding standard (I have curly brace issues...), whether there are enough iterations in the schedule, how much time is dedicated to refactoring, whether the scope is well defined, etc, etc, etc...

What is a "fun job"?

[BillyGoatThree]

Playing with nerf guns in a converted factory is fun...but is it a job?

My job is as a programmer/admin. I enjoy it and the company receives good value. Pre-1995 this would have been defined as heaven. To you dot-bomb losers it is apparently hell.

What a dumb question

[GoofyBoy]

"Are there any more Fun jobs?!??!!"

Yes, there are. For years people have been loving their jobs because they enjoy what they are paid for. Not for playing around in a sandbox like you are in Grade 1.

And its not only tech people who enjoy their job. Its doctors (excitement/feel like they are helping people), ministers/counsolers (spiritual fullfillment) and even fishermen (enjoy the surroundings/hard-work enjoyment).

I think this guy needs an attiude change/reality-check.

Ever consider...

[pongo000]

...teaching others what you know about IT? I teach at several local community colleges, after five years of consulting work and finally being laid off at my last job. The pay is decent ($35-$40 per classroom hour), I can set my own schedule, and I can teach pretty much what I want the way I want. It gives me a great excuse to play on lots of *nix machines, write programs, and learn from my students as well.

Instead of lining the pockets of greedy company owners/CEOs, I work for a non-profit organization which is there to support you, rather than hinder your progress. Layoffs? College enrollments are on the rise due to the massive numbers of IT layoffs! Have you ever heard of a college instructor getting laid off? It simply doesn't happen, because of the inverse relationship between IT employment levels and the need for college-level IT instruction.

Plus, I find teaching to be immensely satisfying, both on a personal and spiritual level. What more noble endeavor is there than to help others? I can safely say that I've never felt "personally satisfied" at any consultant gig I've done.

If you're happy following all the other unemployed IT sharks that are being chummed by headhunters with no jobs to offer and companies intent on building their resume files for when the "turnaround" comes, more power to you. If you're looking for something that's not only fun, but honorable, check out your local colleges.

Depends what you mean by "fun"

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

I'd just like to point out two oft-overlooked facts here.

1. If your idea of a "fun tech job" involves spending a week learning HTML, reading the first five chapters of a book on Perl and then calling yourself an expert web developer, you're SOL. With the worsening world economy, employers will be laying people off or slowing down recruitment. Consequently, you're going to need to know your stuff if you want to get a decent job. This is fine for the people who do, and always have, bother to learn their subject and keep their skills up to date. It's tough luck for those who've only been in the market for a year or two, who started right in the middle of the never-going-to-make-it dot.com boom, and who have gotten used to being hired even though they have no great skills to write home about.
2. On the other hand, as companies need to employ fewer but better quality staff to keep going in an adverse climate, they will need to offer genuinely good deals in order to attract those staff. Average IT workers want the average rate; good workers want several times that, and a few nice perks, among them an enjoyable job. Conversely, good companies that treat their staff well do tend to get well-motivated and loyal staff in return. The productivity of those staff is much higher, and the reason that such good companies tend to do well relative to others, even in an adverse business climate. It's a shame so few management groups recognise this clear and well-proven fact about working conditions and act accordingly.

job fun != nerf toys

[Laxitive]

I have a bit to comment on this. I've heard way too many people equate jobs where you get to do whatever you want, with jobs that are fun. Job enjoyability very little to do with a lot of the things tech guys harp about.

For me anyway, an funfactor of a job has very little to do with foosbal tables, or nerf guns, or anything like that. A job is enjoyable if I get to do work that's enjoyable. For the past few months, I've been working at an embedded tech company that's somewhat prosperous.

At the beginning of the term, the boss just came over, dropped a couple specification manuals on us (me, co-worker), and told us to implement it. That was cool. No micro-management - we went to him when we had questions or doubts. For starting from scratch, and not knowing the hardware or the codebase, we got a decent amount of work accomplished.

The answer to your question is YES. There are really nice, enjoyable jobs out there. Find a company that's doing interesting work - no, not the next e-business we're going to revolutionize the world with our web-frontend loss-leader 'solution' funded on venture capital and no chance of profit.

It's about the work man. I became a programmer because I love programming, because solving hard problems using logic (I love math too ;)) makes me feel good.

So what sets you off? compilers? virtual machines? optimization? datbase? graphics? ai? infrastructure? app-coding? embedded systems? low-level?

There's tons of companies out there doing interesing stuff, that need good people to work on interesting problems. So find one and get in.

If you're not into your work, no amount of nerf playing will take away the fact that you don't enjoy your work - it just means you'll get less done, and be dead weight for your company and get fired, or not be fired (which indicates bad management and that the company is headed nowhere fast).
-Laxitive

I was better at work when it was more fun...

[Skyshadow]

My office at my latest job was never a lot of fun, but when I started we had a ping-pong table.

It was actually really nice -- two or three times a day you could play a quick game or two, each time taking maybe five minutes. It was a great way to get away from your desk and get the blood pumping a little bit (nothing like some activity to get the brain working again).

Then our managers decided that we shouldn't play during the work day anymore. It was like night and day for me -- I couldn't get past the after-lunch sleepy feeling on most days, I didn't want to stay at work late anymore. Ironically, the amount of time I spent at my desk actually producing dropped dramatically.

It was just ping-pong, but I think it marked kind of a turning point in terms of morale at work. I know I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

A lot of the reactions I've been reading are reacting to the excesses of the dot-coms, like that "Generation Now" commercial where nobody in the office is actually working. That's fair, but it's important to remember that there's a lot of room between that extreme and a boring, soulless workplace.

Is being an NFL Quarter back "fun"?

[kfg]

Well no, not really. It is increadably rewarding for those that are good at it though, and they wouldn't do anything else.

They work their tight little asses off though.

This is going to sound trite, especially considering all the other posts saying essentially the same thing, BUT. . .

You are basically still a child. You have now had your first *jobs,* but have yet to have any actually experience of working.

Give up the idea of "fun" at work. Find a job where you enjoy doing the WORK and bust your ass at it, eight hour a day. Then go HOME to play, with your paycheck.

How about starting your own company? Work 16 hour days, seven days a week, only to have nothing because your employees take it all while bitching about you. I used to tell people, " I don't work for myself. I work for my lawyer, insurance company, phone company, landlord, power company, etc. They don't let me keep anything for myself."

You'll probably go under just like everyone else, but just might have the time of your life anyway. Funny how "fun" works sometimes.

By the way, if you manage that you're doing better than the 99.9% of the population who end up performing work functions because they like to eat better than the alternative. You just might have to grow up and get used to that idea.

KFG

Re:Is being an NFL Quarter back "fun"?

[Skyshadow]

You're off base in pretty much everything you said.

First, have you ever *watched* football? Do me a favor -- watch the Monday Night game this week and look at Brett Favre's face when he's playing and then tell me he's not enjoying himself. Sure, these guys get paid a lot, but the best players you see are in the zone. That's where you want your people, too.

The idea that you should "give up the idea of having fun at work" sounds like the refrain of a manager bent on shooting themselves in the foot. Say it with me: Happy people are productive people. Happy people are people not blowing out the door at 5 (like your post implies you do). Happy people are more original and have better ideas and generally do their jobs better.

Remember: fun doesn't have to mean doing no work. Fun can mean taking your people to Dave & Busters once a quarter if you make a tough quota. Fun can mean buying lunch for everybody and having a bonding session. These things don't create huge disruptions or take a lot of time but create a much better working environment.

Beyond that, remember that the really legendary workplaces -- places like EA way back in the day -- weren't sweat shops. They were places where people didn't have any huge need to go home, where they felt inspired, etc.

Fun jobs???

[Crixus]

I think a better question is, are there ANY fun jobs left at all?

For the most part, all employers... corporations in particular, have declared war on their labor.

I'd list the reasons but the apologists would just deny them. :-)

Rich...

Language doesn't matter

[Tim Macinta]

The really sad part is that people think that you can write software after you "learn" a language.

On the flip side of the coin are the people who think that you are unqualified for a particular project because you haven't learned a particular language or flavor-of-the-day API. As you did an excellent job of pointing out, software engineering skills are by far the most important factor that determine the quality of a developer's work and these skills are largely language and API independent. This (among other reasons) is why MIT teaches (or used to teach anyway) their computer science courses with obscure languages like CLU and SCHEME - because it is the engineering principals that matter and not the language.

So to the original poster who chided the company for hiring somebody who didn't know Perl to write Perl, that may have actually been a very good decision if the guy had substantial software engineering skills. It takes a few days to pick up a new programming language, but years to develop good software engineering skills.

CV writing advice

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Care to share some of your suggestions then?

Sure. I've written about this on /. before, but here are a few of the major points -- things that many (most?) people get wrong.

1. Your CV is an introduction, nothing more. It's not supposed to be your complete life history in graphic detail. So, provide a concise summary of your relevant skills and experience only, and customise your CV to match the job for which you're applying. Your CV should get you into an interview and preferably provide some interesting points for your interviewer to discuss with you in more detail. It doesn't need to do anything else.
2. Your CV should tell your prospective employer what you offer, not what you want. Frankly, most employers couldn't give an airborne copulation at the CV stage about your life ambition and the type of career you want to have. Good employers will consider this and perhaps discuss it with you at your interview, if you get one. If you're going to mention it at all, put a brief note in your covering letter about the kind of thing you're looking for. At least that way, if they're offering 10K less than you want and a 50 hour week, they'll know to say "no thank you" without wasting everyone's time any more. Don't use up valuable CV space with "personal objectives", "career directions" or other such rubbish.
3. Your CV must be well presented. That means both clear organisation and a readable layout. Most of the CVs that arrive at the office are not well presented. Common mistakes include...
   1. CVs that are needlessly long. If you're looking for something like summer work while studying at university, a page will probably be good enough. For a first or second job after that, two pages is probably appropriate, as you'll need a little space to list the work experience you've got now. If you genuinely need to write more than two pages, you don't need me to tell you how to write your CV. :-)
   2. CVs full of unsupported buzzwords. Agencies are great for sending these, usually on an ugly and hard-to-scan cover page that adds no value to the CV. Employers will not be impressed by your claiming to know 17 different langauges when you've only just graduated, or your gratuitous use of terms like "expert", "advanced" or (God forbid) "mission critical". By all means list your skills, but be honest, and provide objective information, such as the number of years you've been using a skill. You might include a fair assessment of your ability ("basics", "competent", "good"), which helps an employer to understand your focus if you're listing, say, three or four languages. Make sure the experience sections of your CV (work and education) show where these bits of experience happened.
   3. CVs with poor use of English. If you can't even write English, do you expect us to let you write C++ or Perl? Sloppy language is a sure sign of someone who doesn't pay attention to detail, and that is not the kind of person we want to employ. And of course, a professional programming job needs far more than coding skills; it also requires interpersonal and communications skills, for a start. The quality of your CV is the one way a company has to assess these skills until they meet you in person.
   4. CVs that use poor layout. Companies will not be impressed by pointless flash on a CV. Don't overuse things like fonts. Avoid snazzy graphics, strange formats such as 3-fold brochures, or other "distinctive" features. Stick to a clear layout that's easy on the eyes. Use bullet lists where appropriate, but don't overdo it so that your pages look "dotty". Leave plenty of whitespace; a cramped CV is hard to scan, and you've only got 30 seconds -- max -- to convince someone to keep reading.
   Some things, everyone should have. For example...
   1. Provide a summary of your skills. This comes at the top of your CV, right under the personal information. Think about what your potential employer is looking for. For example, if you're going for a programming job, you might list the languages most relevant to the job (maybe with an indication of your proficiency with them -- "Java, 3 years, competent"). You might also choose to list the major tools you've used (e.g., JDK v1.3, CVS).
   2. Provide your academic background in an easily-scannable chronological form. People will check this briefly, often as the first thing they read on your CV, to guage your general level of experience. Include dates and places, grades, and brief notes if, say, your degree course covered something particularly relevant to the job. If your academic career has been quite long (e.g., you've got your degree by now), consider condensing the earlier qualifications into a one liner (e.g., in the UK, 8 GCSEs: 3 As, 3 Bs, 2Cs).
   3. List your relevant work experience in an easily-scannable, chronological form. Give dates and places, job titles, and a brief summary of what you did, including anything that's relevant to the job for which you're applying.
   Finally, certain things will catch the eye of someone reading your CV, and if they're appropriate, you can use them to good effect. For example, consider providing your home page address. If you've got some personal programming projects under your belt, you might consider making the source/docs available on-line. If your CV is read by someone technical, they probably will visit your site and have a quick look, at least long enough to say "Hey, she can really code!" or "Nope, he can't code for toffee." If your home site is full of cutesy photos of your friends, I don't recommend providing a link... ;-)

Apologies for the lack of links in this post; the /. search engine doesn't seem to be working properly right now. However, one link that's definitely worth following is the one to Carnegie-Mellon's Susie the Screener page. This page may come as a rude awakening to many /.ers who think they're clever, but they'll have much, much better job prospects after reading it.

If you just follow the simple and common-sense advice above, I reckon you're already in the top 5-10% of CVs a company will receive. That alone will put your chances of getting an interview way up. Good luck.