POSSIBLE OFF-TOPIC: hacker-type personality in corporate lifestyle

[D E]

Hi. I am just curious how a hacker-type personality fits into a corporate
lifestyle.

I am only a student now. I have a govt. job now where i can go to school and
work part time. I can take 2 hour lunches and as the stereotypical govt.
worker goes about, work pseudo-deadline-less.

However, with discussions from the contractors we hire (from corporate
backgrounds) they inform me that i won't survive in corporate atmosphere. I
am bright though, and they know that, but my attitude is somewhat
easy-going, hacker-like, need freedom, no barriers, etc.

Any advice for me? I love learning and hate repetitive boring stuff and love
challenges and am not really sure i will, as they say, survive in a
corporate lifestyle and workstyle...

Thanks, and please feel free to reprimand me or redirect me to another NG if
this does not apply. (I plan to work in a java/programming related field).

-Dave

 

[Roedy Green]

However, with discussions from the contractors we hire (from corporate
backgrounds) they inform me that i won't survive in corporate atmosphere. I
am bright though, and they know that, but my attitude is somewhat
easy-going, hacker-like, need freedom, no barriers, etc.

The other approach is to work at a consultant. In some ways you have
more freedom, others less. Money is boom and bust. The ultimate
freedom is to become an entrepreneur, who comes up with the better
mousetrap. However, you need wide variety of skills to succeed there,
not the least of which is salesmanship.


It is easier actually to get started in consulting than to get a job.
The "employer" is not on the hook and thus tends not to look so
carefully at your previous experience.

 

[MMLJ]

Hi. I am just curious how a hacker-type personality fits into a corporate
lifestyle.

You get out of it what you put into it!

I am only a student now. I have a govt. job now where i can go to school and
work part time. I can take 2 hour lunches and as the stereotypical govt.
worker goes about, work pseudo-deadline-less.

I think you are mistaking what a person with integrity would do without
supervision to what you are doing and needing someone to hold your hand
to keep you from taking those two hour lunches. BTW, reporting those
two hour lunches as time worked is a federal offense. Also, see answer
to first paragraph.

However, with discussions from the contractors we hire (from corporate
backgrounds) they inform me that i won't survive in corporate atmosphere. I
am bright though, and they know that, but my attitude is somewhat
easy-going, hacker-like, need freedom, no barriers, etc.

You probably wouldn't survive. Any supervisor, govt or contractor, does
not want to have to micro-manage but there always those who need that
type of supervision. The contracting world is very brutal, everything
boils down to the bottom line and if you don't produce you will be gone
in a heart beat. If the govt doesn't like the work performed then at
the end of the contract you, as an organization, will not be asked back.
Also, see answer to paragraph two.

Any advice for me? I love learning and hate repetitive boring stuff and love
challenges and am not really sure i will, as they say, survive in a
corporate lifestyle and workstyle...

Nobody can give you the best advice but you! If you want challenges and
want to make a difference, you can do that in either the Government or
the corporate world. The choice is up to you. I can say this
though.....I have worked for contractors and I have worked for the govt
and I will take the govt any day. Why?

1. They never run out of money.
2. My networks are the top-o-the-line.
3. I have the most up to date technologies I have ever been able to
play with.
4. I have been given responsibilities that would make a contractor
bitch and moan about all they are responsible for.
5. I will be sent to schools and keeping up with technology until the
day I retire.
6. They never run out of money.

Thanks, and please feel free to reprimand me or redirect me to another NG if
this does not apply. (I plan to work in a java/programming related field).

-Dave

Bottom line.....where do you want to make your mark? I know many
contractors/corporate people who are absolutely amazing with the
knowledge they have and at the same time I know just as many people like
that who work for the government. The choice is yours.

Good luck!

 

[Sudsy]

D E wrote:

Nobody can give you the best advice but you! If you want challenges and
want to make a difference, you can do that in either the Government or
the corporate world. The choice is up to you. ...

I can relate to what you and Roedy have stated. Being a consultant is
often feast-or-famine so the grass on the other side of the fence can
appear greener.
You can opt for lower pressure or more challenge, although D E claims
that both can be had in a government assignment. I'm not sure that I
would agree but sometimes yearn for that "golden" pension which the
private sector cannot come close to matching.
How long do you want to live?

 

[Rowland Banks]

You get out of it what you put into it!


I think you are mistaking what a person with integrity would do without
supervision to what you are doing and needing someone to hold your hand
to keep you from taking those two hour lunches. BTW, reporting those
two hour lunches as time worked is a federal offense. Also, see answer
to first paragraph.


You probably wouldn't survive. Any supervisor, govt or contractor, does
not want to have to micro-manage but there always those who need that
type of supervision. The contracting world is very brutal, everything
boils down to the bottom line and if you don't produce you will be gone
in a heart beat. If the govt doesn't like the work performed then at
the end of the contract you, as an organization, will not be asked back.
Also, see answer to paragraph two.


Nobody can give you the best advice but you! If you want challenges and
want to make a difference, you can do that in either the Government or
the corporate world. The choice is up to you. I can say this
though.....I have worked for contractors and I have worked for the govt
and I will take the govt any day. Why?

1. They never run out of money.
2. My networks are the top-o-the-line.
3. I have the most up to date technologies I have ever been able to
play with.
4. I have been given responsibilities that would make a contractor
bitch and moan about all they are responsible for.
5. I will be sent to schools and keeping up with technology until the
day I retire.
6. They never run out of money.


Bottom line.....where do you want to make your mark? I know many
contractors/corporate people who are absolutely amazing with the
knowledge they have and at the same time I know just as many people like
that who work for the government. The choice is yours.

Good luck!

I work for a small start-up company (4 people), writing applications for
Identity Management Software, and it is the best job I've had since leaving
uni. They pay is not bad, but not amazing (although I'm only 22, so it's
more money than I've ever had before!), but as long as I get my work done
they are quite happy for me to play around with various technology, writing
little apps to make use of them, because they know that for every 10 techs I
look at, 1 might turn out to be really useful. They are happy to buy me
software and equipment as long as I can give a reason for why I need it.
Furthermore, as it's a small company there's a very friendly atmosphere, and
everyone gets on well (although that may not be true for all offices!), and
they are very flexible about hours, dress, etc.

My previous job was writing database applications for various departments of
an NHS hospital. This was horrible. The pay was bad, the managers were
incompetent, technophobic and belligerent. The staff morale was low, the
equipment was extremely variable (I used P120s up to PIIIs) depending on
dept. and the whole experience left a very bitter taste. However, it was a
steady job with a good pension, so I might go back to a government (NHS =
Government in Britain!) job later in life.

Good luck with whatever you choose,

Rowland.