Sukshma

I have been looking for a job for the past few months now. Unfortunately, the longer the timeline stretches the harder I look for the right things in a job. I have to make this mission statement to remind myself of the core values that I would like to see at work wherever I join. These values maybe mistaken for traditional or old-fashioned, but with the backdrop of a resurgent economy I think they play an extremely crucial role in securing you a good career.

* A Strong and Sane Management
In a recent job effort, one of the recruiters wrote back to a friend of mine and said that the company might want to hire him as a contracter rather than a Full-time employee. The reason was apparent in a communication from one of the management personell. The company actually viewed his H1-B status as a liability. Of course, its true that you have to pay to ship your H1-B star back to his home country if you decide you no longer need him. But come on, are you really that sure that you want to fire him already? Maybe he should start looking for his next job before he joins you :). It’s a shame because he had had good friends and strong relationships with his would be fellow workers. It seems laying off people, cold impersonal management has become a core competency requirement for companies to keep their share values up.

* Technical Goals
Applied Computer Science is more profitable than core technology. Some may hint that that is because Microsoft hasn’t touched finance much :). Ask Goldman Sachs, Meryll Lynch and Ernst and Young. They are looking for hordes of CS engineers to hire and put them to work. But of course it is true! I do have friends in Manhattan. Eventually, if I did work for a company in the financial area, I would never see my work actually hit the market. The sweet success of being a developer on a major technological innovation is unparalleled and is my personal Holy grail.

Some financial companies trouble by giving you less than market rates. Of course, later when you get laid off, there are no severence responsibilities either! Would you rather work for Hyde?

To be honest, fame and fortune belongs to people in the trenches and to upper management. Everyone knows who Linus Torvalds, Eric Raymond and Richard Stallman are. People will remember James Gosling and other technical gurus. People will also remember Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and a large host of smart people not only for their vision and technical ability, but also because they are good employers to work for (atleast to a certain extent it is true).

Overall, acheivements in a technical area to gain the respect of the worldwide community are fine, but without commensurate gains in relationships with the guy who works for you, I think its not that much to write home about.

* A challenging position
* A stake in the company
I don’t have to tell you about the guy who never made a dime on the product he sweat out. I also don’t want to talk about the people who just joined for the basic and don’t get involved.

* Mutual Respect
I am sure that most H1-B workers wish that they got some respect for the work they put in. They work hard and in turn they gain a lot in terms of the knowledge base they develop, the people they meet and the good-will they share with their employers. Nevertheless, as long as he does not have job security I am sure he is jumpy about going on a vacation God bless all the H1-B’s out there. I am sure atleast for those of you in Redmond, life is a lot better.