One of the difficult things about writing software is describing what you do to other people. If you mentioned Web development, you'll get "oh I have a 12 year old nephew who does web pages." Mention Java and for years even some people in IT thought JavaScript. Back in the day if I was feeling difficult I'd describe what I did as "Writing software for computers that don't exist." Best response from that was: "Is there a market for that?". Oddly enough there was.
It only got worse with a job titles like Application Architect. Most people understand that software needs to be written, but Software Architecture? What's that? Must be how you format all that text. So eventually I landed on "I write software and help other people write software." That really covered the best of architecture, as well as the teaching and mentoring I'd done.
After 15+ years of writing software, I've taken a job where that's not the job, in fact I've been told to resist when I'm asked to write software. On Monday, I start as Shaw's Development Practice Lead. With zero hours on the job, my understanding is I'll be the internal coach / advocate for the development team.
While I still expect to be writing software, it's no longer my job. My new description: I help other people write software. Let's hope there's a market for that.
- Peace
5 comments:
Congrats! Sounds very exciting and fun.
Thanks Dan, will be an interesting experience for sure.
First image that came to mind for "internal coach" was a rowing coxswain. I remember a project or two where the dev team sure could have used an "advocate" too. All the best
-Steve
I know You'll be excellent :).
Sounds good Dave. Always nice to have friends in the field. I might be looking for a job soon, so keep your eyes out.
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