I’m moving up the software ladder. Nine months ago I was writing desktop applications for Factset; three months ago I was writing websites for Tagged; and now, I write Facebook applications for LOLApps. This trajectory predicts a soon to-be career in creating tiny web widgets and, inevitably, living off of single lines of code.
With every shift up the ladder, it seems like the pace kicks up a notch, and change comes about much more rapidly. The programmin’ is also a bit easier, but there are more technologies and layers of software to worry about, out here on the guzzlin’ edge of the web. And of course, the competition gets heavier and stiffer.
There’s got to be a rule in the Corporate Handbook for Dummies (TM) which advises that a passerby with no stake in the company’s well-being is better suited to architect its systems than its own employees. Strange custom, woefully true.
Consulting is a pretty lucrative gig in the software industry. Ridiculous hourly rates, architectural design, and flexible work periods are nice perks, but consulting avoids in the hardest part of writing software: the continual maintenance and enhancement of existing code. And really, consulting is the pre-med of the job world; it sounds impressive until you realize the qualifications for entry are essentially zilch.