Edward Thomson

I made a promise to myself that this blog was going to discuss technical aspects - or at least software at large - and absolutely nothing about my personal life. Unless you care that I prefer Raisin Bran to Cheerios^[1].

And I'm going to stick by that... mostly. After a fair amount of criticism from several readers that I was "negative" to Macs^[2], I've decided to roll a little bit more of myself into this, so that next time somebody says that I'm spouting "anti Mac hate lies", then there's enough personal context for that to seem a silly accusation to even the most casual reader.

(And, of course, thank you to all those who were did give some positive feedback, and weren't put off by my poor attempts at sarcastic humor and abuse of footnotes.)

So anyway, while my web server was being beaten on by disgruntled Apple fans, I was busy with some family obligations -- notably, swelling with pride as I watched my younger brother become a psychologist.

The commencement address was given by Thomas Siebel, and while the graduates I talked to were too busy trying to keep their mortarboards^[3] from falling off to be inspired by his speech, I was impressed by a particular section:

First thing, you need to get a job. How do you do that? I guess there are a couple of ways. A common route is to get as many interviews as you can, until someone offers you a job. And then you take it and make the best of it. I do not recommend that route.

My suggestion to you is that you find an industry that you find interesting. Say biotech. Or travel. Perhaps entertainment. Communications. Aerospace. Automotives. Within that industry identify a high quality company that you would like to work for. Located in a place that you would like to live.

And then get hired there. Learn everything you can about the company. Study it on the Internet. Read its annual reports. Become an expert. And then figure out how to get a job there. Any job. It doesn’t matter.

Write the CEO. Write the VP of Engineering.

Get yourself an interview and explain that you want to work for that company – no other company -- and you are willing to take any job to get started.

Get a job in the mailroom. The help desk. The front desk. Customer service. Don’t worry about the salary or the title. Just get a job. After you get in the door, then the rest is up to you. Make it happen.

I thought this was excellent advice -- it could make the difference between what is "just a job", and a job you love. I think I've been lucky to have had some exceptional jobs, mostly because of doing just this.

In fact, that's how I started working at SourceGear^[4]

I started out volunteering some time at night to work on the build system for AbiWord, SourceGear's open source word processor, and I knew immediately that I wanted to work there -- amongst a bunch of talented people doing really cool things. Eventually, they had an opening for a Unix system administrator, and despite having worked a sysadmin job before^[5], I jumped at it. Not too long after that, SourceGear needed another developer, so I moved over to writing software there. And I loved it! I was writing code that did fun things, and doing it in a great environment.

So? So, I took a job at a company that I was stoked to work for, even though it wasn't the exact job I wanted there. And after a little while - boom - I've got a job I love^[6].

And it's not just me -- a friend of mine, we'll call him Tony, did a similar thing.

Tony started out working part-time for a mixed media publishing company while he was in college. He sought out this organization because he wanted a tech job, and he wanted to work on Macs. He started at the lowest technical opening they had, doing entry-level technical support for writers, editors and disc jockeys.

But Tony's a bright guy, a quick learner, and has an immense work ethic - quickly taking on a lot of new challenges and new responsibilities. Eventually, he's been there several years, working directly for the IT Director, learning every aspect of the infrastructure and taking on management responsibilities.

When Tony's boss (the third he's worked for) resigns, the company fortunately realizes that they have this wonderful asset. So he's appointed the new IT Director, overseeing all the technical aspects of a large (and growing) media company.

This is a young man who's gained exceptional technical and management experience, who's trusted by both those who work for him and the other directors in the company, and who's showing no signs of slowing down. By the time he's hitting 30, Tony's going to be an excellent candidate for IT Director jobs at bigger organizations. After that, VP-level jobs? Or maybe he wants to stay more hands on with the technology and starts his own consulting firm?

His future's bright, and he built it from the bottom up.

I appreciated this commencement speech both because I've done exactly this, and because I've seen it work for others. Now, hopefully you're in the job you love, and you don't need Tom Siebel's advice. But maybe you know someone who's starting out in their career, or maybe you know someone looking for a career change. Consider passing on Tom Siebel's advice -- it may just help them find a job they love.

1. I do, and you shouldn't.
2. Thankfully, not everyone saw it that way. Eric Sink said it best, "That wasn't anti-Apple -- it was anti Apple marketing kool-aid."
3. I guess the kids don't call them "mortarboards" anymore, they're just "caps" now.
4. I'm mentioning my great job at "SourceGear", when I just mentioned my great job at "Teamprise". Just to point out, SourceGear is the parent company to Teamprise.
5. One would have thought I would have learned my lesson the first time around, but even sysadmin at SourceGear was surprisingly great.
6. Oh, and in case you missed it, we're hiring.