The Pitch

Here’s the standard pitch I use when hunting for a job. I’ve gone back and forth between super short: “Here’s my resume. Please review it and call me.” and fountains of jargon laden prose like this. I’m not really certain which works better; but I certainly prefer the longer version.

I have more than a decade of C++ development and eight years of software architecture experience. In addition, I have more than five years of technical leadership experience, including roles as Product/Development Manager, Project Manager, and Technical Lead. I am accustomed to delivering the nearly impossible on time and often under budget.

My development and architecture experience spans the gamut from embedded systems (a long, long time ago) and shrink wrapped software development to distributed object-oriented web-services running on Unix (Linux/Solaris) and Windows NT. My peers consider me to be an expert in C++, because I am not only experienced with, but comfortable with the most obscure and complicated features of the language. I lead the effort within one employer to convert their enterprise knowledge management application from a home-grown collection library to use the C++ Standard Library (aka STL). In addition, I have extensive experience developing modern web applications; and I am accustomed to using the latest features of HTML, Javascript and Cascading Style Sheets while retaining graceful degradation in legacy browsers.

When designing systems, I value elegance and correctness over expedience; but I am always keenly aware of the business needs behind every project. Therefore, sometimes elegance and correctness must give way to expedience; however, I am adamant that I will only deliver a quality product. As an early adherent to the design patterns methodology, I developed a sophisticated page layout engine for the Sierra MasterCook application. The simplicity and self documenting nature of my design offered considerable cost savings by making future development both easier and less time consuming.

My most recent experiences, at International Biometric Group, InfoSpace, Primus and iTango, have all been with n-tier systems running on Solaris/Linux or Windows NT. Prior to leaving Primus, I designed an n-tier XML web-service based architecture for their web products. One of the first components in this effort was a complete unit testing framework, because I believe thorough testing is not only the responsibility of the QA team. This system pioneered within Primus the separation of business and presentation logic. In addition, it directly addressed the scalability issues customers had been raising.

I’m open to suggestions for refinement. However, don’t just tell me how bad my grammar is (Bradley).

Happy Little Anniversary

Well folks, some of you have just lost some money, I imagine. Scruffy and I will celebrate our 2-month anniversary of wedded *cough* bliss this evening with a meal at our favorite restaurant.

I must admit, with the snow and whatnot, it has been difficult to focus on the happy things happening for us recently. Hopefully a night like this will help us remember how fortunate we each are to have found someone (to put up with us)!

On a slightly different note, it would appear that my husband has been monopolizing this blog. I suppose I must do something about that.

Job Hunting Again

It’s that time again. After nearly a full year with my current employer, I’ve decided the company just isn’t for me. The goals I set when I started simply haven’t been met; and I don’t have confidence that they will be met should I stick around any longer.

So once again, I’m looking for a job.

Anna and I will be moving out of the Jersey City area when our lease expires at the end of March. Therefore, we’re actually fairly flexible about the location component of any job I pursue. But for family reasons, I think we’d like to stay on the east coast; and I think we’d probably prefer the North East. But, as I said, I’m actually fairly flexible.

With over a decade of senior development experience including more than five years of leadership and management experience, I’d like to focus on software product development. It’s where my strengths lie; and in the past, it’s where I’ve had the most fun. I’m confident my technical skills are up to the challenge of an Architect position; and my project management and people management skills are more than a match for a Development Manager position.

Here’s the snag: New York City doesn’t have many independent software development companies. Most development teams are embedded in financial services companies or the consulting companies that serve them. I don’t really have any interest in getting into the financial services world, which is fortunate, because you can’t get in if you haven’t any financial services experience.

I’m actually relieved by this. I don’t like New York City much. I know I haven’t really given it a fair shot at impressing me; but that’s life. I’d like to leave.

I’ll share my thoughts on an ideal location later…