Thrive Campaign
The Thrive resources are here to help developers at a challenging time. I've gone through the site and looked at materials. Of course it can't be all things to all people, but it has some excellent and useful resources.
It is all about making you more valuable, getting you paid to utilize for your talents in .NET software development.
You could use Thrive in many ways. You can build community, hook up with others, at user group meetings or at events for software developers, architects, IT Pro, and the like. The point is – learn from others, take time to get input from others in your profession. Thrive has job postings, so you can search for employment. Thrive has Podcasts, like the one I outlined below (Greg Brill), which discusses the job opportunities and the big picture for being an IT professional in a large corporate environment.
Thrive Resource: Development in a Downturn Podcast Series, brought to you by .NET Rocks
This Week: Greg Brill - Co-Founder and CEO, Infusion Development
I've started listening to this Podcast, which describes how the current market conditions are adffecting developers. At about 8:30 minutes in the Podcast, Greg talks about the general market. He makes the point that software developers are "cost centers," which many people have learned about already. He talks about talent and rent being cheap for startups. Greg discusses that employees are an extra 30% on top of the salary, for benefits and such. He then says this is a time where "average" developers will get cut. Greg makes the point that "Excellent" developers will still do well.
Click here to listen to the PodCast.
Resources for getting paid to write software
I've been thinking about what helps developers the most in today's world. My answer would be to get relevant skills that are up to date and ready for today's economy.
I currently host many user groups in San Francisco. I've done Code Camps, Cloud Camps, Smart Grid Lectures, Azure, Silverlight, WPF, and some of the data related technologies, such as WCF, ADO.NET Data Services. I think the best thing to do when the chips are down is to study – get smart at a few things and develop a deep interest in some topic. I've been pounding my head on WPF lately, even though I think Silverlight is where I want to be. But WPF XAML is the superset – I want to know the whole thing, and then work with what Silverlight supports.
Play, Have Fun – Write Code !
Just code up some useful project you've always wanted. I've code up a ton of utilities for my code projects and presentations. Just the other day I coded up an application that completely hides my "behind the scenes" magic to do demos. When I do demos, I usually want to do two things. The first thing is kick off PowerPoints without the audience seeing me do any commands that is visible on the screen. I just type a sequence of keystrokes on my computer, which might look like, "f 25", which maps to a code snippet copy into the clipboard or a PPT presentation kick off. The audience can't notice anything from my screen. It just magically happens. My audiences don't get distracted with multiple screen activities, bouncing back and forth between different apps. My deliveries should be smooth – my audience shouldn't see distracting copies from some Notepad text file. I should just magically paste secretly loaded code snippets. More on that later.
This week Microsoft is launching Thrive for developers. (link: www.microsoft.com/thrivedev) . Although the economic news is looking a little brighter, we know it's still tough out there…. to help Microsoft has put together Thrive - a website all about helping developers survive the recession and manage their careers in this tough economy. Thrive pulls together a ton of great resources to help you learn new tasks faster, get access to discounted training, and certification and connect you with your local community.
Tons of screen casts – Watch a screen cast series that explores the new skills developers need
I'm always about the best ways to learn. These screen casts explore quick learning techniques, how to build consensus, and the always tricky task of "talking to humans." Trust me, communication is key even for the best developers.
What type of a job are you looking for – It is categorized. Click below.
What type of software person best fits you?
These looked kind of interesting:
.NET Architect
Data Architect
Senior Software Engineer
Chief Architects
MIS Operating Systems Software Architects
Senior C++
Travel
There are jobs in many places. I saw listings for Chicago, New York. Great places to live and take up new challenges.
Get a job in your own backyeard – filter by city
Of course you don't have to move. If you are well prepared, there are positions in many cities. Click here to see.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed or Post a Job. Click here. Subscribe to the RSS Feed here.
Hook up with your community
I learn a lot by hanging out with developers. Going to user group meetings is important. I've gone to all kinds of meetings. I've shown Drupal users how to run on Windows and how to Put a Silverlight control on a Drupal web site. I've shown how to put Virtual Earth into Silverlight with custom map functions.
I learned by going to events. I'm urging everyone reading this to go to your local community. Give me an email at Bruno Terkaly and I will tell you how.
Here's how to find your local events at Community Megaphone
Summary
If you are thinking about getting better at what you do and you are serious about meeting other developers, learning from Podcasts, Thrive can help you immensely. Now is the time to get out and about, get into something that makes you marketable.