First Day Jitters
Almost 5 years ago, I started full time at my first real job. I came straight out of college with nothing more than a BS in Computer Science to work on the C# compiler. Yes, I'd done a few odd ball jobs programming here and there, but nothing with real testers, a schedule, and certainly not for a large corporation.
I felt fairly at home though in my first job. Maybe it was because I knew most of the team from a past internship. Maybe it was because I had a really good manager/mentor. Maybe it was because the product was so small at the time. Maybe it was because I was so young/stupid/naive/arogant.
Well, this last weekend as I the reality of my impending switch sinks in, I have become very nervous. I do know several teams members from previous interactions. I know the manager quite well, and I've heard tons of great things about his mentoring skills. My best guess is that I'm now experienced enough to realize how little I know.
My previous post mentioned how BYU was bigger on theory. Well even though I took two semesters on compilers, I've never actually read through the 'Dragon' book, nor actually implemented any real optimizations. Well, I guess I'll find out how smart I really am. Can I put theory into practical use? Can I learn something new? Even though I'm no longer a big fish in a small pond (remind me to tell you about my hometown), can I still prove I'm worth what Uncle Bill is paying me, or maybe even more? (I still getting used to the idea that you can get paid for having this much fun, but with a wife and 2 kids I've grown kind of dependent on the money).
Well, I hope this isn't waxing too personal for you. Maybe next time I can blog about the cool stuff I'm learning.
--Grant
Comments
- Anonymous
April 25, 2004
Good luck in your new job.
I've been sitting at my desk, trying to do some homework and having quite a difficult time with it wondering where the authors of my text book got the idea of using an almost S looking thingy as a symbol when I stopped for a break at the same time my rss aggregator flashed notification of your blog on the bottom of my screen....
I found your post to be reassuring, so it didn't seem too personal at all.
Thanks. - Anonymous
April 25, 2004
I just realized that you might not understand why me by frustrated by "an almost S looking thingy" relates to your post...
I was working on my program analysis homework, which is basically the "theory" behind obtaining the information neeeded by an optimizing compiler in order to do optimization. I was feeling particularly frustrated by the theory in my text book because the authors decided to use a symbol that not greek that looks like the top part of an S with most of the bottom except the last part.... anyways... I just thought I'd clarify... - Anonymous
April 26, 2004
It's a good blog, Grant.
You'll feel overwhelmed as long as it's new. That's normal. Pretty soon you'll get into the swing of things, don't worry. - Anonymous
April 27, 2004
You can't be too underqualified - you passed the <a href="http://www.sellsbrothers.com/fun/msiview/">interviews</a> :). - Anonymous
April 27, 2004
I'd love to hear how the new job goes. My cube-mates & I often wax nostalgic about our naive days saving the world. After 5 years (and a certain lifestyle) in one place I've also reflected on what a job change would mean (read: intimidating). Nice to know other folks feel it too.