Losing A Career Can Feel Like Getting A Divorce
Job loss can be extremely painful because we have to start over and create a new identity. Clients tell me their feelings are similar to what they experienced during a bitter divorce -- a special form of the midlife crisis.Losing a career or business can also be a source of grief, anger and frustration. Starting a new business is an end as well as a beginnig. You may feel as though you are getting a divorce after a twenty-year marriage. Here's why.1. Sometimes the career leaves you. The field wants "younger p

Business Is Like A Cup of Coffee
To me, business seems to be like a cup of coffee.You either love it, or you don't!Meaning this,When you find a GREAT cup of coffee, you tend to savor each sip and take in all it has to offer. The smell, the taste, the over-all enjoyment that cup of coffee brings in to you. However, when you think your getting a great cup of coffee and all you get is just the "cup of coffee", not a lot of flavor, not much to talk about except the fact that you just spent money on a "not so great cup of coffee".Let me start out by saying that it is not my intention to be inflammatory in any way in this article. The purpose of the article is to share my impressions as to how a newly onshored software developer can succeed in the U.S. These impressions are based on many years of hiring offshore software developers to work onshore.

I've worked with many developers that had never worked in the U.S. prior to joining my company. Typically, these are developers from India. Most of these developers were very frightened and unsure of themselves, and it is understandable. I try to imagine what it would be like for me to go to work half-way around the world, trying to take in a new culture while trying to suceed in my new job. Some outsourcing firms do a fairly good job of preparing their workers for the U.S. Others don't.

Some of these developers turned out to be the best I've ever worked with. I'm going to be honest here about what it takes to succeed in your first onshore gig.

- BE AGGRESSIVE. This is the most important thing that I look for when interviewing someone. When I started out in this business, everything was about technical know-how. Over the years, I've learned that it is just as important, if not more so, to be aggressive. What do I mean by aggressive? I mean that you are willing to give 100%, and most importantly, you are willing to express unhappiness with someone who is not doing so. Yell at people. Argue. If you don't agree with the design of a solution, make your point known, loud and clear. Expect people that you are working with to get things done. There are some really lousy developers that were born and raised here in the U.S. Don't let the fact that you are "on their turf" diswade you from confronting them. This kind of aggressiveness will get you noticed in a good way. The best developer that I have ever worked with (and I mean EVER) came to the U.S. from India 5 years ago. And he's good because he's smart AND aggressive. Being timid will result in failure most of the time, no matter how smart you are.

- SOLVE PROBLEMS. Don't wait for someone to give you a solution to a problem. You need to try to fix something that isn't working instead of going to the lead or manager at the first sign that there is a problem, expecting them to help you solve it. Pretend for a minute that there is no one else that can help you, and if you don't fix it, it won't get fixed. That is a scary situation to be in (I know, because I've been in it), but I can tell you that nothing is more rewarding than working through it. Nothing will turn off a manager more than the person who is standing at their desk with a printout of a compiler error. I've seen this many times with newly onshored developers. The developer is often horrified by the fact that something is wrong, and they are bringing it to you to get it fixed as soon as possible, so that they don't need to worry about it anymore. I was the same way when I started out as a programmer. Keep your manager informed as

r me to go to work half-way around the world, trying to take in a new culture while trying to suceed in my new job. Some outsourcing firms do a fairly good job of preparing their workers for the U.S. Others don't.

Some of these developers turned out to be the best I've ever worked with. I'm going to be honest here about what it takes to succeed in your first onshore gig.

- BE AGGRESSIVE. This is the most important thing that I look for when interviewing someone. When I started out in this business, everything was about technical know-how. Over the years, I've learned that it is just as important, if not more so, to be aggressive. What do I mean by aggressive? I mean that you are willing to give 100%, and most importantly, you are willing to express unhappiness with someone who is not doing so. Yell at people. Argue. If you don't agree with the design of a solution, make your point known, loud and clear. Expect people that you are working with to get things done. There are some really lousy developers that were born and raised here in the U.S. Don't let the fact that you are "on their turf" diswade you from confronting them. This kind of aggressiveness will get you noticed in a good way. The best developer that I have ever worked with (and I mean EVER) came to the U.S. from India 5 years ago. And he's good because he's smart AND aggressive. Being timid will result in failure most of the time, no matter how smart you are.

- SOLVE PROBLEMS. Don't wait for someone to give you a solution to a problem. You need to try to fix something that isn't working instead of going to the lead or manager at the first sign that there is a problem, expecting them to help you solve it. Pretend for a minute that there is no one else that can help you, and if you don't fix it, it won't get fixed. That is a scary situation to be in (I know, because I've been in it), but I can tell you that nothing is more rewarding than working through it. Nothing will turn off a manager more than the person who is standing at their desk with a printout of a compiler error. I've seen this many times with newly onshored developers. The developer is often horrified by the fact that something is wrong, and they are bringing it to you to get it fixed as soon as possible, so that they don't need to worry about it anymore. I was the same way when I started out as a programmer. Keep your manager informed as

portant, if not more so, to be aggressive. What do I mean by aggressive? I mean that you are willing to give 100%, and most importantly, you are willing to express unhappiness with someone who is not doing so. Yell at people. Argue. If you don't agree with the design of a solution, make your point known, loud and clear. Expect people that you are working with to get things done. There are some really lousy developers that were born and raised here in the U.S. Don't let the fact that you are "on their turf" diswade you from confronting them. This kind of aggressiveness will get you noticed in a good way. The best developer that I have ever worked with (and I mean EVER) came to the U.S. from India 5 years ago. And he's good because he's smart AND aggressive. Being timid will result in failure most of the time, no matter how smart you are.

- SOLVE PROBLEMS. Don't wait for someone to give you a solution to a problem. You need to try to fix something that isn't working instead of going to the lead or manager at the first sign that there is a problem, expecting them to help you solve it. Pretend for a minute that there is no one else that can help you, and if you don't fix it, it won't get fixed. That is a scary situation to be in (I know, because I've been in it), but I can tell you that nothing is more rewarding than working through it. Nothing will turn off a manager more than the person who is standing at their desk with a printout of a compiler error. I've seen this many times with newly onshored developers. The developer is often horrified by the fact that something is wrong, and they are bringing it to you to get it fixed as soon as possible, so that they don't need to worry about it anymore. I was the same way when I started out as a programmer. Keep your manager informed as

ood way. The best developer that I have ever worked with (and I mean EVER) came to the U.S. from India 5 years ago. And he's good because he's smart AND aggressive. Being timid will result in failure most of the time, no matter how smart you are.

- SOLVE PROBLEMS. Don't wait for someone to give you a solution to a problem. You need to try to fix something that isn't working instead of going to the lead or manager at the first sign that there is a problem, expecting them to help you solve it. Pretend for a minute that there is no one else that can help you, and if you don't fix it, it won't get fixed. That is a scary situation to be in (I know, because I've been in it), but I can tell you that nothing is more rewarding than working through it. Nothing will turn off a manager more than the person who is standing at their desk with a printout of a compiler error. I've seen this many times with newly onshored developers. The developer is often horrified by the fact that something is wrong, and they are bringing it to you to get it fixed as soon as possible, so that they don't need to worry about it anymore. I was the same way when I started out as a programmer. Keep your manager informed as

fixed. That is a scary situation to be in (I know, because I've been in it), but I can tell you that nothing is more rewarding than working through it. Nothing will turn off a manager more than the person who is standing at their desk with a printout of a compiler error. I've seen this many times with newly onshored developers. The developer is often horrified by the fact that something is wrong, and they are bringing it to you to get it fixed as soon as possible, so that they don't need to worry about it anymore. I was the same way when I started out as a programmer. Keep your manager informed as to progress, but make it clear that you are the one fixing it.

- COMMUNICATION SKILLS. There are some people in the U.S. who simply cannot understand the english language when spoken with an indian accent. I've seen developers shipped back offshore simply because someone believed that they had poor communication skills, and the problems was just that they didn't understand the accent. Take a course to work on reducing your accent somewhat. You will be suprised how far this can take you. It is really not fair to have to do this, but I promise that this will have a positive effect on your career in the U.S.

- BE A SOLUTION PROVIDER. Recommend technologies that you think will be valuable. Go out on a limb and suggest the architecture for a new application. This is something that developers that have lived in the U.S. their whole lives struggle with as well. It is easier to sit in a corner and wait for someone to give you a spec that you can build from. There are times that I want to do this as well. But I know that I won't last more than a year or two being invisible.

Let me know what you think of this article. If you think I'm nuts, tell me so.