Reflections on Employment

UPDATE: Four weeks into this job, I resigned. Interesting to read this post now with even more context. More on this subject in a subsequent post.

I'm settling into my new job at professional IT services firm Inergex, Inc. this month, already on a very large project at a very large company for, well, a very long time. Nothing by half! While adjusting to the drudgeries of daily commuting, suit-wearing, and corporate reporting, I have come to some realizations.

1. I like small to mid-sized companies best. I've been at eight companies in all in my career from 30 to 13,000 employees strong, and the ones that are most exciting have a payroll well under 200 employees. My firm fits that bill - many of their clients don't. It's a real dance for me.
2. What I do matters. I knew that before, really. When faced with doing some task that makes me think and another that makes me copy & paste & format, I take the high road of the former. In the end, I do what I'm paid to do like any other schlub, but my eyes burn when I think about pivot tables. Everyone's eyes should burn.
3. I miss Drupal development. I'm kind of doing some (minimally) right now, but Drupal is something that I lived & breathed for a while; I'm a little down on myself that I had to leave it to support my family. At the same time, I'm really excited about this other path and the life that it will eventually breath into my career. But that's really not happening right now. So I'm still a little bummed.
4. While I was unemployed, I talked with two startups, both with zero cash and great ideas. One a duo, the other a trio, both looking for technical direction on how to position themselves for growth... and looking for prototypes. Man, that's exciting work. I wish there were some way I could have funded myself to do those projects. My entrepreneurial spirit, seeing that little bit of action during Jan/Feb of this year, wants a real taste, because while I'm usually very risk-averse I still find myself thinking about their problem domains. Solving business problems that haven't been met before? Oh GOD, I love that.
5. The path of the ninja is treacherous.
6. I think I've done 200 or so non-dayjob projects for clients over the years. These entailed little websites over a decade ago, and these days are more like client-server applications and database architectures. I have fond memories of growing better with each of those engagements, and learning from my mistakes. I've also learned never to evangelize a technology, with the possible exception of Drupal for content management.
7. The month of February 2010 was one of the most productive and balanced of my life. It's also the only full month of involuntary unemployment I ever knew. I loved what I was doing in that interim period (which paid better than unemployment ever could!), and made a pretty good run as an independent contractor to small to mid-sized businesses. The kind without a lot of cash, but were really passionate about what they did. Invested in every outcome and approach - totally involved. It was a very happy time for me, and I hope to continue working with clients like that in the coming years.