My Christmas Gift of Rails
Posted by Doug Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:56:01 GMT
I am so excited about this New Year! I was diligent about learning Ruby on Rails in 2005 and getting some practical experience. In 2006 I’m ditching my current gig as a Unix Systems programmer and taking a new job as a full-time Ruby on Rails Web developer!
As of this week I’ve gotten two production sites running with Ruby on Rails. One is a significant effort of more than 3000 lines of code. It took me most of the year working part-time hash out all the requirements and deliver the finished product. I know there’s more to come on this site, but I’m glad to finally have something in production.
The other one I cheated on. A client wanted a new feature added to an old site. I was loath to go back into that code because it was so messy. So, I re-wrote the whole site in RoR and added her new feature. Time “lost”? About 25 hours and 350 Lines of Code. That is exactly what Ruby on Rails is all about!
Now for my big news. Let’s talk about my ideal working conditions:
- Company that uses agile methodologies.
- Company that sanctions and uses Ruby on Rails.
- Mostly telecommute that doesn’t require me to relocate my family.
- I get to use a Mac with no questions asked.
- I get to work on a project that closely aligns with my hobbies and passions.
Check, check, check, check, and check. I’m not going to divulge all the details right now. The company hiring me hasn’t really made a public announcement about their use of Ruby on Rails. What I can say is I’ve always wanted a job like this but felt like it was beyond my reach. When you’re young and just out of college it’s much easier to make sacrifices to take the “dream job”. The further out of college you get, the more responsibility you have and the harder to just Do It.
This job allows me to follow the dream without sacrificing my family. I truly feel this is a gift from God. I realize many of my readers don’t believe in God and just got a sour taste by my saying that. However, I feel strongly that I need to give Him public credit for this job.
I have tried for years to find a job like this without success. Honestly, it’s been quite discouraging. Since early Fall I have been actively pursuing some way to work with Ruby on Rails full time without success. In fact, my best prospect was a job about 30 miles away doing Perl application development. Two years ago I would have loved full-time Perl. Now I was feeling “resigned” to taking it. Then out of the blue came this position. Two weeks later and I have an offer.
I’m not going to try and explain how or why God orchestrated this. I do want to give Him thanks though. All good things come from God. I’m very excited about this job. I know I can do a good job. One of my top goals for 2006 is to “go above and beyond” to demonstrate why I’m exactly the guy they wanted.
congratulations Man! I understand how you feel, and I know I feel the same way about my job here.
Hope it stays good!!
How did you go about finding this company? Monster.com or by a friend who knows a guy that knows another guy that heard that a company heard about rails and was looking for somebody? Haha. I’ve pretty interested in how you found this new job.
If you know that many of your readers don’t believe in stories about ‘Him’ then why do you bother mentioning ‘Him.’
You sadden me.
Unless you think that DHH is God? OMGZ. YOU DO.
DHH = Intelligent Designer
Congrats Doug!
Unbelievable as it sounds, I found out about the job on IRC! I was helping someone who said their company was looking for full-time Railers to relocate. I submitted an application and said, “I won’t relocate, but I will do some nominal percentage of time on-site.” They turned me down, but then contacted me again about two months later. As I said, two weeks after that I had the offer.
As far as mentioning “Him” when I know not all of my readers believe in “Him”, I also know that some of my readers do. By making posts like this I want to encourage them. Second, I believe that I should be vocal of my belief and service to God. If doing so gets me removed from the various planets I’m on, then so be it. Being a witness to the things God does for me is part of who I am.
Doug, two things:
1. Congrats on the new job. It is a fantastic opportunity and one that I believe demonstrates the current trend in human resource and employment. For more good info regarding telecommuting, etc., I would certianly recommend reading the book, “The World Is Flat.”
2. Regarding “Him.” It is your blog. Period. I find it rediculous that someone would be “saddened” by your expression of appreciation and humility. I hope he realizes that a mature person would at least respect an individual’s blog. Beyond that, let me share my own personal appreciation for your boldness in expressing faith in the technology world. There are a number of us who actual possess the crazy notion that only an irrational man/woman could defy known science by proclaiming something came from nothing (wherever it is that you start).
Go on thanking God and doing the excellant technical work that you are doing. And thank you for it!
Congratz Doug! Glad you’re making progress towards what you love (RoR).
Doug, this is great news! It’s not often that you get all of your job search criteria met in the same job :) I hope that everything works out as advertised.
As for the other, some might need to be reminded that a blessing for a neighbor/friend is a blessing for us all.
Very cool! Congratulations! I’m one of those “resigned” to a rather boring job, and my solution to the problem was to reduce it as much as I could afford. Now I’m rather happy with a well paid, boring 60% job and enough free time to pursue a million and one other ideas in my free time. I sure felt blessed by whoever was looking out for me. ;)
Fantastic, man. I hope I get to follow the path you’re beating down for the rest of us!