Richard Monson-Haefel's Blog

9 of Clubs Seeks a new Deck of Cards

Recently I had the honor of being named one of the 53 most influential people in the Java industry by The Middleware Company. My card was the 9 of Clubs – I have no idea how to interpret that distinction. Obviously, it’s a nice complement especially considering that the votes came from developers who subscribe to TheServerSide.com mailing list – a resource I consult regularly even if the threads are frequently hijacked.

You would think that a guy in this deck of cards is probably making gross amounts of money and living a leisurely life. I can't speak for the other people on the list, but that doesn't describe my life at all. I work really freaking hard – as hard as anyone reading this blog – and I don't own a yacht or drive a Lamborghini. I'm not poor by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm not going to make the Forbs list anytime soon.

The truth is being an independent is hard work. I've been at it now for about five years and its never been a cake walk – ok occasionally it's been easy, but most of the time its not. For the most part I'm busting my butt trying to convince companies that I'm worth what I'm worth even if John and Jane Doe charge a faction of the price. The truth is, I'm usually over qualified for most consulting gigs so the spectrum of opportunities available to me is actually less than the average developer.

I heard once that winning an Oscar in Hollywood is a double edge sword. Actors who win are recognized for the quality of their work, but subsequently find it hard to find work. I even heard it descried as the Oscar "Death Knell": Its great to win, but its better to get nominated. This is probably a bit of hyperbola and I don't mean to compare my meager success to winning an Oscar, but the truth is: Success is measured in many ways and peer recognition – while wonderful – doesn't always translate into big bucks and loads of free time.

After more than five years of going-it-alone, I finally asked for help. This Monday I decided to try my luck for the first time with the grape vine. Although I have frequently helped others find work, I've rarely asked for help myself. Why? Well I guess I felt that I should be able to find my own work. Also it’s a matter of pride. I don’t like to ask for help. I don't want my peers to know that its hard for me to find work that fits my skills and pays well – everyone seems to assume that if your well known you automatically make tones of money. Its not always true.

I've been very involved in the Java industry. Two months after I started learning Java I started the Wisconsin Java User's group – that was back in the spring of 1996. Since than I've volunteered for all sorts of things from open source projects to JSRs and I'm proud of what I've accomplished. The culmination of all this altruism was being voted into the JCP Executive Committee last fall – an honor I've take very seriously.

I've done good things for our industry, but I feel its time to step back and let others have the glory. I have a family now. My boy, Henry is about 2 1/2, and my daughter, Olivia, is just 9 months. I need to look inward toward my family and put them first. That means I need to find a stable job with some longevity and hopefully something with a lot less travel. I think I was honored with the 9 of clubs because I've donated so much of my time to the Java community – people will probably laugh at that, but I can't think of any other reason. Working on expert groups, open source, and the JCP consume enormous amounts of time, but pays nothing, zip, zilch. That's ok, I knew that going into these endeavors and its expected that I should be able to leverage my contacts and name recognition into a living. I have done that to some extent, but it hasn't been easy. You still have to find work that fits your credentials and sell yourself at rates that are affordable – these are usually contradictory objectives after a certain point.

OK, so why this blog? Well, I'm hoping that someone will read it and say "Hey, I got just the job for this guy! What's his e-mail address?" (btw it is Richard@Monson-Haefel.com). Head hunters and other professional placement guys should not bother to contact me - you guys are evil.

There is another reason: On occasion I've had people ask me how they can manage their career to become more successful – to be more like me. This always makes me wince. I've been fortunate – no doubt about it – but I wouldn't recommend my life style to anyone. It’s a lot of work with very little pay. As I said, peer recognition is great – its probably the best recognition you can have – but making a living is not a bad thing either. I'm honored to be counted in that deck of cards with the likes of James Gosling, Rod Johnson, Gavin King and others – but its time to join a new deck – one that gives me more time with my family and actually pays a salary.

Comments

• Does this belong on java.net?

  Richard,

  This raises an interesting point for me - is this an appropriate blog for java.net. Although we don't censor on our site we do have the following two guidelines that we send all bloggers (1) no marketing and (2) the post must be of interest to Java developers (though not necessarilly Java specific). My first instinct is that this, as you say, this purpose of this blog is to find you employment and that is inappropriate. The reason I am posting this here rather than in a private email is that I want to open up the discussion. Maybe posts like this are of interest to Java developers and should be encouraged.

  Best,

  Daniel

  Posted by: daniel on May 07, 2004 at 06:18 AM

• Does this belong on java.net? I think this is a very appropriate blog. It illustrates that no one is immune to the recession and also provides my views on altruistic ventures and being in the spot light. Perhaps my blatant advertisement for work is a bit usual, but I don't think the blog would have much punch without it. Basically I'm saying: Hey guess what, its not all milk and honey - even people who are well known and well connected need help now and then. I certainly respect your desire to police the blogs and I'll understand if you don't feature it, but its a hart felt message that I believe others will find interesting. Richard

  Posted by: monsonhaefel on May 07, 2004 at 07:42 AM

• I agree with RMH I think Richard is correct that his blog entry is appropriate. These are tough economic times for Java programmers and it makes sense for him to share his tribulations. I didn't see this as Richard looking for work but rather the 9 of clubs letting us know that it isn't easy even for a famous Java author to get rich in the post dot-com-crash world.

  Posted by: tgpaul on May 07, 2004 at 09:02 AM

• It is appropriate Why the hell not, a one time self-promotion is a fair trade for writing a blog for you guys. It would irritate me if he did it more than once though. It has given me a better understanding of the Java job market. (depressing)

  Posted by: sackley on May 07, 2004 at 09:04 AM

• Mixed feelings

  I'm very split on this one. On the one hand, the material about going it alone as a consultant is a valuable slice-of-life that developers should hear and think about as part of their career planning.

  On the other hand, this is using the weblog and all its underlying support - storage, bandwidth, an RSS feed, etc. - for the purpose of better publicizing the author's job search. For the egalitarian-minded, this should be offensive because he's using a resource most other java.net members don't enjoy. I'm not egalitarian, but I'm leery of the precedent - how good are our blogs going to be for readers if we implicitly encourage using them as a personal networking tool?

  --Chris (invalidname)

  Posted by: invalidname on May 07, 2004 at 11:53 AM

• Does this belong on java.net?

  Thanks Richard, I raised this as a question and am glad that you took it in that spirit. I actually did feature your post in my daily update today. I think that what you've written about is important - perhaps I read it wrong. I took your mention of all that you do as self-promotional and building up to your pitch for work. I apologize for not seeing the bigger issues that your entry raises.

  Thank you again for your post and your follow-up.

  Daniel

  Posted by: daniel on May 07, 2004 at 01:29 PM

• Does this belong on java.net? I've seen at least one other blogger on this site work in the fact that he had recently left his company and was "available" for work. Not a big deal to me.

  Posted by: clamprecht on May 07, 2004 at 04:19 PM

• Does this belong on java.net?

  FWIW, I think that there's a big difference between someone using this venue as nothing more than a marketing mouth-piece for their companies/products and someone, like RMH, talking about the reality of their experiences as a person in the (Java) community.

  Posted by: johnm on May 07, 2004 at 06:11 PM

• RE: Does this belong on java.net? +1 for RMH. I think java.net policy for blogs should encourage a more "close" relationship between the blogger and the reader. Something like a 80%-Java-related approach would allow much more personal views and would help bloggers as well. That's what RMH has been doing and, although it's not like my personal style for blogs, I like this and I am sure lots of other visitors do. []s Michael

  Posted by: mister__m on May 07, 2004 at 07:45 PM

• Interesting... I came a long way* to read this post. As a freelancer that tends towards Java I found it very interesting. It may have elements of sales pitch for employers, but I'm not a consumer of people and found it a good read. btw, didn't Tim Bray just get his job at Sun through flaunting himself on his blog? * via half a dozen blogs

  Posted by: danny on May 08, 2004 at 04:30 PM

• there are many dimensions to work/life/* ... and to overly normalize the discussions in and around "java" will effectively neuter the more thought provoking and day in the life of a "community of developers" topics that help one gain focus, adjust priorities and see the bigger picture, if only for a moment. good, honest, gut check dialogs add flavor. bring on the seasonings.

  Posted by: gonzo on May 08, 2004 at 08:57 PM

• Does this belong on java.net? Yes and No. Daniel, Yes and No. I don't think as a self promoting blog it is too interesting. But because it is Richard I think that opens up a new question. How bad is the market and where is the support from the likes of SUN, IBM, BEA, and the others for people that have definately helped their business. If Sun wants 10million developers they better have jobs for them. I know that my 18+years in IT, 7+years in Java, and 4+years in J2ME haven't done much for securing jobs. We need a way to get companies to see us, the developers. We need Sun to help grow the job market, instead of promoting shipping it to India for low/no pay workers. IBM and BEA owe Richard a living. How many EJB developers would there be without "Enterprise JavaBeans"? How man Weblogic or WebSphere installations would there be if it weren't for the documentation that Richard put in his books? Sadly big companies don't care. They only want to make as much money as possible, they don't want to look for good people just cheap, and if they destroy the US economy so be it. Someone needs to stop this madness, and start getting jobs to the developers. Make if possible for Me and You to get jobs without 4-5 different recruiter/headhunters/Pimps taking the cream off the top and leaving nothing but 10-20/hr. The mechanic the works on cars makes more, plumbers make more. Where is the modivation for kids to spend years of their life learning, getting an education if only to be thrown out into the street penny-less, while those that didn't graduate highschool make more and live better than we do. It should be called Computer Arts, because we are all starving artist of technology. -Shawn

  Posted by: sfitzjava on May 11, 2004 at 06:37 AM

• Does this belong on java.net?

  .... Of course, I still found it a bit whiney and crass. :-)

  Posted by: johnm on May 11, 2004 at 08:37 AM

• These are good ideas! Thanks for sharing. geocities, attendance control, cnlogistic, fingerprint authentication, garment manufacturers

  Posted by: winrelocation on August 15, 2007 at 08:13 PM

• Chinese Zodiac Chinese Zodiac: Year Of The Tiger 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 Tigers, considered to be brave, Chinese Zodiac Chinese Zodiac: Personality Occupying the 8th position in the Chinese Zodiac, the Goat (or Sheep) symbolizes such character chinese zodiac signs chinese zodiac signs: Year Of The Dog 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042, 2054 One The precancerous cervical lesions which, how With chronic cervicitis, cervical erosion and cervical laceration is the precancerous cervical lesions. According to national cancer institute national cancer institute: Cervical cancer is the most common malignancy of female genital mutilation, and more in the cervical cancer screening cervical cancer screening: Cervical cancer is taken off the Chinese, of leakage, in such areas Zheng Jia. Qi Bone metastases of lung cancerindicators that For patients with lung cancer, urinary porphyrin acridine topiramate crosslinking of collagen type N-terminal Digestion is not possible symptoms of Any local or systemic disease, could lead to gastrointestinal capacity diminishes, and central nervous system national cancer institute national cancer institute: Kyoto University's Institute of Chemistry, Professor Tian-Shinshu University and the Faculty of Medicine, Associate Professor Cervical cancer is gradually rather than Cervical cancer development process in recent years, by large number of studies have clearly cervical cancer cervical cancer: Cervical cancer How can early detection of cervical cancer? Cervical cancer cervical cancer cervical cancer: Canada Hopkins immunology and infectious disease experts Tunhongtai said that the current medical has been chinese zodiacs chinese zodiacs: Personality Occupying the last position in the Chinese Zodiac, the 12th, the Pig symbolizes such character Chinese Zodiac Monkey Personality Occupying the 9th position on the Chinese Zodiac, the Monkey possesses such character traits as Chinese Zodiac Chinese Zodiac: Astrology has for years played significant role in Chinese culture. The depiction on cancer cancer: Cancer is still unresolved medical problems, as long as the club is involved in the Tubal evacuated to the early symptoms Early primary fallopian tube cancer is "subtle" and "cunning" and atypical symptoms. If large The elderly should be alert to The etiology of the cancer, 80% from outside carcinogenic factors, most of which are carcinogenic breast cancer breast cancer: Breast cancer patients how to follow-up and how to review the cancer is need breast cancer breast cancer: Recently, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2006 will be announced in the middle diagnosis diagnosis: Prevention the best choice for breast cancer One, mammography camera Right breast cancer

  Posted by: ruthrobeson on October 25, 2007 at 03:55 AM

• wow power leveling wow powerleveling wow power leveling wow gold wow items feelingame.com wow tips Most Valuable WOW Power Leveling Service wow power leveling faq cheap wow power leveling wow power leveling wow powerleveling wow power lvl

  Posted by: rinimade on December 23, 2007 at 07:59 PM

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.