Female hackers
One of the reasons I left my old team was how frenetic its product vision was. Yes, it was very very exciting; but at the same time, it was also constantly in flux.
The other reason was the amount of machismo and sheer force of will necessary to survive that team; I didn't have it. And so I left, because it wasn't doing my stress level or career any good. For the first time, I chose a new team based entirely on its people: not the product vision, not the technology, not even the geography.
4 months in, I'm not 100% sure it was the right decision. But it's novel, and the novelty is worth something. Obviously, I love my manager and I love my teammates. And while it's a bit weird to come into work with zero illusions that I'm going to change the way people think about technology or play with (or invent!) exciting new technology, the lack of excitement has really helped cement the clarity about life goals that I've been acquiring over the past year (see previous angsty posts). That clarity has been building for many many months, but having literally nothing to look forward to at work (aside from awesome people, that is) has been great in helping me stay focused on the things that truly are important to me.
But back to the reason I'm writing this post: one of the things I looked for in my new team was a good balance in the team. I liked that the second-in-command was a female. I liked that we all had reasonably dissimilar religious and educational backgrounds. Lastly, I liked the fact that 50% of the team is women. :)
I was on a conference call with an external partner today, and it tickled me to hear the call leader introduce the "engineering team" as comprising me and the other women. That's it; the men didn't come to the call. Nobody made a deal of it -- it wasn't even remarked on -- but it delights me that I can (falsely) represent my company as one that has enough women to be able to field all-women teams. :)
The other reason was the amount of machismo and sheer force of will necessary to survive that team; I didn't have it. And so I left, because it wasn't doing my stress level or career any good. For the first time, I chose a new team based entirely on its people: not the product vision, not the technology, not even the geography.
4 months in, I'm not 100% sure it was the right decision. But it's novel, and the novelty is worth something. Obviously, I love my manager and I love my teammates. And while it's a bit weird to come into work with zero illusions that I'm going to change the way people think about technology or play with (or invent!) exciting new technology, the lack of excitement has really helped cement the clarity about life goals that I've been acquiring over the past year (see previous angsty posts). That clarity has been building for many many months, but having literally nothing to look forward to at work (aside from awesome people, that is) has been great in helping me stay focused on the things that truly are important to me.
But back to the reason I'm writing this post: one of the things I looked for in my new team was a good balance in the team. I liked that the second-in-command was a female. I liked that we all had reasonably dissimilar religious and educational backgrounds. Lastly, I liked the fact that 50% of the team is women. :)
I was on a conference call with an external partner today, and it tickled me to hear the call leader introduce the "engineering team" as comprising me and the other women. That's it; the men didn't come to the call. Nobody made a deal of it -- it wasn't even remarked on -- but it delights me that I can (falsely) represent my company as one that has enough women to be able to field all-women teams. :)