As of this morning I am no longer employed by Tickets.com. It wasn't my decision to leave, unfortunately it was helped along by the relatively poor economy and the company losing customers to Ticketmaster left and right. (Thanks Clearchannel, hope your monopolistic endeavors go along real well! (that's sarcasm)).
I am not happy about this, I liked my job and my coworkers -- I can only hope there is another position in Connecticut that will be as challenging and diverse as this one was. In the last four years I got to work on windows, solaris, hpux, osx and linux using Java, Perl, Delphi, JSP and even a smattering of C. MySQL, Oracle, Interbase... I almost learned C#, but didn't quite get there -- maybe on the next job. No, I'm not happy.
Everyone understands that businesses need to do what they need to do to stay in business but sometimes one has to wonder if the decisions being made really do benefit the company. A nice going away present was this press release from last week. I was heavily involved in both design and implementation of Tickets@Home, Replay and The San Francisco Giants Double Play Ticket Window. (Enter Office Space analogy here).
I wasn't really sure what to put in this entry, it's not meant to be my resume and it's not meant to be a rant, I think mostly I'm just disappointed that things like these happen at all. Not just to me -- I'm not the only one who was laid off from this company (this is the fourth layoff since I've started working there) or from any other company and like all other things, this too will work out somehow.
My resume? Drop me a note and I'll forward it -- kasia@this-domain
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I'm sorry to hear about your job loss. Things will work out, they always do.
#Ah crap that sucks (I'd put it more eloquently but it wouldn't have the feeling)
With your know how I'm sure you'll find something quickly. might be a good time to move to CA weren't you thinking about that?
#Sorry to hear it. If you ever consider going to the Philly area, I'll ask around.
#It's not Connecticut and it's not web/db work, but: Want a job in the games industry in NYC?
#Thanks fluffy, but my only experience with game programming was a Java game back in college!
#I hear Google and Yahoo! are looking for programmers. I think they both require knowledge in RSS and Python, though.
#Hey Kasia
If you want to stay at home and work - we might have soem roles for you building "digital lifestyle aggregators".
#Hang in there. Use this opportunity to examine your situation, and to make changes to yourself so that you enter your next job as a "new and improved" version of Kasia. There are tons of jobs out there, the most difficult part is finding a set of co-workers and management that you can tolerate. In my experience, that part of the job is harder even than the ever changing technical scene.
Take some time to yourself, exercise, and take what I bet is a long overdue vacation. A year from now you'll look back and probably laugh.
#i don't know the guy personally - or professionally, for that matter - and thus can't make an intro, but one of the ESPN guys (in CT) has a blog below. might be an entrypoint.
good luck ;)
#What's dslreports - is that part of the same company, volunteer work, ...?
#http://www.dslreports.com (aka BroadbandReports.com) is a very popular website for online support. Forums for most of the popular cable/dsl/satellite ISPs, VoIP, UNIX, Windows, Security (the most popular), plus regional, social, and current-events forums.
Kasia is on staff there and helps keep the place running.
#Kasia,
Sorry to hear that you're looking for a new job - have always enjoyed your blog - do hope you find something that fits your needs there in Connecticut soon!
Bryan
#I'm sure you'll land on your feet after this, after all since I have chosen to honor you with a comment, surely you must have some redeeming qualities. :)
Take some time, wallow a bit, just don't let your fingers get pruney. You'll do fine.
#Sorry to hear this Kasia- Although I am sure that you'll be snapped up quickly, given your skill set and experience.
Unfortunately, I'm a TelCom related guy, but if there was a possibility that you might consider moving to Colorado or Denver, I could surely put in a good word....
Good Luck!!
Feel free to apply at WebMD, if you want to move to Atlanta. No guarantees though -- I'm just a lowly web developer, not a big-shot with my own office ;)
#Too bad you were not a canadian citizen, our office is trying like mad to hire anyone with any perl experience.
#Sorry to hear the news.
I'll be willing to bet your blog will be a help. You've made many thoughtful observations here since I've been reading.
#If you beat our sysadmin to death with a keyboard I believe California law states that you get his job by right of conquest...
Hey Kasia,
I was going to say bad luck - but you know what, with all the adulation you're getting from the programming community at large, you're better off out of that place. Think of it this way - there's only 24 hours in a day, you need some sleep, some cat time, some creative Kasia time, and of course you need to earn a living.
These muppets may have just brought you a huge opportunity to capitalise on your genius and actually make good of it. My advice for what its worth, get some freelance work, and think about where you'd really like to hone your skills. Then, get out there and embrace whatever project really excites you.
There's some great stuff out there... and believe me, as someone who has been in need of creative smart dynamic people who can be both sociable and program a PC, you (and most of the others who read this blog) are a bit of a rarity!
Ps. A total digression, but in the anti-spam wars, Lycos has made a bit of a cool play with this http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4051553.stm
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts (in another blog of course!)
I am sorry to hear this.
Just in case you consider moving to Germany ... my employer is continuously on the look-out for qualified geeks.
I am sure though that you will quickly find a new job. I can only agree with Nat thought that " the most difficult part is finding a set of co-workers and management that you can tolerate." Take care with that please, I have heard more than one unhappy story of cool jobs that turned out not quite so cool.
Good luck, Kasia! I'm sure you will find AN EVEN BETTER job soon :-) Best regards from Gdynia...
#Kasia - I just heard about you this morning - and was shocked. I only worked with you a little but IMHO (which absolutely counts for nothing) you were one of the most knowledgeable and talented people at TDC. What a stupid move letting you go! Im very sorry it happened but Im also very sure youll find someplace much better. Best Wishes.
#Sorry to hear about the downsize (lovely PHB term I know). After the initial [shock|amazment|worry|numbness|elation] wears off, may you come back stronger :) Perhaps an opportunity to do something different? Or do something lingering in the back of your mind for a while?
#Sorry to hear that. I hope you find an ever better job soon.
#Very sorry to hear about this :( The layoff axe also got me last year, it's hard but hang in there, talented programmers are hard to find, ask me, we looked for one earlier this year. Any plans to move here to silly valley ?
#Sorry about that. Very annoying and too much like a personal attack on your being.
One hopes that you will look back on this in a months time or less and thank the dweebs at Tickets.com for helping you try something new. I know you like your co-workers but the company is obviously up in the night or 'round the bend.
Too bad it is so rainy today in CT... sounds like mentally it would be a perfect day for an epic MTB ride. Maybe tomorrow will be better weather. I know the longer I ride the better I feel.
I like the comment made by Ant about exploring more non-traditional avenues of work. Write a book or do contract work or training or something you have always wanted to do.
If you are not 100% tied to CT, I would contact Google as well. I hear they have some amazing stuff going on there and they have been snapping up some of the best talent around. I know that Cedric Beust moved over to google and even offered to get people looked at over there. http://beust.com/weblog/archives/000187.html I know this is from September, but I am sure he would love to chat with you even now.
You have a virtual fan club of quite a few people cheering for you and curious to see what your next move will be. Maybe an article about finding a job in this economy in Wired? Maybe more pictures or cats and trees? Maybe a 13-part blog mini-series? Or maybe you could answer the age old question of how many quad grande lattes are too many for one day.
#I suggest University Computing! Good Luck!
#Sorry to hear you got laid off... I'd keep an eye out for you, but I'm not sure you'd want to move to New Orleans. If, by some strange chance, I see anything announced up that direction, I'll email it to you.
#What Lycos is doing is downright criminal.
#LOL, false accusations and personal attacks. Sounds like we have (yet another) typical leftie.
Only somebody with severe brain damage would condone DoS's.
#Sorry to read about that :/
Even if you're not considering working at Microsoft some of their recruiters have written a lot about job searching etc. at this blog http://blogs.msdn.com/JobsBlog/
Btw knowing all those prog. languages you almost know C# as well :). What takes longer to learn is how the platform/framework works...
Good luck in finding a new job!! Would love to work in some company and have some job to offer you, but since I'm still studying I can't do that. But I hope you get a new job (a long time) before I get my degree(in ~7 months)!
#Sorry to hear that you've been laid off. Good Luck.
#"LOL, false accusations and personal attacks."
Hmm, someone else does it and Dave complains...
Dave does it (before) and its perfectly okay...
Can Dave say hypocrite?
#"Anti-Dave" is a coward, in addition to other unappealing traits, who doesn't reveal their identity.
#This coming from a person who is as equally anonymous as "The Anti-Dave" and whose expressed purpose is to troll and annoy the people that read this blog...
When you post your full real name, home telephone number and address so that people can contact offsite and discuss all of the "unappealing traits" that you've made readily apparent, then maybe you can call posters like Anti-Dave a "coward."
But hey, while we're talking about unappealing traits, it seems you and your email address have been elsewhere:
http://www.filmtracks.com/comments/titles/harry_potter/index.cgi?read=530
#Yikes just read this. Sorry to hear about the job loss :(. I remember how crappy it was when I got laid off. Anyways, good luck on the job hunt. I get questions about web development here and there (for stuff in the hartford area), and since these days I'm not up to doing too much work I can forward along stuff (anything from basic website design to more complex commerce site stuff) if you want.
The lovely and talented Kasia has been laid off. Those looking to hire a talented programmer might want to scoop her up fast....
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November 29, 2004 11:33 PM
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November 30, 2004 06:31 AM
I'm sure i'll get a lot of flack in private* about this, but if anybody is looking for a intelligent programmer (not a code monkey)..you absolutely need to snatch Kasia up right now. She'll not only wipe the floor with your dev team, but will eat ma...
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November 30, 2004 09:41 AM