work i like
I like working on cool problems and learning from smart people.
cool problems
A cool problem is something that makes me think “wow” or “oh damn” or “that’s interesting!”. It’s deliberately vague because I’m a noob who hasn’t experienced that much and unexpected things have ended up being cool to me.
Some traits that have contributed to me finding something cool in the past1:
- It’s within or applies knowledge from Computer Science.
- It pushes the boundaries of my own knowledge - either I’m learning something new or I’m applying concepts that I recently learned.
- It has a rationalisable2 impact, which can either be to other developers and users of software or to social / global issues.
- It may involve contributing to Open Source.
- It has a good balance of big/hard problems and observable quick wins.
last update: apr 2023
smart people
This is pretty straightforward but important. My intuition is that most people in the field, especially those involved in projects that I find cool, fulfil this easily. I don’t have a preference for the size and type of organisation as long as I have good and empowering mentors.