Men With Jobs
I work for a pretty young company. We're not only young in the number of years we've been around, but also the average age of employee. We have a youthful culture without a lot of hierarchy and things always seem pretty unformal. The dress code, work habits, and personalities around the office are a result of the people we've built the company on and it's created an atmosphere that makes it a really interesting place to work- there are definitely times when I feel like I'm on an episode of Kid Nation. I talked to my old manager after I had taken over for him and the subject of work atire came up. He said he remembered that I wore a suit on my interview and it made him feel uncomfortable. This is going to be different from manager to manager, of course, but it's a an example of the office culture.
For some reason, I seem to have gotten it into my head that every company is run this way. Anyway, I couldn't help but have a George moment today when I walked into a meeting with some guys from UPS. I guess I should have been expecting it but I walked into a room of three middle aged men in suits (because, you know, they were meeting with a client so what else would be appropriate atire?). And the thought ran through my head...
"They're men with jobs, Jerry! They wear suits and ties. They're married, they have secretaries." -George Constanza, The PitchSo I was intimidated for about two seconds and I managed to get over it, but it was a strange feeling.
I haven't been to a lot of big development companies but I think the dress code at least is probably similar, although the average age has got to be higher. Everyone at Valve has always dressed casual- Gabe Newell was wearing JNCO's one day (and they were about two sizes too big). But then whenever I met with IBM for my senior project, they were usually dressed in khakis and a collared shirt. Anyway, I feel like our youth and inexperience is something that hurts us a lot of times but also makes us more flexible (and agile!). Overall it makes the office a lot more energetic and interesting place to work. I've complained about having to set up the practices and processes of Adaptavant's Development Department from scratch (Continuous Integration? Should we do that? That sounds complicated.) but it's also been a once in a lifetime possibility. So even through all the stress of not really knowing what to do all the time, I'm thankful for the experience.
