Own Your Labor

In college I was overflowing with enthusiasm for all the code concepts being taught to me.  I wrote tons of code for school, of course, but I also wrote tons of code for fun, and ever MORE code as a part-time job for a local Real Estate company called HHHunt.  It'd be hard to even estimate the hours I committed to my schoolwork or my hobby projects, but an estimate for HHHunt is possible because I HAD to count my hours to get paid.  All in all I contributed ~1700 hours in my 2.5 years of part-time work...

I still have a copy of all the code I wrote for hobby or for class.  A lot of it I have shared several times as code samples during job interviews.  I have used some of the school code to refresh my memory on various CS concepts.  Some of the more public apps like Peeps have also been useful in the "Hobby" section of my resume. ;o)

For my 1700 hours at HHHunt, I got ~$25k (I was so cheap once!), and I got a few lines on my resume that indicated some "work experience", but all my creations are lost to me.  I wasn't allowed to take them with me, or their source.

My first programming job out of college was for a military contractor: Computer Sciences Corporation.  I had to get a Secret Security Clearance just to get the job.  I spent 8 months (~1500 hours) writing an Actionscript simulation from scratch, as well as a virtools application which involved driving a Humvee thru mountainous terrain.  The projects were fun and I worked on them enthusiastically, at nights and on weekends.  I have ~$32k and another few lines on my resume to show for that effort, but because of the confidential nature of the work the creations and their source were once again completely lost to me.

As a proud creator of anything, it's hard to hand over control to someone else.  I remember a great Frasier episode where he helped build a Habitat for Humanity house, but then couldn't stand it when the tenants put up tacky lawn ornaments.

For the last 3 months I've worked excitedly on a game that has since launched on the Facebook platform.  Nowhere in the game are we allowed to list "credits" for the games creators.  Furthermore, the client has insisted on multiple changes that are the equivalent of "tacky lawn ornaments".  There's also no hope of me being allowed to take the code for the game with me, or to show it to others for future job opportunities.

When the game first went public, I posted a brief blog article here.  The article revealed no secrets, and implied nothing negative.  I was told by my employer that I had to take the article down.  So, in addition to losing the code and being forced to attach tacky additions, I don't even have the privilege of publicly sharing the mere FACT that I created it.  (no, I'm not kidding).

Code lasts a long time.  Anybody with experience in software knows that code and applications always last far far longer than originally expected...the world is awash with old "legacy" crap.

If you can think opportunistically: owning your own code and applications will, in the long run, almost assuredly prove to be more valuable than your monthly salary.  It will continue to pay you back in small unexpected ways for years and years.

When choosing a path, remember to consider how much you will be allowed to "own" and take credit for your labor.  If you are like me, that issue is easily as important as salary or "work culture" combined.