Wednesday April 01, 2009
Wednesday April 01, 2009
FiveYears@Sun.com
Today I received the notification that I have now spent 5 years at Sun:
I've never been in one company for that amount of time before. The longest I worked anywhere was from about 1996 to 1999, my first 'proper job', which was also the first years of my being a technical writer. Before that I never knew such a job existed. If I thought about it at all, I assumed the super smart lead programmers in a company write a product's technical documentation, instead of a total newbie who a week before thought Java was an island somewhere near Indonesia. Ha, logic. :-)
It's definitely been an incredible experience and none of it would have been possible without the unique culture at Sun. It's been commented on many times, but I'll say it again (also based on having worked in 4 or 5 software-related technical writing jobs prior to working for Sun): Sun Microsystems provides the best working environment for programmers (and ancillary staff, e.g., technical writers). I couldn't ask for more freedom than I have here. I couldn't ask for a company that puts more faith in the wisdom of its employees than Sun. I've never worked somewhere before where I can wake up in the morning and think: "Hmmm. How can I best help my target audience today?"
In this case, "my target audience" is "NetBeans Platform users", which is a big plus since they're friendly, helpful, and working on really interesting projects—writing complex desktop applications for a wide variety of end users, from pharmacists in Tunisia to technicians in Poland and from collision repair shops in Australia to war fighters in the US!
At first, I assumed the e-mail above was some kind of spam. (Or an April Fool's joke.) Then it turned out not to be the case. This is the handy gift I chose to commemorate this special occasion:
Thanks Sun and thanks everyone (seriously too many to mention) who has helped me understand the NetBeans Platform to the point where, believe it or not, I'm even allowed to give trainings in it!
Apr 01 2009, 01:34:14 AM PDT Permalink
13 Comments
Trackback URL: http://blogs.sun.com/geertjan/entry/fiveyears_sun_com
Comments:
Congratulation!
Nice to have you at Sun and the NetBeans Community :-)
best regards, josh.
Posted by Aljoscha Rittner on April 01, 2009 at 02:40 AM PDT #
And this is why it would be a dream job to work at Sun :)
Posted by Dave on April 01, 2009 at 02:44 AM PDT #
Congratulations Geertjan! 5 more for the next gift ;)
Posted by Rohan Ranade on April 01, 2009 at 03:05 AM PDT #
Wow, you have been there for 5 years. That's amazing!! Hope to see you enjoy this for a long time at Sun.
Cheers,
Varun
Posted by Varun Nischal on April 01, 2009 at 04:29 AM PDT #
Congrats! So...when are you getting promoted? :-)
Posted by Jacek Furmankiewicz on April 01, 2009 at 04:54 AM PDT #
Congrats! I hope to see you there for many years to come.
Posted by Fabrizio Giudici on April 01, 2009 at 05:01 AM PDT #
You know, I think (as NetBeans Platform User) that all those people experienced this GREAT Platform should give you a big ( THANK YOU ) for your great help you provide for them.
I'll dream receiving such mail, and will not think it as SPAM :-)
Congratulation GJ!
Posted by Ahmed Gaber on April 01, 2009 at 09:39 AM PDT #
I can't help but find it ironic that your gift for staying at one place 5 years is a suitcase :-)
Congratulations -- I definitely look forward to the next five years!
Posted by Tom Wheeler on April 01, 2009 at 01:27 PM PDT #
Congratulations. You're very hardworking man :)
Best regards!
Posted by Bartek Zdanowski on April 02, 2009 at 06:13 AM PDT #
Thanks all for the very nice words!
Posted by Geertjan on April 02, 2009 at 09:39 AM PDT #
Congratulations, G-man! Many thanks for all your hard work.
Posted by Gregg Sporar on April 02, 2009 at 06:24 PM PDT #
Congratulations Geertjan ,you deserve much more appreciations
thanks :))
Posted by Hamada Zahera on April 03, 2009 at 05:20 AM PDT #
Congratulations, Geertjan! It's great to read about your positive experiences at Sun!
Posted by David Koelle on April 10, 2009 at 09:23 AM PDT #
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