What Programmers Want

I wish the title didn't use "Programmers". Am I a programmer? I kinda hope not.

But, I've re-read What Programmers Want about every week for the last... month and a half? Ow.

Aside from the title, there are occasional words with which I would quibble. But overall? A direct statement of some things I have long held to be true, but couldn't express clearly.

Programmers face a job market that’s unusually meritocratic when changing jobs. Within companies, the promotion process is just as political and bizarre as it is for any other profession, but when looking for a new job, programmers are evaluated not on their past job titles and corporate associations, but on what they actually know.

See, I might want to argue with "know" there. "...what they can actually do" perhaps? But it doesn't change the sentiment.

(Google Reader showed me this via this guy (recommended) )