remote
     synthesis

Another Developer Caught in the Economic Downturn

Posted on Feb 27, 2009

Today's post was originally going to be about Flex Camp Miami, but then fate sadly intervened and it is now about my layoff from my position at Universal Mind. It seems that the economic downturn has hit UM too and this has unfortunately cost myself and several other talented developers their jobs at UM. It's easy to feel angry at a time like this, but I don't blame them - its tough just to survive right now. Plus, I really enjoyed my time there even if it was far shorter than I would have hoped - it was challenging and fun while it lasted.

Anyway, enough of the sob story and on to the future. Obviously, if you are looking for a Flex, AIR and ColdFusion developer in the Boston area or to work remotely, please contact me. I am willing to consider contract or freelance work as well. Since this is a bit of a shock, I am only just getting to updating my resume which I hope to have soon, but in the meantime you can see more about me and view a list of my publications and presentations as well as some of my open source project contributions if you are interested.

Comments

As you said its probably easy to get angry but don't, keep your head up! You are very talented and I am sure you will bounce back quickly!

Posted By Dan Vega / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 12:54 PM

Hey man, let me know if I can do anything to help. Really sorry to hear that.

=Ryan
ryan@adobe.com

Posted By Ryan Stewart / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 1:38 PM

Hey Brian, sorry to hear this, both for you and for Universal Mind. Will keep you in mind if I hear of any opportunities.

--- Ben

Posted By Ben Forta / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 1:42 PM

"Come on in... the water's fine".

But seriously: sorry to hear that: it's a suckful situation to find one's self in, isn't it? The same thing happened to me last month (haven't found anything yet), and it makes for challenging times. But we all like a challenge, right?

Best of luck on your hunt!

--
Adam

Posted By Adam Cameron / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 2:00 PM

You know the CF team will do anything we can to help. Don't let the economy discourage you. You're still an extremely talented developer and any company would be lucky to have you.

Posted By Adam Lehman / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 2:00 PM

hi I just sent your blog link to a old business associate looking for a CF Senior Engineer in Boston area...

eme off this thread for more details

Posted By christopher Macdonald / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 2:03 PM

Man, that's rough dude! I wish I could help you, but I live on the other side of the country. :{ I hope it works out well for you.

Posted By Jake Munson / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 2:44 PM

Sorry to hear this for you and UM. I'm certain you'll be one of those guys that has 4-5 offers next week. Just in case you didn't know, the Atlanta CF group has a fairly active jobs list at jobs@acfug.org. You can sign up to the list through the website at acfug.org. We have several top employers in this neck of the woods such as UPS, Federal Reserve, etc. Some may be fine with a telecommute situation. I'll let you know if I run across anything.

Posted By John Mason / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 4:31 PM

Sorry to hear that!
I am sure you will find something else in a short time.

Good luck and best wishes!

Posted By O?uz Demirkap? / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 5:35 PM

My condolences, friend. Keep us updated on your success at finding work in this difficult time.

Posted By Joshua Curtiss / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 5:40 PM

Echoing the sentiments of others. Sorry to hear about your and UM's loss. I'll let you know if I hear about any opportunities.

Posted By Adam Tuttle / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 5:40 PM

Dang! Sorry to hear that Brian. The economy really sucks and it's always hard when it hits home like this :(

As others have said, don't be discouraged - you're top talent and I'm sure you'll be in great demand in quick order!

Posted By Sean Corfield / Posted on 02/27/2009 at 6:29 PM

I would like to pretend there is no recession but looking for a next project-this week demonstrated to me that the recession does not discriminate. I just hope these companies start getting enuff $ to shake this thing loose.

Posted By diamondTearz / Posted on 02/28/2009 at 2:20 AM

Got this in the mail the other day, maybe it can help;

-------------------------------------------------

The position is for a FLEX Developer in Newton, MA.

For more details or to apply simply visit our website:

http://www.CyberCoders.com/qb.aspx?posId=JP-FLEXDeveloper&ad=CSCBJonathan.Paul


The job details:

FLEX Developer
Location: Newton, MA
Salary Range: $80,000 - $100,000

FLEX Developer

We are looking for a talented senior developer to join our well-funded startup that?s soon to launch. We will be looking for this person to initially work as part of the existing team of external developers on the project, and then transition into the role of lead developer inside the company for ongoing work on the web application.

Responsibilities would include:

* Design & development of new functionality for the web application
* Create requirements & specification documents
* Perform program coding and testing
* Resolve technical issues through debugging, research, investigation
* Eventual management of a small development team
* Project management & development to a timeline accounting for external business, budget, and marketing constraints
* Create and manage software development best-practices
* Manage deployment and maintenance of application online

Required Skills

* Adobe Flex 3.0, ColdFusion, MXML, HTML, JavaScript, ActionScript, Java
* Preferred experience with AIR
* Experience with MySQL
* Must utilize software development best-practices - including design for testability and maintainability, writing clean and robust code, promoting software reuse, sufficient unit tests, documentation, configuration management discipline, and post release maintenance/updates
* Must have product developer level discipline

So if you are a

* Excellent project management skills accounting for business needs, budget, external timeline constraints
* Bachelor?s degree, preferably in Computer Science

So, if you have experience in FLEX and are looking for a ground floor opportunity with a new company, apply now!

If you are ready to join a winning team and take the next step in your career, apply today:

http://www.CyberCoders.com/qb.aspx?posId=JP-FLEXDeveloper&ad=CSCBJonathan.Paul

Posted By Christopher Wigginton / Posted on 02/28/2009 at 10:59 AM