software development culture (environment, relocating, military)

[soctes]

We are thinking of relocating from the bay area CA.

What's the job mkt like there for software devs ? From what I've seen seems to be pretty good.

Last time I lived there all the software guys still wore dark suits like from the 1950's . Is the culture still the same or have people gotten more business/casual in their dress ?

[dianeh]

My husband works for a medical software & development company in the area and his office totally has embraced the 'California software development culture' It's dress casual, they wear shorts, birkenstocks or flip flops etc and they have a game room at his office with The Wii, ping pong & other fun stuff. I can say alot of other software development companies in the area have similar cultures dress casual, work-life balance and some have more than game rooms such as gyms and in house restaurants also. Haven't seen any 50's dark suit guys. Sometimes the upper level executives might wear a tie if clients coming to office.

[NewUser]

I work for a mobile phone company in the SW department. I see guys come to work in clothes that I wouldn't even wear to Home Depot

Well, OK, not really, but once the mercury rises above 80 degrees, lots of guys start wearing shorts, sandals, and T-shirts in the office. Other guys wear Dockers and casual button-down shirts. I'm somewhere in between. I RARELY see someone with a tie on. . . . usually they are a visitor from another company trying to sell us something

The market was better 2 years ago than it is today. We recently went into a hiring freeze and it takes an act of congress to get anyone hired anymore.

[saturnfan]

I worked in Federal IT.

Totally casual, even the bosses.

[sunnysunnyside]

What do the women in IT wear? I'm curious about this for myself as a SW Eng.

[tlh1005]

Originally Posted by sunnysunnyside

What do the women in IT wear? I'm curious about this for myself as a SW Eng.

Most of them dress casual just like the guys if they're in development. If they are in sales and marketing then you can pick them out of a crowd of developers 100% of the time.

[sunnysunnyside]

Thanks tlh1005, I'm a Software QA Engineer and also have a degree in 3D animation. I'll be looking for work in 3D if possible and also in Software QA. It's good to know that the industry is a bit casual there too *(environment wise).

[NewUser]

Originally Posted by sunnysunnyside

What do the women in IT wear? I'm curious about this for myself as a SW Eng.

There is one woman in my office that wears a straight skirt and silk blouse to work every day. All others wear slacks or jeans. Some wear jeans, T-shirts, and tennis shoes.

[MrsSteel]

My husband and a lot of our friends work in the gaming industry. A number of gaming companies in the area are hiring (Epic Games, Vicious Cycle & I think EA, just to name a few).

The day-to-day dress code is totally casual at these places as you can imagine: T-shirts, trousers, shorts, tennis shoes, sandals, etc. Definitely step it up a bit for an interview, though. At the very least, wear some slacks and a shirt featuring some buttons somewhere. Avoid ties. Ties frighten them.

[NH2NC]

there's still a mix of start-up flip flop culture and the big companies business dress....it's actually refreshing to have a choice....

I've found NC does not appreciate the job switching that is embraced in high tech areas like Silicon Valley or Route 128....if you have various positions they usually defer to job hopping rather than understanding the opportunities that come to you based on your reputation....just what I found.....

also, you'll sometimes bang your head with the lack of forward thinking....seems like the I/T culture is more driven by conservative military thinking than forward thinking MIT or Cal Berkley types....

with all that said, if SAS would go public I think RTP would explode with start-up companies and completely change the culture as people would cash in and start their dream companies......oh well....

good luck