The Software Developer's Career Handbook

Chapter 3. The Itch

My expiration date for a gig has, historically, been three years. Strangely, this mirrors what I believe is the development cycle to get a product right—three releases before it’s real. One release per year, the product is done...and so am I.

I say this as if there’s a plan that I know after three years it’s time to move on, but this is not a science. This is a historical observation. When I look at my résumé, it’s obvious. In fact, I often start leaving before I even notice I’m leaving.

Leaving starts with an itch.

Are You Answering the Email?

I have a script to answer all inbound recruiter requests via email. It reads:

Hi {first_name},

Thanks for thinking of me. I am not currently looking for the next thing, and, no, I don’t have any referrals in mind for this fine position.

Best of luck in your search,

Lopp.

Your first question is, Why even respond? It’s an efficiency thing combined with a smidge of politeness. I want them to know I received the email so they can keep sending such queries, and I also want them to know that I’m not interested in an ongoing conversation.

The rare times that I do respond are because it is incredibly clear they aren’t just cold emailing. They’ve done their research and they truly believe I might be a fit. This is exceedingly rare because even at the executive level, recruiting is a numbers game: the more emails you send, the more likely you get a response.

In these exceptional cases, I do some instant mental analysis that ...