Re: Am I "Overqualified"?

[Ed Berard <ed.berard@gmail.com>]

Hi xpyttl:

On Feb 1, 11:08 am, "xpyttl" <xpyttl_NOS...@earthling.net> wrote:
> I do kind of see a disconnect reviewing your resume.
>
> You have product/process architecture experience.  This immediately says to
> anyone reading, "not a programmer".

I assume that you equate "programmer" with "coder."

> The company that is going to hire a process architect is going to be a large one.

I have worked as a software architecht with companies with as few as 6
software
people, and as large as 2,500 software people

> For that large company, they  are likely to want more than a lone individual.

Large companies are likely to have groups of people working on various
aspects
of software architecture, software process architecture, and software
product
line architecture. There is, as you might expect, a good deal of cross-
group
activities among the architecture groups involving, e.g. standardies,
software
quality assurance, software reusability, various forms of governance,
testing,
and configuration management.

> Chances are they will want a consulting firm that can deliver a variable
> supply as the needs change.

I have a fair amount of experience in this arena. A common scenario
requires that a lone (or small number of) consultant works with the
company hashing out many of the architectural issues. The large
company,
with "preliminary sketches" in hand, and with the assistance of the
consultant(s), hires, trains, and integrates the in-house architects.

Depending on the needs and desires of the large company, they may hire
their own architects, ask the consulting (external) architect to
furnish
architects on an as needed basis, or a combination of these
approaches.

Warning: There are many pseudo-architects out there, e.g.:

   * Far too many people thing that "architecture:" is just another
name
      for "design." For that matter, I have encoountered some people
      who think that anyone who has anything to do with the creation
      or enhancement of software is an "architect"

   * "Product line" is another frequently-corrupted term. For example,
     people sometimes take it to mean "a collection of any software
     products we sell, regardless of how unrelated the products might
     be to each other

   * The words "architect" and "architecture" are very-frequently mis-
applied.
      Watch out, for example, for people with job titles such as
"solution architect."

> Besides that, a lot of larger companies are wrapped up in, or getting
> wrapped up in, Lean and Six Sigma processes.

Lean and Six Sigma are seldom found in the same place, in the places
I visit. Depending on the flavor of "Lean" you may be using,
many of the concepts behind "architecture" and "Six Sigma" are viewed
as "unnecessary overhead."

> This is especially true if they understand the importance of process and
> might be inclined to hire an in-house process architect.

This is a frequent outcome in my universe. You might say that my job
is
done when my clients can do what I was doiing for them.

I have no desire to make my clients unnecessarily dependent upon me.

> I see that as missing from your experience.

             -- Ed