Starting a Senior Software Engineering Job at EDF Energy
By Andrew Moody
Background
Let me start by giving you some context into my IT background as I think that it is relevant.
I have been programming for most of my adult life. I started when I was at high school and have to program right up to present day.
I have had both permanent and contracting roles spanning over 35 yrs. and have come to learn a lot about people and practices. I have worked with people who think that the business will not survive without them, and that knowledge is power and the key to survival. I have also worked with people at the other end of the spectrum and that they believe in the power of sharing.
Some of the roles I have had are working for small companies where time is of the essence and work on the principal of “Lets get the job done and work on making it better later”. They have tended to think that unit testing is “writing the code twice” and is a waste of valuable time. So quality is not big on the agenda.
Other roles I have had have been the exact opposite and they believe in giving you enough rope, so to speak, to make the project/application work and that it should have quality in mind.
So overall I have worked with a variety of people in different types of business. What I have learned is that all that matters is producing code in the least possible time and to sort out the issues when the job is finished. But of course, the job is never finished because something else crops up (it always has) and the code rots again and thus makes the job even harder.
Starting a New Job at EDF Energy
Ok so what has all that got to do with starting a new job at EDF Energy? Well let me start by saying something about the people. I have never worked for a company that employs people that are classed as valuable assets and that the company is willing to invest time and effort in training and nurturing them. I know that sounds strange, but my experience with the higher echelons in companies is that on the outside they want the certifications for Investors in people (or whatever it is now) so that they can win the contracts, but when it comes down to it, we were expendable.
So, my role with EDF started with the interview. You could tell immediately that they were engaged in what I had to say. The interview, although a formal process, was kept friendly and real. This was a bit unnerving at the time because I was waiting for the “Thank you, don’t call us, we’ll call you” scenario, but it was not like that. The interviewers were just great people, being themselves.
I passed the interview and started work. All the time I was thinking “I must do more, I must show that I am engaged by speaking up”. I was trying too hard, thinking that if I didn’t keep trying harder, the “People” in charge would just let me go. Again, my little voice was telling me to watch my back and that my experience taught me that if I didn’t produce 8, 9, 10 hrs. a day, then I would be deemed unfit or “Not what EDF was looking for”. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Yes, we all have to do our best and produce good quality work, but EDF has taught me that it is a marathon and not a sprint (pardon the pun). The company does not want to invest in people that will eventually burn themselves out by over stretching. I have come to realise through the people I have met/spoke to that working with EDF for 10, 15, 20 years is not uncommon, and I am beginning to appreciate that EDF are really invested in the people they employ and that they don’t want people to leave. I was just used to the game of “Produce, or else …”
I would like to think that I could be working here at EDF for 10, 15 or even 20 years as I now know that I am not being geared up to fail. My little voice is slowly moving towards the positive aspect of life at EDF and that (over time) I will not keep having to look over my shoulder. I find it a refreshing place to work in an environment where there is not a blame culture, where there are no stupid questions and where people are genuinely wanting to learn.
