Myth #4:
" What the company does really makes no difference to me at all…I’m just going there to write code…"

You don’t want to walk into an interview without knowing what the company does. It’s like going to somebody’s house without knowing their name – it’s just plain rude and inconsiderate. And since you will be spending a considerable amount of time at work, you should take the time to know what the company does before you go into the interview.

Know The Core Business Of The Company

I personally think that when the work that you will be doing is aligned with the company’s core business then that makes the job much more rewarding. It could also be more rewarding from a financial perspective since you will be in the spotlight if you do a great job.

Let me explain a bit more of what I mean when I say "aligned with the company’s core business". Let’s say that you work at Microsoft, but in their accounting department working on some internal software to help the accountants at Microsoft. Since Microsoft is a Hu-Mon-Gous company, it obviously needs accountants to keep it’s financials and money in order. But, what is that actually makes Microsoft it’s billions of dollars? It’s the software – actually, more specifically, it’s the Windows Operating System. You can safely say that the Windows OS is the core business of Microsoft.

So, if you were working on the WIndows OS you would be working on the core business of Microsoft. And since that is what makes Microsoft it’s money, that is also how you would get recognition for doing a great job. More positive recognition usually translates to more money for you – not a bad deal, right?

Now you can see that knowing what the company does and how your work fits in with that can have a tremendous impact on your job satisfaction. You can easily figure out what the company does before you go into an interview, and you may have some idea of what your role will be beforehand as well. But, you should also ask questions during your interview to figure out exactly what your role will be in the company.

So, what you work on as a programmer does matter greatly – both for yourself and for your employer!