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Ask HN: What realistically changes for a developer when taking a corporate job?

2 points by ultrasandwich ↗ HN
After years of working freelance and with smaller agencies, I have just been offered a really well paying front-end developer job at a huge multinational tech corporation. Since I've never made this leap, I'm of course suspicious of the corporate structure, and worried that the freedom I've enjoyed outside of it will dry up. Additionally, I'm worried that the constant learning experience of being a freelancer will somehow stop when I'm focused on just one product. Has anyone been through this transition, and gotten through with any kind of insights? I'm trying to stay open minded.

8 comments

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andymoe
The good health insurance can be nice and that 401k matching is powerful. Compound interest is pretty awesome too. It can be nice to work with others and have proper design and product management support and if you can seek out the best managers you can learn a lot from them but all of these things are hit or miss. I sure liked it better than my stint as an IT consultant and Network Engineer years ago but I don't think I'll ever be able to convince myself go back after start my own thing. That said, change can be good for you.
ultrasandwich
> The good health insurance can be nice and that 401k matching is powerful

Indeed the 401k matching seems pretty great. But part of me wonders if retirement investment really just comes down to being smarter with setting aside the income I'm currently earning.

> It can be nice to work with others and have proper design and product management support and if you can seek out the best managers you can learn a lot from them

Honestly I've found this to be true with my agency work as a freelancer too. Great project managers and some other devs who are badasses and mentors.

Thanks for sharing!

icedchai
you'll have a lot more time to browse the web and get paid for it.
ultrasandwich
Yikes, this sounds like a personal nightmare. Maybe I can use the time to work on other projects or open source stuff.
nostrademons
It's dangerous - check your IP agreements before you do any outside-work stuff at work.
aaqureshi
Most likely the clause will be there, its usually is included in the contract.
_RPM
Be careful not to write code for personal projects on company property, or they might be the owner of your code / product.
nostrademons
Depends on the company. At some of the better ones, don't underestimate the opportunity to work with really smart peers. Even some of the not-so-hot ones like IBM or Yahoo have really smart engineers locked up inside them.