>>>>Software devlopment in pictures:
>>>>
>>>>http://imgur.com/r/pics/kMPJ5
>>>
>>>Where management in this picture?
>>
>>
>>Management is in Aruba, enjoying the good life, while the developers work 24/7. :)
>>
>>To be honest, the owner of a company I worked for loved to go to Aruba, while I worked 20/7, which I did for three months straight. I completed a major hardware/software design for the military (our customer). We received millions of dollars in contracts and my "reward" was I was also given the job of production engineer, in addition to electronics design engineer and software programmer. So I called a friend, and got a job at a different place.
>>
>>Working is so much fun. Sometimes you have a job that is great, with outstanding people. And then there are times that you cannot believe! It is all a matter of trying to survive. :)
>
>I worked in a place that had a project outsourced to Arthur Anderson. Unsurprisingly the contract was a year behind schedule and twice budget. They took over the project with in-house resources and started requiring 65 hour work weeks. They expected this workload to continue for another 9 months or more. After several weeks the turnover started up. To stem the flow the company announced a bonus to those that would stick around. It was $1000. Management was astonished when the flow became a flood. Two years later a cut-down version was finally implemented.

Years ago I designed, developed (with a couple of developers I trained as we went along), and delivered a system for my then current employer that was light-years ahead of the system it replaced, saved more than the entire cost of development in the first year of operation (and this was an annual $3/4Million saving due to the design), and best of all was something a lot of people said could not be done (and I did it in FP/DOS BTW). I had worked 60+ hour weeks for almost a year to get this to happen.

The company Board of Officers made great political capital of it since I did it on their watch.

They grandly brought me into a meeting where they gave me a $500 bonus.

I graciously exited the meeting, headed to our CFO's office (he was a great friend BTW), asked him how much accrued vacation and comp time I had (3 months+) and told him I'll call him from wherever my next employer settles me. He almost fainted when I told him about the 'bonus'.

Apparently he had a little chat with the Board, as my bonus suddenly swelled to greater than my annual salary by next morning.

I still quit the place, but it was a couple of years later.

I don't expect to be rewarded by an employer or client after the fact anymore. It better be determined in writing up front.