Reputation Building

Having been hired you live and die on your reputation. It is important to ``find your level'' without making a lot of noise about it. You need to make your contributions speak for themselves. No matter how good you are at your skill you won't be able to argue your way into a good reputation.

And a good reputation is everything. It is your resume. Be careful what you say and how you say it because ``the net'' never forgets. Reputations are built up over time based on perceived values just like resumes are built over time based on employment. People like Linus Torvolds, Richard Stallman, and Eric Raymond have sterling reputations and have earned them over many years of hard work.

In short, you won't be a star overnight.