Another move brought more money and more responsibility. I was employed by HUMANSHOP and assigned to SPANISHTELECOM. It became one of the most enjoyable periods of my career.
I worked on several projects, the largest of which was a new mobile-games portal. Calling it software development tells only part of the story. Several teams were involved, and the real challenge was systems integration: putting a working solution into production. Together, we did it.
The work was enjoyable less because of the technology than because of the team our manager had assembled. We were young people with different technical specialisms, gathering each day in a windowless room in SPANISHTELECOM’s old building. Laughter was reliably available. Good coffee, unfortunately, was not.
A supervisor gave me opportunities beyond programming, including preparing requests for information and evaluating responses to requests for proposals. In other words, I took part in selecting new technology. For the first time at work, I could use the decision-making methods I had studied at university.
Many of us hoped eventually to be employed directly by SPANISHTELECOM, while continuing to interview elsewhere. People came and went. When my turn arrived, my manager offered me a direct position to persuade me to stay. It was tempting, and I appreciated it. But my mind was already on the next destination. One stage as a developer was ending; another, unfamiliar one was about to begin.