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Without taking a position directly on this subject, I'd recommend regularly
skimming the newsgroup
comp.software-eng to see related issues discussed. It's very interesting to
read about it from the software engineers' point of view.
It can be useful, also, to ask pointed questions during the job interview
process so that you can know ahead of time exactly what sort of situation
you will be jumping into. You might also want to see the requirements
documents that have been produced to date. I was impressed by my current
boss because she did demonstrate such a clear sense of the importance of
processes and planning, while still being extremely concerned with quality
and flexibility.
