ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses how software careers are differentially shaped by the local social network which pertains in a medium-sized Irish software development installation. It considers the relationship between work practices and emergent software careers by means of one detailed case study, conducted in a software installation in Dublin in 1987. The social networks which pertain in a software installation become an extremely important site for workers to demonstrate their worth; gain a reputation; acquire new forms of expertise; and so advance their careers. The Employee Appraisal provides another example of how the network of the lads offers extra information to its members in negotiating their working conditions and likely activities for the upcoming year. The lads act as an important, albeit informal, means of stratifying access to skills, rewards and job opportunities from within the internal labour market of the company.
