Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 1001 posts

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#191

Post by chillacy »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #41
ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Terrible advice. The FAANGs are highly competitive and people are eventually going to notice that this individual is not at the average job level they should be at relative to their years at the company. That will eventually make internal transfers very difficult (yes, hiring managers do check for duds for internal transfers) and motivate their management chain to wash this person out of the company as good attrition…

Maybe they are at the average job level but just aren't feeling challenged? They did get a promotion, so they can't be that bad... Maybe they're just bored? Either way, leaving a secure, good paying job is almost always bad advice, especially without a firm plan in place..

While L4 is terminal at Google, it's still not particularly high achieving for 6 years of career. Google also doesn't make it easy to jump from L4 to L5 either, so OP may feel like they're stuck in a rut because of that as well.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#192

Post by [deleted] »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #187
dhuyrv wrote: post #130

You remind me myself a few years ago: a talented, but bored slacker who didn't see any point in investing any energy into that project. Turns out I was right: the project didn't go anywhere after I left and investing any extra time would be a clueless thing to do. So what's changed since then? Have I found meaning in work? No! I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what bod…

This blows my mind that in the US one can make such insane money in tech while still being a slacker and retire early with a dream house bought and paid for while in Europe devs are slaving away through SCRUM powered meat grinders burning themselves out for a 3% salary increase on a pitiful 40-80k/year, no stock options, without any hope of early retirement or owning a decent home without a 30 year loan or financial…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#193

Post by kreck »

aphextron wrote: post #152
dhuyrv wrote: post #130

You remind me myself a few years ago: a talented, but bored slacker who didn't see any point in investing any energy into that project. Turns out I was right: the project didn't go anywhere after I left and investing any extra time would be a clueless thing to do. So what's changed since then? Have I found meaning in work? No! I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what bod…

>I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what body language to use to make the desired impression, what to say and what not to say. My managers think I'm a high performer who also makes valuable social contributions to our team and this is reflected in pay rises. i.e. the Gervais principle [0] [0] https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...

Thanks for the link. This is awesome.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#194

Post by talkinghead »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #187
dhuyrv wrote: post #130

You remind me myself a few years ago: a talented, but bored slacker who didn't see any point in investing any energy into that project. Turns out I was right: the project didn't go anywhere after I left and investing any extra time would be a clueless thing to do. So what's changed since then? Have I found meaning in work? No! I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what bod…

This blows my mind that in the US one can make such insane money in tech while still being a slacker and retire early with a dream house bought and paid for while in Europe devs are slaving away through SCRUM powered meat grinders burning themselves out for a 3% salary increase on a pitiful 40-80k/year, no stock options, without any hope of early retirement or owning a decent home without a 30 year loan or financial…

well said

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#195

Post by twic »

dejj wrote: post #167
dhuyrv wrote: post #130

You remind me myself a few years ago: a talented, but bored slacker who didn't see any point in investing any energy into that project. Turns out I was right: the project didn't go anywhere after I left and investing any extra time would be a clueless thing to do. So what's changed since then? Have I found meaning in work? No! I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what bod…

> Tiberian phylosophy How to pass the Kobayashi Maru test! > Wikipedia: The objective of the test is not for the cadet to outfight or outplan the opponent but rather to force the cadet into a no-win situation and simply observe how he or she reacts.

Oh, i assumed "Tiberian phylosophy" meant the teachings of Kane:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kane_(Command_%26_Conquer)

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#196

Post by cm2012 »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #187
dhuyrv wrote: post #130

You remind me myself a few years ago: a talented, but bored slacker who didn't see any point in investing any energy into that project. Turns out I was right: the project didn't go anywhere after I left and investing any extra time would be a clueless thing to do. So what's changed since then? Have I found meaning in work? No! I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what bod…

This blows my mind that in the US one can make such insane money in tech while still being a slacker and retire early with a dream house bought and paid for while in Europe devs are slaving away through SCRUM powered meat grinders burning themselves out for a 3% salary increase on a pitiful 40-80k/year, no stock options, without any hope of early retirement or owning a decent home without a 30 year loan or financial…

Workers working for FANG in the USA also have much better quality of life than Americans in general.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#197

Post by czbond »

flavor8 wrote: post #161
goatherders wrote: post #50

You don't realize how good you have it: 1. you work for a company that is an excellent resume booster outside of the valley. I'm from central texas and most everyone I know in tech has worked at Dell and once complained how boring it was to work at Dell. The moment they decided to move away from Austin their Dell experience made them very hot commodities to non-Austin tech companies. Every day you stay at Google the…

> Every day you stay at Google the more valuable you become. Ehhh, to a point. Straight out of college and then (e.g.) 10 or 15 years at the same company says a lot about a person.

While I see what you're getting at, and don't disagree, I have also noticed that the people that stay put while everyone else jumps ship provide a line of consistency that can get them promoted up. They say the stupid ones stay, and the smart ones leave.... but it isn't always intelligence that gets one promoted in such cases.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#198

Post by vasco »

rzzzt wrote: post #126
wayoutthere wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software engineering just isn't that hard. Tedious yes, but not remotely difficult. We've been fed the narrative of economic success that many folks have forgotten what personal success looks like. You can be successful in your career and still feel like a failure. Therapy is the answer here. You have to un-brainwash yourself from the notion that your job is your life and figure out what really matters to you. Then f…

How do you figure out what really matters?

Everyone spends their whole lives trying to answer that.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#199

Post by zzzcarrot »

sfblah wrote: post #12

I’m in the same boat as you. I’ve been working at the same tech company for 6.5 years making around 500 (used to be 1.2 but my stock grant ran out). I only show up one day a week to have lunch with friends and do nothing. My advice is to keep the money flowing and do something else on the side.

Wow what level or how did you manage this?

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#200

Post by war1025 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #45
_y5hn wrote: post #3

Why name the company?

I think cruising along at Google is extremely different to cruising along as a minor regional tech company. If you're at Google you're already clearly gifted and one of the leading people in your industry, and if you're cruising there then you're probably still doing absolutely stellar work.

I think people overestimate the proportion of equally talented engineers that don't apply to the FAANGs of the world for personal (geographic) reasons.
Post reply on HN