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Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

#21

Post by owow123 »

4bpp wrote: post #14

It sounds like you may be failing some sort of implicit cultural filters - you've been in the same small workplace for 8 years and apparently your circles don't include highly-paid IT/development people. "International-tier" tech is a fairly distinctive and exclusionary culture to anyone who is not fluent in either its own norms or those of a handful of adjacent academic fields, and the boundary may be policed based…

This is an interesting take on my writing style.

I will certainly apply this to my CV, perhaps my personal statement is to "aggressive" (here I am doing it again).

Thank you.

Re: Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

#22

Post by bluefirebrand »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #15
throwaway923408 wrote: post #10

Throwaway acct. I left my first sysadmin job after about 3 years because the advice I recieved is that if you work solo for too long, you develop your own ways of doing things, become unable to integrate into more mainstream best practices, and become effectively "unhirable". I wonder if that has something to do with your lack of success in the job hunt. It sounds like maybe there's a lot of 'institutional knowledge'…

> it might very well be worth having that sit-down with your employer where you lay out exactly what will happen to their infrastructure when you leave. I don't think threatening your current employer about how in-disposable you are and how they'll have production outages if you leave shows you're a very good teammate/employee/team player.

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but just in case

If you ever find yourself as a single point of failure at a company, and you feel you're underpaid, screw being a "good team player"

Adopt a "fuck you, pay me" attitude and get what you're worth or get out.

"Good team player" is how companies manipulate you into getting more value out of you than they are paying you for.

Re: Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

#24

Post by throwaway923408 »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #15
throwaway923408 wrote: post #10

Throwaway acct. I left my first sysadmin job after about 3 years because the advice I recieved is that if you work solo for too long, you develop your own ways of doing things, become unable to integrate into more mainstream best practices, and become effectively "unhirable". I wonder if that has something to do with your lack of success in the job hunt. It sounds like maybe there's a lot of 'institutional knowledge'…

> it might very well be worth having that sit-down with your employer where you lay out exactly what will happen to their infrastructure when you leave. I don't think threatening your current employer about how in-disposable you are and how they'll have production outages if you leave shows you're a very good teammate/employee/team player.

Not that I've ever had experience with an aggressive move like that. But it doesn't really seem like their employer respects them, and sucking up to them at this point seems counterproductive.

Re: Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

#25

Post by owow123 »

goshx wrote: post #20
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it might very well be worth having that sit-down with your employer where you lay out exactly what will happen to their infrastructure when you leave. I don't think threatening your current employer about how in-disposable you are and how they'll have production outages if you leave shows you're a very good teammate/employee/team player.

I agree that it shouldn’t sound like a threat, but there is no team. He’s the only person. There is only one way for the employer to feel the pain.

This isn't true.

I've got one person under me and have done for 3-5 years.

Most have enjoyed working under me (so I understand it), most resignations have been for bigger opportunities / bigger cities / bigger money (1 out of 4, and TBH I missed they wanted more money - this was my fault).

My current "report" seems very happy (though I expect them to leave soon, not for money but they are far more interested in another industry and tech challenges that come with it).

Re: Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

#27

Post by wpietri »

faangiq wrote: post #7

What kind of jobs are applying to? Your xp sounds like “rando IT guy” so it might not be translating well.

Great point.

In the OP's shoes, I'd write a few different resumes tuned for different jobs. E.g., one is a developer resume, which strongly foregrounds all the development work and minimizes the IT stuff. Another would be an IT director resume, where it's mainly about the ability to take business needs and get things done.

The reality of hiring is that people rarely want generalists. Mostly they have a particular hole they're looking to fill and they want it filled about 6 weeks ago. The function of a resume is not to give one's life story; it's to explain to the hiring manager why you are the right shape to fill their particular hole.

I would also have some questions about the cover letter. If the OP wants to make a jump from the do-everything guy to a more specific role, the cover letter is a good chance to explain why. E.g., "I have enjoyed the challenges of handling a wide variety of technical needs, the most satisfying work for me has always been writing and maintaining the software, so I am seeking a position where I can learn and grow as a developer as part of a highly productive team."

Re: Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

#28

Post by jwie »

Hire a consultant to look at your CV. I used levels.fyi had a great experience.

If you’re not getting recruiters it’s because you’re not matching keywords. If you can get in front of hiring managers, past the ATS and recruiter screen that is, your resume is good. Otherwise it’s bad.

Your employer can replace you for some annoying short term costs.

If you’re in a small business you might be working for what I call “mom and pop tech company”. These are painful to work with because getting cash for anything is like pulling teeth since they think of the business cash as their personal bank.

Get the CV cleaned up, discuss a transition with your employer, and offer to stay on to support the consultant for a market rate fee. This will save them money. But it’s time to move on.

Re: Ask HN: Should I checkmate my employer?

#29

Post by personjerry »

Agreed your CV probably needs work. But talk to a recruiter in the industry to help you improve your resume, they know far more and have more accurate knowledge than another engineer. Also, not sure how many positions you've applied to but apply to as many as you can, 100 would not a bad number of positions to apply to. It can be a numbers game.

To answer the question in the title - No, you shouldn't. For the same reason if you google "employer counteroffer" every piece of advice will advise you not to take the counteroffer. You've already signaled your intentions and they will no longer see you as aligned, crippling future growth at the organization, and they will oust you once they can.

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