Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason

#291

Post by jowiar » Sat, Aug 09, 2014, 10:31 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #272

Alupis wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would reflect worse on YC is them compelling a startup to keep a bad hire who could ultimately cost the business dearly. Hiring for first stage startups is critically important -- ie. it can make or break the company. If the OP wasn't going to work out for any reason, then it was appropriate to cut him loose as soon as possible, instead of dragging it out.

None of this reflects on YC. People on HN have a weird understanding of how much control YC has over portfolio companies --- which, in reality, is practically none whatsoever. YC can't compel startups to do anything. Presumably if they could, they'd compel all the companies to ship earlier.

Control - obviously not. But presumably when they're teaching Business 101 to a bunch of 20-something engineers, "How not to ruin your reputation in ten minutes" should be in the curriculum.

Re: Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason

#292

Post by hpagey » Sun, Aug 10, 2014, 1:24 PM UTC

OP, I wanna give you some advice regarding this visa thing, for future reference. As a rule of thumb never resign from your previous position until your visa has been processed. You can always apply for premium processing which is guaranteed to give you results within 15 business days.

For example,if you are doing a h1b transfer, please wait for the h1b transfer to complete before you resign from your previous position.

Re: Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason

#293

Post by duck » Sun, Aug 10, 2014, 6:26 PM UTC

swombat wrote: post #232

duck wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is pretty easy to find the YC company if you just look at his comment history and do a search or two. Which... is why you should aways use a throwaway account if you don't want people to figure this stuff out.

Actually he has no comments outside of this thread that is less than 91 days ago, so it's not so easy at all.

As justguessingbut suggested, you can find a domain name from project he worked on, and thus his real name, and from there a search will lead you to angel list which links everything together with dates that match with the op's story. I was able to do it all in less than 5 minutes without anything but a browser and I'm slow... so I would call that really easy.

Re: Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason

#294

Post by Alupis » Sun, Aug 10, 2014, 6:56 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #277

Alupis wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the OP did actual work, and was an official hire with either verbal or written contract, then he would have already been compensated for his time. (Otherwise that would be a violation of the law, and I seriously doubt a startup is trying to get away with not paying for work done "on the clock") If the OP did actual work, and was not an official hire with either verbal or written contract, then he was an eager beav…

> If the OP did actual work, and was an official hire with either verbal or written contract, then he would have already been compensated for his time. (Otherwise that would be a violation of the law, and I seriously doubt a startup is trying to get away with not paying for work done "on the clock") I think that we agree that the startup would be breaking the law. Where we disagree is that you seem to think that "It…

Why on earth would you automatically assume violation of the law when the OP never even hinted at that. Seriously... enough with the witch hunt. You have no more valid reasons to be upset -- we have discussed and debunked them all.

Re: Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason

#295

Post by Alupis » Sun, Aug 10, 2014, 7:40 PM UTC

mobiplayer wrote: post #287

Alupis wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you are in California. California has At-Will employment -- so they can hire and fire you for any reason whenever they want. "You weren't a good fit", "You didn't think Big enough", "You didn't produce enough", etc etc etc. Coming on here and ranting and trying to bring some action against the startup is not a good way to handle this. You feel wronged -- I'm sure the founders feel it was a good business deci…

Yup! And that's why we want to know the company's name (legal) and make everyone aware how they fucked someone's life up (legally). All legal.

Doing so would reflect poorer on the OP actually.

Maybe this business succeeds, maybe they fail (they are a startup, and most startups don't succeed).

But, the OP will always need a job. And quite frankly, getting upset over a termination and coming online and bringing major flak to the business is a sure-fire way to get the OP rejected out of any HM's stack if they know what they are doing. Why would I want to hire someone who has a history of flaming previous employers? It doesn't matter the reason they flamed the previous employers, it's the fact that they did it at all. That goes double for anyone who is trying to get hired into top executive positions, such as COO.

It's not personal, it's business... and if the OP can't distinguish between the two, then he's not ready for top level executive positions.

Re: Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason

#296

Post by onedev » Mon, Aug 11, 2014, 1:17 AM UTC

Alupis wrote: post #202

shampine wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had an offer withdrawn the day before I was supposed to get on a plane to move myself cross country. I had quit my job, broken my lease, etc. The company paid me a 6 week severance, even though I never worked a minute for them, just to compensate me for what I had given up.

That was a very nice company. They were in no way obligated to do any of that. You chose to break your lease on a gamble that things would work out for you... obviously they didn't... that's just how it is.

It appears to me you don't have a particularly good grasp of the laws and legal code surrounding these circumstances beyond cursory Wikipedia articles. Often the laws are much much more complex than they appear on the surface.

Re: Ask HN: I was hired and unhired in 2 weeks, for no reason

#297

Post by jheriko » Mon, Aug 11, 2014, 9:03 PM UTC

jonnathanson wrote: post #236

poof131 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I can't think of a circumstance under which it benefits you to disclose your grievances with a former employer to a new or potential employer. I think the circumstance is like @jheriko said, as a filter. If an employer sees treating employees bad as dirty laundry, well maybe it isn't the place you want to work, and you're better off not getting an offer.

I understand that objective in theory, but it seems impractical in the wild. Most employers won't look beyond the surface level of "This person had issues with a previous employer and feels the need to discuss them here." They won't bother to ferret out who was right, who was wrong, and whether your grievances are legitimate -- even if they are. So you're basically raising a flag, and a lot of interviers or hiring ma…

the way to flag this to an employer is simply. not to air the grievance but to inform them of it if it is public knowledge... e.g you left as a result, it was your former employer who will be contacted for a reference, or there was some public exposure etc.

they might already know and its in your best interest to be honest. getting found out after the fact is bad, regardless as to your employer's intentions.

its really quite different from airing the concerns that led to the situation.

in this specific case the problem is that he worked for a short period and was let go very rapidly. having a 2 week blip as your last role on a CV is worth explaining - but not complaining about.