I think there's a lot of people with "F-Skills" in the workplace right now that don't yet realize this attitude isn't as conducive to stable employment as they think it is.
Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
31–40 of 93 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#32I think there's a lot of people with "F-Skills" in the workplace right now that don't yet realize this attitude isn't as conducive to stable employment as they think it is.
a real factor is that with larger organizations focussed primarily on squirting out glue, people with serious programming skills aren't really that useful anymore.
everyone hated putting up with the leet coder before, and now they don't really need one. they really just want people to consistently and pleasantly phone it in.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#331. Live below your means. 2. Have 6+ months living expenses in cash equivalent. 3. Build retirement / investment savings. 4. Build skills and be able to demonstrate you can ship product. I've seen many co-workers get laid off in my career, they all landed back on their feet.
I wonder if the confidence OP is detecting from their collegues is more due to unspoken 1, 2 and 3 rather than the explicitly mentioned 4. In our society it's considered kind of gauche to say something like "I could take a 100k pay cut and still pay the bills" or "I've got enough savings to go years without a job" but for many software engineers living well below their means these could easily be true. There are lots of people out there making $200k/year and spending less than $40k/year, particularly people without kids.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
lots of people play this game....you don't have to. it may ultimately limit your ability to gain a high paying position that lives entirely in the marketing-verse and spouts drivel. but not all of us wants that
You may not like it, but you should at least acknowledge the perspective. I can think of several examples of people whose primary skill is “managing up” and can impress those writing the checks. I take pride in doing what I consider to be generating business value, but I strongly believe that my compensation would be higher if I spent more time self-promoting rather than doing “real work”.
I consider managing up to be critical skill for me at least.
my version is that I tell them naked truth...some people appreciate that
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#35Skills won't save you from uncertainty or anxiety. Neither will experience, education, politics (bullshitting or networking), etc. Neither will income or savings or assets. The only thing that actually helps is to not amplify your emotional reactions, and instead encourage them to quiesce. The standard cognitive approaches are to consider yourself lucky (by thinking of those less lucky), or to see the situation as tr…
> and understand how quickly it can all go up in smoke :)
This was the missing piece for me during the first decade of my career. It's broadly applicable to most human endeavors.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#361. Live below your means. 2. Have 6+ months living expenses in cash equivalent. 3. Build retirement / investment savings. 4. Build skills and be able to demonstrate you can ship product. I've seen many co-workers get laid off in my career, they all landed back on their feet.
I wonder if the confidence OP is detecting from their collegues is more due to unspoken 1, 2 and 3 rather than the explicitly mentioned 4. In our society it's considered kind of gauche to say something like "I could take a 100k pay cut and still pay the bills" or "I've got enough savings to go years without a job" but for many software engineers living well below their means these could easily be true. There are lots…
Who are these people living on $40k/yr, and what size cardboard box do they live in?
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#37I’ve been developing since Middle School and got steadily promoted until 2008 when I was laid off during the economic collapse. I applied to dozens of companies and couldn’t get a response, or if I did they said hiring was paused. So, I started my own web dev company and grew it from myself to 20 full time employees in ~4 years before selling it. I thought I had FU skills back in 2008 and maybe I did, but it was no m…
I have found the ability to consistently make my own dollar, even if it is a pittance, makes me a more attractive candidate than most. I’ve never had a runaway business success, but the acumen needed set all of a money making operation in motion sets me apart. Hopefully they become profitable so that formal employment is no longer needed, but in the meanwhile it’s kept food on the table by the ordinary means.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#38I found out that the most important skills in the IT industry is the bullshit skill. That's the kind of skill you need to build.
I agree. I strongly suspect the people telling OP they aren't worried about finding another job are bullshitting him. Or in some cases, maybe their egos have them believing it too.
on the contrary, I have seen people BSing their way be more insecure about their job during layoffs. During the layoffs its mostly strategic decision taken not just by your immediate boss but by CEOs or VP levels and managing up might not save your ass.
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#39[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to build F-You Skills
#40Your colleagues are talking themselves up. If their skills are that unique and special then they would have a very difficult time finding a suitable job for two reasons, the primary one being that no recruiter would be able understand the value they bring, and the second one being that relatively few companies would need their skillset.