301–310 of 491 posts
Quitting my job at a family-like studio and going freelance. I regret the loss of comfort, familiarity, and semi-security, but my pocket book doesn't, the pay increase was gigantic. AND I've gotten to see the world, lived in 7 different time zones.
So I went contracting, and for many years enjoyed banging out code.
But as each new contract starts, the meta-work, the git conventions, the missing linting hook, the vital relationships I left behind, all start to grate. Adding them back in, getting this team back up to speed like the others is just repetitive.
And the more time I spend mentoring, encouraging, reviewing, the less time there is for fun parts and the more it looks like management again.
I might just bite the bullet and decide I am now old.
Emotionally detaching. I was a workaholic from age 16 until 33 and this was my primary identity. I used to always be proud of the work I did, no matter how lame the company or how many times I was screwed over. Then one day my father died, and I was fired from a company who I truly believed in and for whom I had sacrificed. This sounds cynical, but it's really peaceful. With the emotional energy and sheer time saved…
The contract between employer and employee is a simple one. You trade skill and time for money [Period].
Emotionally detaching. I was a workaholic from age 16 until 33 and this was my primary identity. I used to always be proud of the work I did, no matter how lame the company or how many times I was screwed over. Then one day my father died, and I was fired from a company who I truly believed in and for whom I had sacrificed. This sounds cynical, but it's really peaceful. With the emotional energy and sheer time saved…
It seems intuitive to me that the thing you pour your intellect, attention, and care into for 7-9 hours a day 5 days a week should be meaningful and fulfilling. On the other hand, hanging meaning and mission over one's head seems like a great way to manipulate and underpay them, and being susceptible to this seems like a great way to become a useful idiot. Squaring these two views is something I struggle with.
This way you can put out your best work & work on things that excite you, but are still protected from manipulation and underpay.
Your customer is your employer. He's also the main person that needs to be pleased with your work.
Companies try to push the "This company is all of us" mentality, but in some situations it becomes painfully clear that it wasn't.
Moving from permanent to contractor. I made the jump 5 years ago and have worked for a number of companies since, on 6-12 month contracts. The money has jumped each time, such that I’m on what I consider to be silly money now for the job I do — Ireland, not US. The work is always interesting for at least 6 months and I learn a ton of new stuff with every contract, much of which I use when building my own products (Do…
Emotionally detaching. I was a workaholic from age 16 until 33 and this was my primary identity. I used to always be proud of the work I did, no matter how lame the company or how many times I was screwed over. Then one day my father died, and I was fired from a company who I truly believed in and for whom I had sacrificed. This sounds cynical, but it's really peaceful. With the emotional energy and sheer time saved…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
With respect I'd like to ask if you don't have ethical issues. The military forces of USA has been doing pretty bad stuff in the last 50 years, so I have the feeling that you're not saving lifes but rather ruining them. War became such a common thing and nonsense in the US that at this point thatnpeople is not sure if they're at war or not.
The US Military is a huge employer and there are a variety of jobs and roles in the organization. Your comment is like telling employees of a company they should feel ashamed because management cooked the books.
tl;dr survivor bias
Not really a decision I made. But I got into an HR fight with another coworker. Basically I was getting bullied and this coworker frequently exploded in hot anger towards me and others. Fought with HR, reported him several times. Company decided that the best course of action was to fire both of us. BEST RECENT CAREER THING TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME. I got fired from a job I hated and wanted to quit anyways, I get to work…
I agree with many of the people here that say understanding the relationship between worker and company is crucial. In the words of Don Draper "That's what the money is for." The mission of the business is not the same as your mission as a person. Giving too much of yourself to an employer is a mistake.