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Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

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Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#421

Post by Porthos9K »

rjplatte wrote: post #100

I'm the sole developer working on my current project, which is overhauling a massive DOS era application, as well as overhauling an early 2000s era CRM/business management tool, that almost all of our work happens through. Did I mention that the DOS application is a HIPAA billing application that must meet all HIPAA guidelines as well as write EDI X12 billing files? I'm very junior, been coding for ~5 years, 3 profes…

Ghost this job immediately. It's a clusterfuck waiting to happen, and your bosses are going to leave you holding the bag when everything turns to shit.

You're a programmer, not a fall guy. You aren't getting paid enough for this.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#422

Post by PaulRobinson »

rjplatte wrote: post #100

I'm the sole developer working on my current project, which is overhauling a massive DOS era application, as well as overhauling an early 2000s era CRM/business management tool, that almost all of our work happens through. Did I mention that the DOS application is a HIPAA billing application that must meet all HIPAA guidelines as well as write EDI X12 billing files? I'm very junior, been coding for ~5 years, 3 profes…

Everything about this screams that you're being set up to fail, and given the circumstances "failure" might mean jail time.

There are plenty of jobs out there. Go get one, _today_, please!

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#423

Post by codesushi42 »

My reason is different from most. I am working on difficult problems, more technically difficult than I ever have before. Maybe I will succeed, but I may fail because I'm way in over my head.

But if I am in over my head, I hope I get fired. Because at least I was challenged enough where I hit my limit for the first time, from a technical standpoint. And then I will be free to move on and do something else with my life.

If I succeed, then I will be happy continuing to succeed in this role, working on difficult problems. So it is a win win.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#424

Post by shifto »

hnick wrote: post #90
shifto wrote: post #6

The company I work for is active in an industry I have zero relation to. I can't relate to the business at all and I'm working with ancient tech. It pays well though and was brought on board by a friend and I don't want to disappoint him by leaving after just 1 year.

1 year is pretty much the modern standard for the minimum appropriate time before moving on in my experience, so I think it's fine.

Where I am from it's normal to get a 1 year contract when starting. Then if you did well you either get another temp contract or a contract of indefinite duration.

I feel if you quit after a year other companies will assume you didn't make it past the first period. So I'll try to stick around some while before making moves.

Also just having had a kid makes me feel I don't want to burden myself too much. A new job might be better, might be worse. For now at least I know what I've got.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#425

Post by wbl »

reificator wrote: post #401
wbl wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

?? Git works just fine without any of that. CVS has been around since 1990, RCS since 1982. And SCCS is old enough to be OP's father.

> ?? Git works just fine without any of that. I echo your ??. Sure you don't need a central repository to use git. What does that have to do with suggesting some git hosts that aren't cloud based?

You can have a git repo on a server that developers use ssh to access just with git. The bells and whistles aren't part of the core job. It's just my general griping about software these days.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#426

Post by noir_lord »

rjplatte wrote: post #100

I'm the sole developer working on my current project, which is overhauling a massive DOS era application, as well as overhauling an early 2000s era CRM/business management tool, that almost all of our work happens through. Did I mention that the DOS application is a HIPAA billing application that must meet all HIPAA guidelines as well as write EDI X12 billing files? I'm very junior, been coding for ~5 years, 3 profes…

Same boat, similar level of responsibility and I’ve been programming 20 odd years.

I accepted an offer yesterday, 35% pay bump, 5 extra holiday days, twice the bonus cap and all of that pales against knowing I’ll never have to touch that fucking codebase under unrealistic constraints again in a short time.

In stead I get to run a team, in a much bigger company with proper modern development practices.

When they rang to tell me it was mine if wanted it I was literally shaking, it felt like an elephant had stepped of my chest.

Until that point it really hadn’t occurred to me how unhappy the last two years at work have been, fighting the worst undocumented codebase I’ve seen two decades was a long slog, doing it alone for people who don’t understand the issues just made it worse.

Will be putting my notice in next week.

As someone 20 years older than you, get out and get out soon.

You are damaging your future career chances by stagnating in a job that won’t teach you how to do things better for your future.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#427

Post by tayo42 »

jpeg_hero wrote: post #304
tayo42 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On call is shitty and I wish it wasn't accepted they way it is. Either hire people to work around the globe, or people that want to hire in shifts or accept that your product isn't going to be on 24 hours a day.

Even Facebook does on-call. So money can’t solve it. If you wrote the code and it breaks you’re kinda the only one that can fix it (in a hurry)

Yeah I'm being idealistic, but money can solve it, smaller companies do have teams around the world to do 24/7 on call.

Partially, i think its this way because it is accepted, no one seems to question it or push back on it. No one values their free time out side of work?

Also, Every time Ive been oncall I have been oncall for code I didn't write, I haven't even always have a job coding (ops/devops/sre roles) and have been on call for services. Or there's that thing that been neglected and unowned but someone needs to be oncall for it.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#428

Post by tayo42 »

thrower123 wrote: post #354
jpeg_hero wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even Facebook does on-call. So money can’t solve it. If you wrote the code and it breaks you’re kinda the only one that can fix it (in a hurry)

Any time you're called in for an emergency off-work hours, you should get time and a half, minimum of four hours paid. Blue collar industrial jobs treat their people better than software usually does.

> called in for an emergency off-work hours

Yes this should be the only time your ever called in off hours, there better be a threat of people dieing. hah

The reality of oncall is the server is filled up because no one can bother to rotate a log file, so you get paged at 4am to delete a file.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#429

Post by Porthos9K »

Waterluvian wrote: post #72

I don't want to be fired. I absolutely love my job and the people I work with. But I can just smell that we are about to hit a sticking point with how I don't do on call (it was never mentioned in the interviews or part of my contract) and I don't respond to work after 5pm. If it does come to that sticking point I'm trying to figure out how to be the most assertive and diplomatic. I.e. How do I convey that I badly wa…

Start with, "Fuck you, pay me." If you try to be diplomatic with people who are trying to take advantage of you, they will eat you alive.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#430

Post by halfer53 »

dav1app wrote: post #403

On my last job, a new manager called me for a meeting on Friday 4PM. I spent the whole month on an extremely stressful project. The meeting was about an app that integrates credit card payments, billets and bank account on a terminal that is going to be available to the general public. The deadline? 11PM of the same day. Final version. From 0 to 100% in 6 hours. I said that it was impossible. He said that I was incap…

This is one of the reason I hate about PIP( performance improvement program). They set ridiculous goals for you in very short amount of time that nobody can possibly complete, then fire you on grounds of incompetence. A friend of mine who works in Facebook told me that an employee committed suicide due to the pressure of PIP. I suspect that guy was put into PIP due to poor rating (meet most), then was given a ridiculous task which is impossible to complete. That guy was stressed out and that eventually lead to depression and suicide. RIP
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