Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#451

Post by Pietbull » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:09 AM UTC

jl2718 wrote: post #320

So many ideas in my head that I really want to be working on, and I can’t seem to separate myself from the mental model of having a set position in a heirarchy, taking confused and/or hostile direction from seemingly arbitrary sources of authority. Some kind of fear, not even financial, more like the idea of getting lost, losing touch, never finding my way back, being abandoned and undesirable, dying alone. And beyon…

THIS. I've been feeling this for the last 4 odd years in tech consulting. "Dreams giving way to fears". Spot on. With me also the "comfort zone" factor. Getting use to how things go and settling in. You're not alone.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#452

Post by croh » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:12 AM UTC

theanine wrote: post #85

I wrote about my experience at my current job a few weeks ago [1]. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all your support. I recently got an offer for the field I've always wanted to be in, with around a $25k pay raise too. It's such a huge weight off my shoulders to finally see a way out and I feel so much better, basic things like my appetite are back and I don't dread waking up. I already have so much more f…

Glad it worked. Just trust yourself, stay positive and keep doing good work !

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#453

Post by eps » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:12 AM UTC

DamnInteresting wrote: post #137

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…

In professional settings, when it comes to these kinds of awkward topics, I have found a method that has served me very well: A. Meet with the person who is applying the unwanted pressure (it works best one-on-one, so if more than one person is pressuring, you may need to figure out who is best to speak to). B. Frame your concern as asking for advice. For example, "I'm struggling with how to handle this on-call thing…

This requires the other person to see the need for the work-life balance. Some people genuinely don't. For some work is always the priority.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#454

Post by croh » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:15 AM UTC

yepthatsreality wrote: post #389

I was just recently fired, but honestly I was about to leave. I work in a two person branch of my current gig. The other person is my supervisor and is learning how to be someone. He's constantly looking over my shoulder and decided to fire me because I missed the goals, that he forced me to quote. The project wasn't ready for a deadline. I honestly got tired of all the little supervisor experiments as well. When he…

As per my experience, mostly they won't. At least not immediately. Just forget everything once you quit and focus on your well being.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#455

Post by honest_tovarich » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:16 AM UTC

hn_temp_10_1_19 wrote: post #262

I just walked from a job after a week and a half. Applied and interviewed for a junior full stack java/angular developer position. Really excited for it. Got and accepted an offer just to show up day one to a weird point & click/drag & drop visual programming thing called BluePrism. Tried to make myself like it, but couldn't stick it out. Moved 800 miles for that job too, just to get bait & switched.

Holy molly .... dude ... that’s hilarious

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#456

Post by linza » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:20 AM UTC

virgilp wrote: post #440

halfer53 wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ridicul…

It's a sad story; but PIP is really the pink slip; you take it as an advance notice that you're going to be fired, and start looking for jobs. I've heard stories of people completing PIP programs successfully, but quite honestly, I don't get it. Once you got to that point, you're not a good fit to the team and/or they don't appreciate you. Makes no sense to stay. I could understand staying with the company & switchin…

Circumstances sometimes are not that clear. Being put on a PIP where I'm employed is at the discretion of the manager, and sometimes it's just the combination of the report and the manager. One of my colleagues was put on a PIP, switched teams, and is now doing much better. However, some companies limit mobility during a PIP so it's not always possible to achieve this outcome.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#457

Post by bontaq » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:20 AM UTC

wbl wrote: post #393

marrone12 wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is bad advice. If you accidentally leave personally identifiable healthcare information on some random stage server and that server gets hacked, that is a federal crime. If the data and application code are very intertwined (likely in a pre-SOA era), it can be very difficult to version control code completely isolated from PII.

Huh? Why would the code have medical data in it?

If you were to take an api response and save it for testing, but not completely remove all personal information.

Easier than you'd think, or at least I could see it happening.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#458

Post by d--b » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:22 AM UTC

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…

Next time this happens to you, write down minutes of the meeting and send the doc to the guy asking to confirm that this is what they ask. When they fire you on Monday, sue.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#459

Post by noir_lord » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:28 AM UTC

fearingreprisal wrote: post #351

jl2718 wrote: post #320

So many ideas in my head that I really want to be working on, and I can’t seem to separate myself from the mental model of having a set position in a heirarchy, taking confused and/or hostile direction from seemingly arbitrary sources of authority. Some kind of fear, not even financial, more like the idea of getting lost, losing touch, never finding my way back, being abandoned and undesirable, dying alone. And beyon…

I've always wondered the same thing. I've lived a reasonably stressful life, living through much worse things than the daily monotony of office life as a software engineer. However there are some days where it truly just crushes my spirits and leaves me completely spiritually depleted. There's truly something to be said regarding the elasticity of our mental health and how large a role expectations and norms play in…

I've worked what people would consider horrific jobs (significant that most of those I was one of the few English people) like greenhouse work in the summer, freezer plants, 12-14 hour shifts in a factory with weekends.

Those jobs will destroy your body, a toxic office environment will destroy for want of a better word you soul.

Both are awful but the are quantitatively different.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#460

Post by guitarbill » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 7:29 AM UTC

honkycat wrote: post #431

I hate all of my jobs. Computer programming just doesn't seem worth it for 100-120k. I could work an easier job for a better money/bullshit ratio. My therapist is concerned. So am I. What if I don't fit in anywhere? I'm extremely sensitive with a high EQ, am an INTP. People really like me, and I make fast friends and can run a room extremely effectively. I've always been "the funny guy." I'm absurdly driven A-type an…

if this is all true, the obvious answer is consulting. the non-obvious answer is developer advocacy/evangelism. when you search for "developer advocacy", it's all "what do DAs do?". it's sales, but targeted at developers. developers don't like BS, so how do you sell to developers? show them how to build cool shit and make their lives easier. finding a niche is great, since you are no longer as replaceable. but DA roles will only work if you're realistic about your standards, other peoples' levels and standards, and you're truly empathetic, and don't have a chip on your shoulder.