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Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#51

Post by hatsubai »

7/10

Work as a contractor for one of the largest govt defense contractors in the aerospace and land vehicle field. Lots of opportunity here to work on pretty much whatever you'd like. You can jump on any project ranging from low level embedded devices to application code to virtual reality. Coworkers are pleasant, albeit their skills can be a bit atrophied due to them being in maintenance/bug fixing mode for the past 10+ years of being here working on their own little section of code. Managers are great and leave you alone. My actual team lead only holds meetings once every few weeks, as we mostly use SMS for any instant or urgent information (nothing I work on is classified, and my core team consists of about three other people who do actual coding). I got a cube, and if I need more alone time, I can head to six or more different silo areas where specific hardware is kept for testing, and I can ssh to any machine and just pick up where I left off. They're usually not busy until a release is coming up, which is only a couple times a year.

Downsides include the location of the company (lower income state compared to others), weather, and an aversion to change - which I guess kinda comes with a fortune 100 govt contracting company. Computer hardware given to us is atrocious, getting competent new people in is almost impossible due to what we work on and location, and devs don't even need to show they can code. Nepotism is very real, as is having to "know people" in order to advance here. If you are a direct employee, promotions are rare and usually only occur once every 5 to 10 years. IT infrastructure is some of the absolute worst I have ever seen, and it prevents you from getting real work done (imagine having to wait four months to get your favorite free IDE installed or six months to update Cygwin packages, for example. In fact, our IT group still can't figure out how to upgrade a Cygwin install on a shared folder).

Pay is decent. As a contractor, you get straight time for every 40 hours worked, and you get 1.5x pay for every six minutes after that. Overtime is basically never mandated or requested, but you are free to work as much OT as you'd like without anyone saying anything. I have personally worked 70+ hour work weeks just for the extra cash, assisting everything from a new GUI, adding new objects to a VR demo, and implementing new functionality to Linux kernel drivers. Even got a pay raise (13% increase!) for all the extra hard work I did on top of all that extra pay, so that was cool.

All in all, it's a decent place (especially if you like living in the Midwest) with long term stability. However, you won't really be challenged with truly hard problems if you work here, and growth is stagnant. You'll really need to make the most out of it yourself by pushing management to allow you to implement new stuff, which isn't terribly hard, thankfully. They're willing to listen and implement new stuff, especially if it is a newer product. Harder if it's a legacy project, obviously, but it is still possible.

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#52

Post by aennyta »

John_Cena wrote: post #38

I spent 3/4 of 2017 trying to land a job. I've been at the company for a quarter. Its a big corporate monstrosity and they literally made me "train" for a month on how to do sales, customer service, and technician roles... Yeah I sat on a phone for 2 straight days taking phone calls with an engineering degree from the best school in the SE USA. Just trying to put that in perspective. I overlooked it because the oppor…

If you don't mind me asking, were you actively looking for a new job for 3/4 of 2017, without being employed anywhere? Finding a job in tech shouldn't be that hard, I would think.

Your situation sounds quite like any other big corporate. Lots of people not doing anything or working very little and manages that can be really picky and hard to get along. I am not sure what I would do, getting into that team seams like a way to go, but working with that manager sounds very difficult. Maybe give it a go for few months to see if you get along with him? If not, start looking for a new job, while you are still at your present one maybe.

It really depends on your character, I might not give the best advice cos I am tired of working for ineffective managers.

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#54

Post by anonymous2018 »

hatsubai wrote: post #51

7/10 Work as a contractor for one of the largest govt defense contractors in the aerospace and land vehicle field. Lots of opportunity here to work on pretty much whatever you'd like. You can jump on any project ranging from low level embedded devices to application code to virtual reality. Coworkers are pleasant, albeit their skills can be a bit atrophied due to them being in maintenance/bug fixing mode for the past…

How can I get a job there?

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#55

Post by twayamznacct »

joedavison wrote: post #36
twayamznacct wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, at least, the problem is something else. I never expected it to be "special" at any of these places...I'd likely be exactly this unhappy doing the same meaningless work I'm doing here, elsewhere. I just took the jobs because they paid well and, at least at the beginning, I was going to be doing things that were of reasonable interest. I tried the "take time off route" once, and while it was alright, I was con…

I would recommend trying to find an internal transfer. That way you don't have to do another round of whiteboard interviews, but you might find a better / more interesting project to work on. Any change of scenery might help.

Everything I've read has led me to believe that whiteboard interviews for internal hires/transfers are still a thing at this particular company, so I've avoided even that...

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#56

Post by twayamznacct »

zapperdapper wrote: post #44
twayamznacct wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, at least, the problem is something else. I never expected it to be "special" at any of these places...I'd likely be exactly this unhappy doing the same meaningless work I'm doing here, elsewhere. I just took the jobs because they paid well and, at least at the beginning, I was going to be doing things that were of reasonable interest. I tried the "take time off route" once, and while it was alright, I was con…

I would talk to someone directly. You sound very unhappy. I wasn't quite clear if the problem was the work or the company? It's something that needs to be dived into and had a good look at because there could be imbalance in your life leading to depression. So you need to look at things like diet, sleep, exercise, relationship etc. It's possible you need to rebalance - it's possible you need a new career. A career br…

> I wasn't quite clear if the problem was the work or the company?

I honestly don't have a complete answer for this. I mean, I know the work is a major problem, but it's not the only factor by far. It's definitely the one front and center, however.

As for other "life" things, I believe I do well there. I get 8 hours of sleep, I exercise 4 days a week, eat healthy, etc. No relationships but I'm antisocial to a tremendous degree so there's not much helping me there.

I appreciate the comments. Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#57

Post by twayamznacct »

kasey_junk wrote: post #39
twayamznacct wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, at least, the problem is something else. I never expected it to be "special" at any of these places...I'd likely be exactly this unhappy doing the same meaningless work I'm doing here, elsewhere. I just took the jobs because they paid well and, at least at the beginning, I was going to be doing things that were of reasonable interest. I tried the "take time off route" once, and while it was alright, I was con…

You are describing fairly text book depression symptoms that may have no relation to work. Think about talking to a professional about this.

Thank you - I have thought about this on and off but the thought of speaking to someone about this in-person (or even over the phone) terrifies me to the point of almost breaking down just thinking about it.

I know it's irrational, and I know I need to do it, but that doesn't make it any easier :(

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#58

Post by api_or_ipa »

aennyta wrote: post #46
api_or_ipa wrote: post #41

8/10 Improved my code quality by becoming more aware of code style and becoming more nuanced in the approaches I take when solving problems. Enjoyed getting back into Python work, but async programming in python is still somewhat awkward. I'm alarmingly bittersweet about living in the Bay Area and not living closer to home. On one hand, I miss seeing my large and wonderfully close family and friends at home; on the o…

Improving coding skills is a lifetime work :) Does Bay Area work out for you? I heard salaries are high, but so are life expenses.

Salaries are high, but taxes and living expenses really take a bite out of it. Nonetheless, I feel I've saved more money than I would have living in my home-city.

The perpetually mild weather has done wonders for my mental health, I hate the cold, dark winters in Vancouver BC. I keep telling myself it's only a 2 hour flight away, but I never seem to go back enough.

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#59

Post by tptacek »

twayamznacct wrote: post #57
kasey_junk wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are describing fairly text book depression symptoms that may have no relation to work. Think about talking to a professional about this.

Thank you - I have thought about this on and off but the thought of speaking to someone about this in-person (or even over the phone) terrifies me to the point of almost breaking down just thinking about it. I know it's irrational, and I know I need to do it, but that doesn't make it any easier :(

Have you never done it before? It's intimidating walking through the door, but you'll rapidly discover that there's nothing terrifying about it. Professionals are really good at talking to you about your concerns. You might get lucky and find that your problems stem from the kind of anxiety that dissipates if you can just have someone guide you through venting it fully and clearly in a venue where nobody is judging you.

Re: Ask HN: How did you like your job in 2017?

#60

Post by hatsubai »

anonymous2018 wrote: post #54
hatsubai wrote: post #51

7/10 Work as a contractor for one of the largest govt defense contractors in the aerospace and land vehicle field. Lots of opportunity here to work on pretty much whatever you'd like. You can jump on any project ranging from low level embedded devices to application code to virtual reality. Coworkers are pleasant, albeit their skills can be a bit atrophied due to them being in maintenance/bug fixing mode for the past…

How can I get a job there?

The company isn't really hiring for software devs right now, so unless you already know Ada/vxWorks or current architecture, it might be hard to get into.
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