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Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

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Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#51

Post by jacquesm »

drinchev wrote: post #50

Disclaimer: I'm a Bulgarian. My story short : I recently moved to Berlin without knowing German. I was hired 2 weeks after I started to search for a job and I had enough offers to choose the job I want ( I've graduated law, but programming is what I've been doing my whole life ). Before this I was freelancing successfully in Bulgaria for awhile and had pretty decent amount of income anyway. I moved here, because of p…

Super offer. I do note the OP's dad is somewhere past 55 and by the looks of it you are quite young so your story may not transfer. Thank you anyway :)

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#52

Post by brudgers »

No matter how much you love your father. you can't 'fix' him.

You can however be supportive. In part that means putting aside what you think he should do because it's not your call. Provide love without being asked. Provide advice only when.

Don't expect him to suddenly stop acting in ways in which he takes pride. He would work without pay again if the circumstances were the same. Accept him for who he is. Doing the right things will be hard because it is about him not you.

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#53

Post by gavanwoolery »

jacquesm wrote: post #17
eagerNewb wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The country is Bulgaria. His English is fluent. He has developed a project which requires funding, yet no one wants to fund, because of the unstable situation.

Please ask your dad to send me an email (or mail me directly). I will be back in Romania in early July, I could conceivably hop over to Bulgaria to talk this over in person. I've done a few other things like this with good results: http://jacquesmattheij.com/journeyman-project-trip-1-united-... And I'm doing a few more as we speak. My email address is jacques@mattheij.com

Good for you - my current project started the same way (the kindness of another person).

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#54

Post by leandot »

I feel your pain is genuine and I am sorry for is happening with your father. As a Bulgarian though I feel the need to say that there are several untrue facts in your post - e.g. there are no riots in BG. Also the IT sector is very strong with HP, Micsosoft, IBM etc. having offices + emerging startup ecosystem growing rapidly and I honestly have not heard anyone in IT having issues finding a well-paid job.

That being said I think you can help your father in many ways:

Support him by telling him he is doing a great job of being a father and caring for his family and profession.

You can help with the CV - I recently read an article on HN about an older guy in US in a similar position and basically it turned out that his CV was just not adjusted to the new realities of the IT world.

Be active in communities like HN and you might get unexpected help.

Checkout the portfolios of startup hubs - e.g. http://launchub.com/portfolio/ - perfection and attention to detail do mean a lot there. Contact directly, be creative -e.g. ask if they would like to have someone helping them with networking for free one month and they can then decide if they would like to hire.

If you are more adventurous try a small project on indiegogo https://www.indiegogo.com/ - I believe enough people from HN will back it. If it is a nice idea I know I will.

If it is not about the work itself but looking urgently for money - try mechanical turk or something like that to make ends meet for the time being..

Hope it helps, I wish you luck

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#55

Post by Rigjig »

I've been in the same position, as you with my dad. The best thing to do is network. Put his resume on indeed.com, dice.com, working with rails (or something of that sort). There are a few cofounder sites as well (techcofounder.com is one). Rest is all chance, people with the stupidest startups are making quite a bit of money.

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#56

Post by markvdb »

YZF wrote: post #49
silverbax88 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It will hurt his employment status. Companies don't want to hire employees who are suing former employers. Not always fair, but it's because there are a TON of people who frivolously sue their employers.

I strongly disagree. He should absolutely go after his lost wages by any means possible and it will do nothing to affect his employment status. There's no reason for him to inform future prospective employers of this and there's no way they will find out. As a hiring manager I would have absolutely no problem hiring someone who had to sue a previous employer for lost wages and I doubt anyone else would. If there's a…

He's in Bulgaria. I wonder how that fact and the rule of law go together...

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#57

Post by YZF »

markvdb wrote: post #56
YZF wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree. He should absolutely go after his lost wages by any means possible and it will do nothing to affect his employment status. There's no reason for him to inform future prospective employers of this and there's no way they will find out. As a hiring manager I would have absolutely no problem hiring someone who had to sue a previous employer for lost wages and I doubt anyone else would. If there's a…

He's in Bulgaria. I wonder how that fact and the rule of law go together...

The probability of recovering something is related to the legal environment, the determination of wanting to recover and other specific of the situation. If this company does any business out of Bulgaria there may be various levers to push there. The situation may also change going forward so at least documenting the situation and the efforts may end up being able to recover something in the future. Given that Bulgaria is in the EU it seems at least worthwhile to try. Sometimes the legal environment may actually limit your ability to recovery debt (e.g. bankruptcy) so having no rule-of-law can be an advantage.

At any rate, future employability prospects should not be a factor in going after unpaid wages.

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#58

Post by rahimnathwani »

jheriko wrote: post #41
jacquesm wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people have lives. You can't just pack up and leave normally speaking. Also, being from Romania or Bulgaria is not exactly treated as a preferential attribute when trying to locate work in other European countries. It shouldn't matter but it does. So even if there are no legal restrictions there are plenty of barriers.

aside from that most people can't afford to go that far for work... by a long way. it takes money to make money.

I don't think it's primarily the distance. It costs less than $200 to travel from Sofia to London by bus. This is less than half the median monthly income.

However, getting a job in London or another city will take time, and the cost of essential services like accommodation and public transport will quickly add up.

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#59

Post by mcv »

eagerNewb wrote: post #12
LTheobald wrote: post #5

So I've got to ask - what country?. Riots and a controlling government doesn't narrow it down. Is there any chance of emigrating? How are your dad's language skills - how's his English for example? What things has he tried? Sending out speculative letters? Taking unpaid placements (if possible) to get a foot in the door?

The country is Bulgaria. His English is fluent. He has developed a project which requires funding, yet no one wants to fund, because of the unstable situation.

Bulgaria is an EU member, so he should be able to work in another EU country. I know Netherland has a shortage of good tech people. Maybe he can look for a job there?

Re: Ask HN: How can i help my dad?

#60

Post by mcv »

markvdb wrote: post #56
YZF wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree. He should absolutely go after his lost wages by any means possible and it will do nothing to affect his employment status. There's no reason for him to inform future prospective employers of this and there's no way they will find out. As a hiring manager I would have absolutely no problem hiring someone who had to sue a previous employer for lost wages and I doubt anyone else would. If there's a…

He's in Bulgaria. I wonder how that fact and the rule of law go together...

Even if Bulgaria sucks, it's a member of the EU. Workers have a right to get paid here. I don't see why prospective employers would even know that he's suing a former employer. The only real obstacle is probably that the lawsuit itself costs money, but even then, he should definitely sue.

What use are worker protection laws if employers get away with this? Only employers on the verge of bankruptcy should get away with this. If a healthy company doesn't pay its employees, it wouldn't surprise me if that's criminal. Try getting the police involved.

Note: I'm not a lawyer.

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