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Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

gallup.com

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Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#91

Post by JSeymourATL »

philipov wrote: post #46
dozzie wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but you wouldn't know in advance that this codebase you're going to be assigned to is well-written, or that it does amazing things (unless you're in its target users group or know the target industry already). If somebody offered you a job to merely maintain an old, gigantic codebase, I don't think your first thought would be "wow, I'm going to learn so much from this!", and there probably wouldn't be any way yo…

I mean, if you're a novice, it should be your first thought. If it isn't, I consider that a failure of education. Jumping into writing something from scratch when you're not part of the target user group or know the target industry already is a great way to produce horrible code that you (or someone else) will hate to maintain. This is why it's so important to grill your interviewers about the reality of working at t…

> I learned which questions to ask from bad experience.

Would you mind sharing your best, most probing questions-- the one's that proved most useful cutting through corporate posturing and BS?

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#92

Post by stuxnet79 »

mfoy_ wrote: post #73
feld wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for them for a short time due to an acquisition. They're crazy. They think they're solving the world's problems with polling data and they force you to be psycho-analyzed and have a plaque at your desk displaying your traits. Nuttier than squirrel turds.

Is your psycho-pass looking a bit cloudy today?

Lovely. A Psycho-Pass reference. I was wondering how quickly it would turn up :)

FWIW my Psycho-Pass is pretty clear today. Can't wait for the english version of the movie to finally get released by Funimation.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#93

Post by jahaja »

danieltillett wrote: post #10
js8 wrote: post #4

I think employees want control of their own life, more share in decision-making. Essentially, they want democracy, even if they can't articulate it. But in capitalist society, where the ownership of capital decides, this cannot happen. There are attempts to tiptoe around this problem with holacracies and Agile methodologies and similar concepts, but the main problem still remains.

In theory workers co-operatives are this, but they have a habit of not doing so well in the real world. It is a really interesting question why this is the case. Why should a business owned by a capitalist for their own benefit be able to outcompete a workers co-operative?

Well what's driving people into starting a cooperative? An ambitious entrepreneur with capitalist growth ideals clearly won't chose it.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#94

Post by stuxnet79 »

distracted828 wrote: post #52
philipov wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if you're a novice, it should be your first thought. If it isn't, I consider that a failure of education. Jumping into writing something from scratch when you're not part of the target user group or know the target industry already is a great way to produce horrible code that you (or someone else) will hate to maintain. This is why it's so important to grill your interviewers about the reality of working at t…

> failure teaches you which mistakes to avoid next time As a recent grad who has been fired from two jobs, I would be afraid to join a poorly written project because I would worry that I would fail and then be fired. Learning how to be successful is pretty important and teaches you things you cannot learn from lurching from failure to failure.

How did you fail?

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#95

Post by fweespeech »

ryandrake wrote: post #83
fweespeech wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, it is because they don't want to help. They want the appearance of helping without the effort involved. All I want is to work remotely permanently but they insist it isn't what i want and offer me more money.

Wow. In the companies I've worked for, "more money" seems to be the only motivator they couldn't seem to come up with. Mind switching jobs?

You don't want my job, trust me.

I honestly tried to turn down a $30k raise because of how frustrated I am with it some days. I only gave in because I was going through a hard time with a death in the family which killed any desire to mix that with looking for a new job.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#96

Post by jahaja »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #68
js8 wrote: post #4

I think employees want control of their own life, more share in decision-making. Essentially, they want democracy, even if they can't articulate it. But in capitalist society, where the ownership of capital decides, this cannot happen. There are attempts to tiptoe around this problem with holacracies and Agile methodologies and similar concepts, but the main problem still remains.

How does democracy give employees "control of their own life"? In any organization of appreciable size, your vote doesn't matter. Capitalism gives employees control; your life has changed immediately after you exercise your option to exit. Voting simply doesn't. It's also potentially very harmful, due to the principal/agent problem. Every agent (employee) has the incentive to loot the company, build empires, and prot…

> But such things are of course very bad for organizations.

I'd say the ideals of a worker cooperative is that the workers _are_ the organization. The organization is a means to an end for all workers benefit. Not the other way around as is usually the case in a totalitarian capitalistic one.

And yes you're right, Capitalism gives you as much control giving as any totalitarian system, quitting/exile.

As the goal of worker cooperatives is usually not to become multi-nationals I'm not sure how low your bar is for when ones vote become absolutely futile.

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#98

Post by crimsonalucard »

vinceguidry wrote: post #87
crimsonalucard wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This smacks of entitlement. Employees should feel entitled. They generate 99% of our GDP while 50% of that GDP goes to the top 1% of the population. The capitalist employer / employee relationship is designed to screw over the employee. The word "entitlement" is a classic guilt tripping technique used by either employee or employer. Ignore it, because as an employee you will never get a high enough salary that can t…

You know what keeps real employees satisfied at their jobs, not just the entitled ones that expect the good life to just come to them? A sense of purpose. The feeling that what you do matters . The feeling that at the end of the day, you've accomplished something. Something worth giving 1/3 of your life towards. You're hiding your greed behind classist nonsense. You don't want a sense of purpose, you just want that p…

Classist nonsense? Greed? "Smacks of Entitlement"? Your language has been negative and insulting and I am highly offended. Your attitude is against HN rules.

>A sense of purpose. The feeling that what you do matters. The feeling that at the end of the day, you've accomplished something. Something worth giving 1/3 of your life towards.

You truly think that's all people want? Most people with jobs do not work on something they consider meaningful. To do so means they ARE LUCKY. If that's the case why are they working? What is the factor that is satiating them when the job provides Zero meaning? Salary. You're essentially claiming most employees aren't "real" because they work for money instead of meaningful work.

You know those quants at wall street who spend their days building algorithms that trade meaningless paper stocks that contribute nothing to GDP? They do it for half a million dollars annual salary, not for a job that matters.

>You're hiding your greed behind classist nonsense. You don't want a sense of purpose, you just want that paycheck to keep getting bigger.

I'm not even really hiding anything. All people want more money, including me. You're trying to paint me as some "greedy" person because I want more money when wanting more money is NORMAL. We are all imperfect creatures and we all want more money. To openly deny this desire means you are a creature of utter moral perfection and I question your honesty and the existence of such a creature.

What I really want is this: More money AND a sense of purpose. Isn't that what everyone wants? All you want is a sense of purpose and minimum wage. Ok, good for you.

>You are very probably already in the 1% of top income earners in the world. Being that that cutoff is $34,000/year, it's not hard.

Your numbers are loaded like the rest of your argument. You need 500,000 annually to be in the top 1%: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/10/19/what-percent-are-y...

>You should be focused less on fighting those with more than you, and more on working with them to do things that matter.

Who are you to tell me what I should do or what I want? You do not control what satisfies an employee. Majority consensus defines this concept not you telling me what I should do.

Also note that no employee ever really works "with" the employer as you put it. To do so means you get an equal piece of the pie. Hence the usual term is "Employees work FOR employers."

Re: Employees: looking for “the great boss who cares about their development”

#99

Post by JoeAltmaier »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #98
vinceguidry wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know what keeps real employees satisfied at their jobs, not just the entitled ones that expect the good life to just come to them? A sense of purpose. The feeling that what you do matters . The feeling that at the end of the day, you've accomplished something. Something worth giving 1/3 of your life towards. You're hiding your greed behind classist nonsense. You don't want a sense of purpose, you just want that p…

Classist nonsense? Greed? "Smacks of Entitlement"? Your language has been negative and insulting and I am highly offended. Your attitude is against HN rules. >A sense of purpose. The feeling that what you do matters. The feeling that at the end of the day, you've accomplished something. Something worth giving 1/3 of your life towards. You truly think that's all people want? Most people with jobs do not work on someth…

I think that half-million is in the USA, not the world. Most people in the world make a few dollars a day.
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