Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tech company career ladders

rachelbythebay.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 188 posts

Re: Tech company career ladders

#2

Post by mlazos »

I think this article unfairly paints small companies as some nirvana which is obviously not the case. I have plenty of friends at small companies who feel like their c-suite is filled with sociopaths and because the company is under the radar nobody cares how the employees of said company are treated.

Re: Tech company career ladders

#4

Post by sillysaurus3 »

Through all of this, if your manager isn't supporting you, you're probably doomed. Unless they do something that's obviously going to get the company in legal trouble, HR won't care. Remember, HR is there to keep the company out of hot water, and they are never there for you.

This is very true in my experience and probably worth underscoring. How many of you feel like your boss isn't supporting you? Whenever that happens, watch out.

There's a flipside, though. It's not as scary to change jobs as it seems. And you'll probably be much happier.

Re: Tech company career ladders

#5

Post by hashset »

mlazos wrote: post #2

I think this article unfairly paints small companies as some nirvana which is obviously not the case. I have plenty of friends at small companies who feel like their c-suite is filled with sociopaths and because the company is under the radar nobody cares how the employees of said company are treated.

not to mention that the difference in money can be life-changing. it is not uncommon to see a 2-3x total comp. multiple as a "level 3" at the referenced companies compared to a small one.

Re: Tech company career ladders

#7

Post by thinkingkong »

There are a few issues which make moving backwards incredibly difficult. Notably, its almost impossible to negotiate a reduction in pay without being accused of constructive dismissal. When a ladder is put in place its usually tied to comp, so that the engineering organization can have some semblance of a predictable budget.

I really respect Rachel and all her writing. Our industry needs something more widely accepted as a best practice which is transparent to existing employees as well as new people getting into the field.

Re: Tech company career ladders

#8

Post by maxxxxx »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #4

Through all of this, if your manager isn't supporting you, you're probably doomed. Unless they do something that's obviously going to get the company in legal trouble, HR won't care. Remember, HR is there to keep the company out of hot water, and they are never there for you. This is very true in my experience and probably worth underscoring. How many of you feel like your boss isn't supporting you? Whenever that hap…

In my current company for 2 years I was reporting to a director who didn't care at all. No promotions, no raises, nothing. Then a new manager came in between me and the director and suddenly promotion, raises and more interesting work. Having an unsupportive manager is almost for sure career death and a strong reason for leaving.

Re: Tech company career ladders

#9

Post by maxxxxx »

mlazos wrote: post #2

I think this article unfairly paints small companies as some nirvana which is obviously not the case. I have plenty of friends at small companies who feel like their c-suite is filled with sociopaths and because the company is under the radar nobody cares how the employees of said company are treated.

Very true. From my experience as contractor I think bigger companies are often better and more predictable places to work. There are some small companies that are great but a lot of them don't pay well and are run by people who care only about themselves.

Re: Tech company career ladders

#10

Post by itronitron »

mlazos wrote: post #2

I think this article unfairly paints small companies as some nirvana which is obviously not the case. I have plenty of friends at small companies who feel like their c-suite is filled with sociopaths and because the company is under the radar nobody cares how the employees of said company are treated.

Yeah, the risk of small companies is that in order to change the scenery you have to leave. A sizable company (>250 people) in which people can move across teams is ideal, this is the main advantage of matrix management structures. Sad to hear about the leveling crap at Google et al. it is truly amazing how significantly HR policies can muck up a company by interfering with it's employees.
Post reply on HN