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Ask HN: "Is that work?"

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Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#41

Post by [deleted] »

TamDenholm wrote: post #35
throwaway_burn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You only get statutory sick pay when a doctors note is involved, which can only be gotten if you've taken more than two days off, aren't too sick to actually visit the GP and even then statutory sick pay is paid at minimum wage, I'm on £17k a year. And thanks for the link!

I've no idea where in the UK you are but where I am (Edinburgh) the average wage for a salaried PHP Dev is £20k-£25k and this is a VERY cheap area. So i'd say you're drastically underpaid, especially if you're futher south. I chose not to work in Edinburgh because of the terrible pay, I'm a PHP contractor and i work in London for £300-£350 a day for 3 months and then come back to Edinburgh after the contract is over.…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#42

Post by throwaway_burn »

TamDenholm wrote: post #35
throwaway_burn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You only get statutory sick pay when a doctors note is involved, which can only be gotten if you've taken more than two days off, aren't too sick to actually visit the GP and even then statutory sick pay is paid at minimum wage, I'm on £17k a year. And thanks for the link!

I've no idea where in the UK you are but where I am (Edinburgh) the average wage for a salaried PHP Dev is £20k-£25k and this is a VERY cheap area. So i'd say you're drastically underpaid, especially if you're futher south. I chose not to work in Edinburgh because of the terrible pay, I'm a PHP contractor and i work in London for £300-£350 a day for 3 months and then come back to Edinburgh after the contract is over.…

I'll be in touch. (And I'm from Wales).

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#43

Post by baha_man »

_b8r0 wrote: post #28

I'm not sure if you're setting expectations with him. I have this problem to some extent. Some of our guys email around everyone telling them what they're doing, asking questions, trying to get feedback from everyone else. Others have clammed up, don't talk, shut themselves in. When the guys that talk about what they're doing (and some of it is weird obscure stuff, so they kindly abstract it) then you know they've be…

"Also your 20 days holiday is below the legal minimum."

No, as pointed out above, 20 days holiday, on top of 8 public holidays, is the legal minimum.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#45

Post by _b8r0 »

baha_man wrote: post #43
_b8r0 wrote: post #28

I'm not sure if you're setting expectations with him. I have this problem to some extent. Some of our guys email around everyone telling them what they're doing, asking questions, trying to get feedback from everyone else. Others have clammed up, don't talk, shut themselves in. When the guys that talk about what they're doing (and some of it is weird obscure stuff, so they kindly abstract it) then you know they've be…

"Also your 20 days holiday is below the legal minimum." No, as pointed out above, 20 days holiday, on top of 8 public holidays, is the legal minimum.

Ah, I thought this was including public holidays.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#46

Post by throwaway_burn »

dmitri1981 wrote: post #21

> Some statistics recently suggested that a snowball had a better chance of opening an ice cream shop in the deepest layer of hell than I have of getting another job. You could not be more wrong. I organise the London Hacker News meetup and speak weekly to people who are DESPERATE to get a good developer. Unemployment may well be high, but there is huge demand for good developers. Unless you have very strong ties to…

According to the BBC, In the city I live, there is around 8 unemployed people for every 1 job here.

I'd love to work/live in London, but I am a bit nervous about getting down there because I don't have a degree. I'm completely self taught.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#47

Post by metageek »

> They even outsourced me to develop a ticketing system for a [potentially recognisable car service] company, to the tune of more than half my annual salary for four weeks work.

And it didn't occur to them that this meant you were worth more than they thought? They're hopeless. Run away. Take some of your vacation days and go interview someplace where you can be a profit center instead of a cost center.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#48

Post by throwaway_burn »

LaPingvino wrote: post #24
throwaway_burn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do smoke, and I barely get away with 2 5 minute breaks a day.

I don't smoke and don't recommend it generally, but for work it has absolutely its merits, and this doesn't sound right at all...

This is a quote from him last week:

"Between the fag breaks, shit breaks, you aren't getting ANY work done!"

He laughed when I told him to go and fuck himself, like I was joking.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#49

Post by tseabrooks »

There are about 30 - 40 developers in my office and everyone browses the web whenever they feel like it. Our group has super tight deadlines (consumer electronics) and our boss' focus is always on making sure we hit all our deadlines no matter how tight our parent company makes the deadlines. That being said, all of our leadership (in house) are promoted Software and Electrical Engineers. This is true from our VP down to our team leaders and project managers.

I suspect it's different for someone working in an office with a lot of business people but I think it's important to find an employer that recognizes doing work on complicated problems isn't a linear process... It will often times now be something you can sit down and just DO. I can't even count the number of times I've spent 3 hours of over time in the office trying to solve a problem only to have the solution come to me in the shower the next morning. The mind must rest and be allowed to shift focus to something unrelated to the immediate activity at hand if someone wants creative solutions to tough problems.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#50

Post by henrikschroder »

Your boss has never managed more than one developer: You. Your boss doesn't really listen to you describing how you should be managed, so instead he compares you to other people he has managed, i.e. the sales guy and the designer guy.

Until your boss has personally experienced managing several developers, he doesn't have enough datapoints to know where you fall on the spectrum.

The only way he can get that experience is by you quitting so he has to hire a replacement. Arguing with him, pleading with him, explaining what you do, etc, won't give him the experience.

It also sounds like this is your first job, so do both yourself and your boss a favor: Quit.

You will get more experience of different workplaces so that you can accurately tell if they're good or bad workplaces. There's a reason most of the comments here (from more experienced developers) tell you to quit, and tell you that your workplace sucks.

Your boss will get more experience managing developers and a better appreciation for the value you bring.

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