Ask HN: "Is that work?" • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#81

Post by grandalf » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 4:26 PM UTC

Sounds like you need a "boss mode" for your screen and also for your approach to the job.

Frankly sometimes it's important to look busy. Or in other words, to better communicate the value you're producing.

Maybe you should try to have some sort of deliverable every few days or every week. Or, make him make the tough decisions about delaying the quoting system b/c you have to create a local copy of the db vs paying extra money for a solution designed for local hosting.

If he's saving your anual salary in the 4 weeks you take to do it, then he'll view himself as very wise for having made that decision, and greatly enjoy the savings.

If he's a jerk, then quit, but if he's not then try some of the above and maybe it will make your job more fun.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#82

Post by metageek » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 4:26 PM UTC

throwaway_burn wrote: post #51

metageek wrote: post #47

> 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.

We have to take 4 days over Christmas because the dealership is shut, I have used 15.5 days :( Maybe after January.

Half a day would be enough to interview at the nearby place that paid the equivalent of £102K/year for you. Ask for £80K/year, they'll think they're getting a bargain. If you save half of it, you'll still be much better off, and you'll be building up a reserve so that, later on, you can quit and spend time interviewing in a city where there are good jobs.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#83

Post by shimon » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 4:47 PM UTC

throwaway_burn wrote: post #40

edw519 wrote: post #26

To the right of where I sit, is my boss, the son of one of the Managing Directors of this company. 100% of the gigs I've ever had working for a child of the founder were absolute hell. Looks like you're there, too. Run, don't walk, in the other direction! Now I'm not saying that all children of founders are like this, just that it's my overwhelming experience. I don't know why this is, but I have many guesses. Perhap…

I would like to point out that in this case, (not that I'm trying to sound overly supportive of the guy, but it's not that I hate him either), his dad fired him THREE times whilst working for him. His dad only hired him back after he had gone out and made something of himself (selling his own business for lots of money).

You still sound overly supportive of the guy. His dad actually hired him back at least twice before he had made something of himself.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#84

Post by rdmlx » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:02 PM UTC

You like the job but not the guys breathing down your neck. So why not ask if you can work from home every other day to transition into a full time stay-at-home employee? Sounds like you get a lot done for them, if they can't accept that then you really do need to find someone who can. This could give you time to peruse Craigslist or other online sources for freelance work. There is a lot of demand in other places for web developers, if you can tap into that source you could do quite while.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#85

Post by wicknicks » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:10 PM UTC

You did your time. Get the hell out and start something new.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#86

Post by sga » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:11 PM UTC

sga wrote: post #53

I absolutely surf HN and other sites throughout the day. My brain needs a distraction every once in a while. As long as your work gets done, I don't see a problem with this. Intellectual pursuits and positions are not monotonous assembly lines, it is simply not possible to focus 100% of your attention 100% of the time. You need breaks. While I don't see a problem with this, your boss quite clearly does. Not only that…

Here is a link to the HN feed in the terminal that I was remembering:

http://www.catonmat.net/blog/follow-hacker-news-from-the-con...

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#87

Post by scott_s » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 5:50 PM UTC

throwaway_burn wrote: post #46

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.

Interview with places in London. If you get a job, move.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#88

Post by pavel_lishin » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 6:14 PM UTC

henrikschroder wrote: post #59

throwaway_burn wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have to take 4 days over Christmas because the dealership is shut, I have used 15.5 days :( Maybe after January.

STOP. MAKING. EXCUSES. You're a poster child for Stockholm Syndrome. You are completely and utterly playing by their rules. Just start looking for a new job, that is something you can do when not at work, and if things progress as far as you getting an interview, take the day off from your job and deal with that problem then. Call in "sick". Say you've got a funeral. Take a vacation day anyway. When you get there, yo…

After he runs out of sick days, I'd advise him to just stop showing up for work on interview days. They're not going to fire him, he's not interested in staying there, and the bridge that he might conceivably burn is built out of bubble gum and toothpicks, anyway.

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#89

Post by pavlov » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 6:20 PM UTC

wyclif wrote: post #11

20 days holiday? In the UK? That sounds like USA holiday time to me, mate. And if you're starting a new job in the US, that would be positively generous , I'm sorry to say.

In Finland, 30 vacation days / year is the legal minimum for full-time employment, not counting bank holidays.

(There's an additional provision that's a bit strange: the employee has to be able to use at least 24 of those vacation days in May-September. I think this law is a remnant from the agricultural society of the mid-20th century, when people in the cities actually needed those vacation days specifically in the Summer so that they could return to the countryside to help their families in farm work.)

Re: Ask HN: "Is that work?"

#90

Post by riledhel » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 6:29 PM UTC

dansingerman wrote: post #77

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!

You are massively underpaid for what you do given what you describe. You are also not valued by your boss. Probably because he doesn't really understand what you do. Get a job with a company that has some conception of what developers do and rewards them accordingly. If you like your boss as a person, but not a boss, then try to keep him as a friend. But working for him does not sound like it is doing you any good.

I should add "try to make a living out of freelancing while you're looking for a much deserved better place to work; it seems to be you have what it takes"...