101–110 of 130 posts
If you work for BigCo, you learn to do things The BigCo way. Apologies for going off on a tangent, but this sort of jumped out at me. Is this consistent? Shouldn't it be either a) ... do things the BigCo way. or b) ... do things The BigCo Way. Native is not my English tongue, so I just want to make sure. :p
It depends if the name of the company name is "The BigCo" or just "BigCo", but as he referred to it as BigCo just before then it would seem to be a mistake.
I just left a job that afflicts Stockholm Syndrome on employees. Thankfully as a systems programmer in a research firm, I avoided the worst of it, but most people weren't so lucky. Here are some management behaviors that were effective: Never thank people for finishing something on time, on budget, and to the project specifications. Instead, heap attention on those who finish in an all-nighter that ends in the final…
That a good list.
The thing is, the job I had that fit that bill wasn't Big-Company, or even Big-Contractor-To-Big-Company.
It was the one man operation. One man in the sense that he got ... well everything since his behavior fit your quite exactly... everyone else... wasn't there...
In fact, the one-psycho operation have an easier time being like thisthis, since they don't have to worry about liability or etc.
... just one thing to add to the list. At the same time as you do all the other stuff, claim that the person should be doing everything without putting in undo effort. Say soothingly, right after a psychotic fit, "...relax, you should be more relaxed..."
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I think imposter syndrome ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome ) contributes, and a grim view of prospects combined with lack of knowledge on how to find jobs. If all you're doing is reading monster.com postings or whatever then the majority of jobs postings that are out there are terribly written and deeply discouraging.
Any advice on what could be better than reading monster.com ? (genuinely interested)
Local technology associations are also good sources. I'm in Waterloo, where there are organizations like Communitech (http://communitech.ca) and Canada's Tech Triangle (http://techtriangle.com) that offer social events and whatnot. Also, if you're really bored or motivated, you can go through their membership lists checking out all the companies in the area and see if they're doing interesting things.
Look for Camp events in your area too. DemoCamps, StartupCamps, BarCamps, FooCamps, yadda yadda.
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Oh yes, I recently escaped from a company like this. I'm not afraid to name names: ClickBooth.com, a Sarasota company in the affiliate marketing space. Myself and other programmers that once worked there all feel so grateful, we all get together on a regular basis and feel so lucky to have gotten out. Here's a funny anecodote. They were having a hard time finding new developers. About 9 months ago, if you look throug…
I wonder how the HR woman ended up seeing the HN post in the first place.
Moral of the story is, if you are getting bored you're probably not automating enough or making tools to let non-tech people do most day to day stuff. If your management has a problem with that, or prevents you from doing that, then you should move on.
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"* Fear of failure is a great motivator. When you quit without having another opportunity already lined up, you have a lot of obvious motivation to find a new job since your income is $0. I've found it easier than lulling myself into complacency by continuing to get my income from the source I hate." This is true - but this has to mean that you also manage your finances properly on the side. People who are one late p…
No, I've done it when it wasn't prudent either. People who look at my salary history tend to have their jaw hit the floor when they look at the first 8-to-9 years. I used to have my own bosses tell me every day that I was "getting screwed". We're talking 25-33% of market rate, which traps you into slightly less crappy paychecks going forward and initially being typecast as an idiot. That was my fault for being a door…
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You may be more desirable to a dysfunctional employer if you are actively employed, but working for another one of those is not the goal. A rational employer would judge a candidate on his/her ability to add value to the company, regardless of how they have chosen to spend the majority of their time recently.
Remember that all employers hire based on imperfect information. Being employed signals that you can add value to at least one organization, which is a pretty strong indication that you can add value to them.
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They forget how to actually program because their work involves very little development, and becomes all about knowing how the specific piece of software works (and the company's admin procedures) so that they can fight fires and make minor changes. Great point. Perceived value of a programmer at a start-up: Quality & quantity of software built and shipped. Perceived value of a programmer in a legacy enterprise IT de…
I think we need a new name for these type of jobs, then. They're not actual programming positions, since development tends to be about solving problems. Maintenance and production are two lexicographic options that somewhat relay the scope of the position: higher than data-entry, lower than engineering. Much in the same way that a front-end is not necessarily a web developer. Maintenance is what the current discussio…
I just left a job that afflicts Stockholm Syndrome on employees. Thankfully as a systems programmer in a research firm, I avoided the worst of it, but most people weren't so lucky. Here are some management behaviors that were effective: Never thank people for finishing something on time, on budget, and to the project specifications. Instead, heap attention on those who finish in an all-nighter that ends in the final…
A couple others I've witnessed: Ideas only go down When employees tell you of actually useful innovations to a product do NOT agree it is a good idea. Mention that it is cute they are trying, and pretend to forget about it. In 3-6 months have a VP flash brilliance and push that innovation down from the top. All employee protests of "I have been pushing for this for months" are to be stonewalled, possibly with discipl…