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Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

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Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#81

Post by Pimpus »

throwarayes wrote: post #13

Well honestly I have had a lot of sleep problems in the last 2 years. It seems I have CPPS[1], where I am up all night with an overactive bladder. The result is 5 or 6 out of 7 nights I get very little sleep. I am in a role where I'm in leadership of a startup. I got there by being ambitious and pushing my capabilities. Now that we've experienced some success because of that, the company needs me to maintain a high l…

I always get downvoted for saying this, but many diseases with "unknown" causes are psychological in origin. I get the feeling this is one of them. Read The Mindbody Prescription - hope it gives you your life back like it did with me.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#82

Post by abakker »

throwaway29488 wrote: post #2

Not with the job in particular, just want to take a break from tech especially from being a programmer. Tired of staring at a screen for 80% of my awake time and constant puzzle solving. Sick of people in this industry making you feel you're not smart enough, that you're not enough no matter how many times you prove yourself in past work.

To you and any other developers that feel this way, there are plenty of companies out there, big and small that need your skills. FWIW, developers that know how to buckle down and do work are so important to a lot of un-sexy businesses, but especially on a project basis. Ever thought of working as a consultant? Or just doing part time technology work/advisory for several small businesses? It's riskier than a salary, but the work is much more deterministic than it is novel.

edit: clarity

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#83

Post by JohnFen »

throwaway29488 wrote: post #2

Not with the job in particular, just want to take a break from tech especially from being a programmer. Tired of staring at a screen for 80% of my awake time and constant puzzle solving. Sick of people in this industry making you feel you're not smart enough, that you're not enough no matter how many times you prove yourself in past work.

> Sick of people in this industry making you feel you're not smart enough

I just want to mention that this isn't an industry-wide problem. It is a cultural problem that tends to be concentrated in a few geographic areas and a few specific sectors of the industry.

You might benefit from taking a step back and considering a substantial change without leaving the industry entirely -- to a new geographic area, or a new sector of the industry.

Also, there is quite a lot of very interesting and well-paying dev work in businesses that aren't IT-related. They often have difficulty finding top notch talent, and as a result will pay well and be thrilled to have you.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#84

Post by ScottFree »

throwaway58129 wrote: post #64

I didn't know this format was a thing and am so very excited to discover it. I hope you folks enjoy reading horror stories. I got a job as a Software Engineer in my current company 4.5 years ago; friend-of-a-friend sort of thing. The company had an apparently disastrous piece of software that was their main LOB. They had gone through pretty much every local consulting agency - at least once, on a few occasions they h…

That's an amazing story. My father has his own experiences with a CEO who has a habit of screwing up, but it's not nearly as entertaining as yours.

CTO at 29 with that salary is the midwest? That's rather amazing. You should be proud of what you accomplished. Do you still have that ucler, or was that just a joke?

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#85

Post by theanine »

I wrote about my experience at my current job a few weeks ago [1]. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all your support. I recently got an offer for the field I've always wanted to be in, with around a $25k pay raise too. It's such a huge weight off my shoulders to finally see a way out and I feel so much better, basic things like my appetite are back and I don't dread waking up. I already have so much more free time now that I'm not searching for jobs 2 hours a day after work. I gave my two-weeks notice this week and I'll have around 3 weeks off to decompress before starting - I'm planning on visiting Seattle, anyone have any recs?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20951953

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#86

Post by bhaak »

throwaway58129 wrote: post #64

I didn't know this format was a thing and am so very excited to discover it. I hope you folks enjoy reading horror stories. I got a job as a Software Engineer in my current company 4.5 years ago; friend-of-a-friend sort of thing. The company had an apparently disastrous piece of software that was their main LOB. They had gone through pretty much every local consulting agency - at least once, on a few occasions they h…

So sad I can only give you one upvote per comment.

That was one hell of a ride.

Have you tried to defuse your dangerous CEO by giving him a harmless hobby?

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#87

Post by JohnFen »

etxm wrote: post #79
JohnFen wrote: post #78

I won't tell tales about my current employer, but I'll tell the one about my previous one (without naming them). I left because the code base for their main product was incredibly bad. Brittle, opaque, undocumented, buggy, and virtually unmaintainable. That alone wouldn't have been a dealbreaker as long as the company saw the problem and we were working to fix the situation. That wasn't what was happening, though, be…

Always be refactoring - work that shit into the ticket.

Yeah, that was my intention when I saw what I had to work with. But it was also specifically prohibited.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#88

Post by scarface74 »

throwaway58129 wrote: post #64

I didn't know this format was a thing and am so very excited to discover it. I hope you folks enjoy reading horror stories. I got a job as a Software Engineer in my current company 4.5 years ago; friend-of-a-friend sort of thing. The company had an apparently disastrous piece of software that was their main LOB. They had gone through pretty much every local consulting agency - at least once, on a few occasions they h…

Why are you still there? You could easily leverage your accomplishments to get another job. With your experience you could probably be an overpriced consultant.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#90

Post by hnick »

shifto wrote: post #6

The company I work for is active in an industry I have zero relation to. I can't relate to the business at all and I'm working with ancient tech. It pays well though and was brought on board by a friend and I don't want to disappoint him by leaving after just 1 year.

1 year is pretty much the modern standard for the minimum appropriate time before moving on in my experience, so I think it's fine.
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