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Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

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Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#271

Post by ajcodez »

jedberg wrote: post #210
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This blows my mind that in the US one can make such insane money in tech while still being a slacker and retire early with a dream house bought and paid for while in Europe devs are slaving away through SCRUM powered meat grinders burning themselves out for a 3% salary increase on a pitiful 40-80k/year, no stock options, without any hope of early retirement or owning a decent home without a 30 year loan or financial…

> This blows my mind that in the US one can make such insane money in tech while still being a slacker and retire early with a dream house bought and paid for Don't feel too bad. As far as I know, only Google and Apple lets you get away with this kind of slacking. Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix certainly don't. Also, SWE out of college definitely aren't making enough to buy much more than a condo. That being said, you…

Facebook hires tons of zero passion 10am-4pm engineers. It might not be deliberate slacking but it’s definitely not hard working.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#272

Post by mychael »

akhilcacharya wrote: post #267
angarg12 wrote: post #233

Humblebrag much? I spent the first 7 years of my career in the public sector. Talk about a career killer. If you are concerned about getting a job elsewhere, just study and do online coding exercises like crazy. That should land you a job at most companies with whiteboard interview at your seniority level. If you are concerned about actual learning, most of my professional growth has been on the job. I spent a long w…

It's not a humblebrag, it's an actual brag. If OP was actually concerned about their situation they wouldn't have included "Google" in the title. People like OP make me sick.

Very good point.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#273

Post by twblalock »

ec109685 wrote: post #159
pavlov wrote: post #42

I think you underestimate your value to the company. “All I do is copy code from the internal codebase and patch things together until they work” — this is exactly what established tech companies mostly need from their engineers. They want people with enough CS competence to not fuck things up while patching together new solutions from the institutional code soup that everyone knows how to navigate and review. If you…

You didn’t read his whole post. They’re bored. Their value to google is high enough to keep them employed but the job is beneath their capabilities. The failing for google is not providing this person a path to do more or at least understanding their ambition to do more.

> The failing for google is not providing this person a path to do more or at least understanding their ambition to do more.

That's not a failure of Google. People need to be self-driven.

People who want to do more should talk to their manager about it, or pursue other opportunities within the company, or leave. Google and all the other big tech companies offer plenty of things to do for ambitious people if they express an interest.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#274

Post by jamestimmins »

pjc50 wrote: post #140
danShumway wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People aren't advocating that OP should stop learning (although there is nothing wrong with Software Engineering being a safe, predictable career for some people). They're advocating that OP should focus on learning things outside of work. A lot of exciting opportunities open up when you don't need to care about money. You can do experimental, innovative stuff just because it's worth doing, and not just because a VC…

You will have a hard time finding a tech employer that doesn't have a restrictive IP clause.

Maybe at large companies, but at small companies in California, this has not been my experience. Plenty of employers realize that programmers tend to program on the side, and as long as you don't use company hardware or facilities, they claim no ownership of your IP.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#275

Post by ubertoop »

ec109685 wrote: post #159
pavlov wrote: post #42

I think you underestimate your value to the company. “All I do is copy code from the internal codebase and patch things together until they work” — this is exactly what established tech companies mostly need from their engineers. They want people with enough CS competence to not fuck things up while patching together new solutions from the institutional code soup that everyone knows how to navigate and review. If you…

You didn’t read his whole post. They’re bored. Their value to google is high enough to keep them employed but the job is beneath their capabilities. The failing for google is not providing this person a path to do more or at least understanding their ambition to do more.

It's impossible for an organization on Google's scale to recognize everyone's potential perfectly, and match them with a perfectly challenging and rewarding position. At the end of the day, even Google has mundane jobs still need to be done.

The fault is on OP here, for not moving on earlier. FAANG is not the end all be all of software development. Consider joining a startup where you'll have a much larger influence over critical pieces of the software stack.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#276

Post by mindcrime »

fhrow4484 wrote: post #255
mindcrime wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their value to google is high enough to keep them employed but the job is beneath their capabilities. That's what we call "the perfect job." It pays the bills, but leaves you the maximum amount of (mental|emotional|psychological|spiritual|whatever) energy to work on the things that really interest you ... outside of work. Of course different people will approach this differently, but I don't want my job to be interes…

> but leaves you the maximum amount of (mental|emotional|psychological|spiritual|whatever) energy That's probably not the case. It looks counterintuitive but being bored and feeling unmotivated at work can leave you at the end of the day with much less energy than an very intensive but interesting work. Your 2nd paragraph makes sense for a person like you, but I'd guess that the OP is one of those different people, f…

That's probably not the case. It looks counterintuitive but being bored and feeling unmotivated at work can leave you at the end of the day with much less energy than an very intensive but interesting work.

I actually agree with you on that. With the caveat that this is true if you do (by choice, or by inclination) really want your job to provide self-fulfillment / self-actualization / blah / etc.

What I'm not sure about, is whether or not that is a personality trait which is basically fixed and can't be changed, or whether this is something where you can make a conscious choice to change. I think it's the latter, because my own subjective experience has been that I used to be more of the "if my job is boring that leaves me feeling dis-spirited" or whatever, but over time I found that I cared less and less about the "day job" and more and more about what I chose to focus on outside. But I'll freely concede that this just one anecdote, and that what makes sense for me may not work for others.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#277

Post by holografix »

You sound depressed, I think it takes one to know one. Working at Google in the US is a dream 99% of the world can only dream of make sure you value it.

Also as others have said, don’t expect that your job will fulfil you completely, unless you’re curing cancer it’s just a job, talk to your manager about a different role or a bigger challenge but don’t give up a job at Google because you’re bored.

And get some counselling, it’ll be the best thing you did in 3-6 months.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#278

Post by sfblah »

StandardFuture wrote: post #269
sfblah wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not but it’s a well known Silicon Valley company.

Not a FAANG/Unicorn? Seems like you might be a fairly early employee at a fairly successful private SV company?

Nope, but there was a stock increase that made my initial grant worth way more. There was no magic here. I was hired at a fairly established company, got a decent package and then sat around.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#279

Post by 77544cec »

dhuyrv wrote: post #130

You remind me myself a few years ago: a talented, but bored slacker who didn't see any point in investing any energy into that project. Turns out I was right: the project didn't go anywhere after I left and investing any extra time would be a clueless thing to do. So what's changed since then? Have I found meaning in work? No! I've become a professional slacker who knows all these psychological tricks, knows what bod…

Fuck that attitude. This is why I'm considering switching careers.

Re: Ask HN: I've been slacking off at Google for 6 years. How can I stop this?

#280

Post by ThrowAwayZuck99 »

ajcodez wrote: post #271
jedberg wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This blows my mind that in the US one can make such insane money in tech while still being a slacker and retire early with a dream house bought and paid for Don't feel too bad. As far as I know, only Google and Apple lets you get away with this kind of slacking. Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix certainly don't. Also, SWE out of college definitely aren't making enough to buy much more than a condo. That being said, you…

Facebook hires tons of zero passion 10am-4pm engineers. It might not be deliberate slacking but it’s definitely not hard working.

I'm not sure which team you are talking about because many people here in Ads are working 9-9-6.
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