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Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

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Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#71

Post by somenewaccount1 »

My first boss used to mark up my work with red pen (it was a lot of printed output). He was correct to criticize the work, but really sucked how he went about it. Like, it was intentionally a bit demeaning. I left after a couple years, even though I was doing quite well.

After reflection some years later, I would say I was overly reacted / was overly emotional over it. But it's hard to feel that way at the time.

Alternately, after several more jobs and life experience, I have made the most money by jumping companies and not sitting still. I have also learned some bosses are just dicks / incompetent. That boss was niether, but some definitely are.

So, I don't know where you and your bosses fall. If you genuinely think they would fire you (have they fired others?), then it would be prudent to interview other places. If it just 'feels bad man's, try and take the hazing with some pride that you survived. Over time, they may just respect that you are tough.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#72

Post by tdeck »

xkbarkar wrote: post #30

Welcome to adulthood it sucks, youre gonna love it. If you manage to find a workplace that does not sport atleast one manager that does this, consider yourself lucky. My advice, look for truths in what he said ( I am sure he was correct on some aspect somewhere ) and work on that. Ignore the rest and move on.

I haven't had this happen anywhere in my 7+ years of experience under 10+ different managers, some of whom were much better than others. While it might not be that unusual, op might also consider that this reflects poorly on their work environment and that there are better ones out there.

Also, this sounds like something that would happen at Amazon. I'm curious if it was there.

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#73

Post by dazeandconfuse »

myowz wrote: post #7

This boss telling you that they felt the project should have been done a long time ago: I wonder who that comment benefits? Feels like no one. You get bummed, they give late feedback without a lot of constructive aspects to it. I am trying to think of one way it was useful to tell you that, but I can’t. Seems like you should feel justified in not being a fan of working under this person. What you do with that is hard…

I'm not sure. I'm glad he told me, otherwise I wouldn't have known I was undershooting his expectations. I did make mistakes that made the project taking longer than it had to. I guess if I want to keep working here I'll need to find a way to make fewer mistakes like that in the future.

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#74

Post by mattst88 »

Buttons840 wrote: post #53

> I'm working my first job out of college I could have stopped reading there. My first job hop after college brought a 150% pay increase. Don't leave too soon, but you probably don't want to stay at your first company for too long either. Especially if it's a source of stress and unfair treatment. It's not so much about the company as it is about getting a second perspective, and probably a pay increase, early in you…

Well put. This is advice I wish I'd gotten!

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#75

Post by forinti »

It seems to me that you have bad managers. Blaming the rookie underscores their ineptitude.

Don't worry too much about it. Prepare yourself to not be like them when you're the boss.

Every project has tons of things to iron out. It is best to discuss them openly, hear everyone, and backtrack when necessary.

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#76

Post by xupybd »

chana_masala wrote: post #59
tacostakohashi wrote: post #26

A few takeaways from an old-timer here: > First, he basically tells me this project should have been finished a long time ago and he can't believe it's taken this long etc. I had no idea that he felt this way before the meeting - I've mostly just been working to get it done before the revised deadline my manager gave me. You need to communicate, build relationships, and get feedback from many people in the organizati…

> You need to communicate, build relationships, and get feedback from many people in the organization. One of those people is your manager's manager. That's an unreasonable expectation. That's your manager's job, not yours. If you have a skip level manager that is expecting direct updates from you... they're doing management wrong.

It's hard to do but an effective tool to build political standing and gain insight to be able to assess the quality of feedback.

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#77

Post by rsj_hn »

imwillofficial wrote: post #66

Be humble. Try to take his (possibly unfair) criticisms in stride. Work harder, do better. Be open to correction, take this as a growth opportunity.

That's good short term advice, but long term if you are still not getting recognition you should think about leaving or transferring to another team.

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#78

Post by hnal943 »

rightbyte wrote: post #15
zwieback wrote: post #8

The first meeting where your manager just abandoned you and you ended up talking to your manager's boss is totally inappropriate. Being so new to the job basically all the responsibility is with your direct manager and her boss is wrong to dump on you without your manager present. I'd give it another chance though, sounds like the work is fun and maybe you can communicate your concerns to your direct manager.

The plan was that she would be present? Maybe the boss' boss just had a plan to whine at her, but only OP showed up.

Right that's a huge failure of the manager in this scenario. If you can't make it, do your best to get the meeting rescheduled. Don't just bail and throw your junior dev to the lion.

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#79

Post by fundad »

HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #18
zwieback wrote: post #8

The first meeting where your manager just abandoned you and you ended up talking to your manager's boss is totally inappropriate. Being so new to the job basically all the responsibility is with your direct manager and her boss is wrong to dump on you without your manager present. I'd give it another chance though, sounds like the work is fun and maybe you can communicate your concerns to your direct manager.

Agreed. OP should schedule a meeting with the manager to find out how they're doing, if expectations are being met, etc. It's entirely possible that things are just fine, but the boss has the wrong idea about this particular employee. I think it's a sign of bad company management, but it's by no means a dealbreaker. i.e., not something to quit over.

Absolutely do schedule a meeting with your manager. Ask for actionable advice, ask for goals between now and review time or this will cost you.

Re: Ask HN: My boss doesn't think I'm doing good work, how to proceed?

#80

Post by ryukoposting »

Tell your manager about the conversation with your boss. Keep working hard. Communicate with colleagues, and always ask questions when you have them- or even when you think you might have a question.

Your manager's manager has authority over you, but remember: that job is probably 100% non-technical. Highly technical advice (e.g. anything relating to how you write/structure your code) should be taken with a grain of salt. When it comes to code feedback, listen to other engineers, listen to your manager, and listen to whoever is reviewing your PRs. Those people actually have to use your code, so you should write your code in whatever way they prefer.

If you really feel like they might try to get rid of you, get a signed letter of recommendation from your manager now.

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