Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

old.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

191–200 of 510 posts

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#191

Post by zffr »

binarytox1n wrote: post #7

Many subreddits are simply themed containers of creative writing. With all the media attention the AntiWork subreddit has gotten lately that brings more karma farmers and therefore more fiction. It's an entertaining read, but not likely true.

I personally know someone who claims to have automated his work with Excel after learning how to code. He ended up telling his manager after feeling guilty. He got a promotion and eventually left the team to become a real software engineer. The rest of his team was eventually let go since they were not needed. This was at a large company you have definitely heard of.

Its possible that my friend lied or exaggerated the situation, and also possible that the author of the reddit post isn't being completely honest. Personally, I'm inclined to believe the stories are mostly true.

Even at my BigTech job I have seen opportunities were non-technical people were doing highly repetitive work that could be automated if they knew how to code.

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#192

Post by geocrasher »

lordnacho wrote: post #96

People are focusing too much on whether the story is actually true. It sounds plausible to me, but the real story here is that a heck of a lot of processes would benefit from having a programmer look at them. Programming is the new literacy. People who can do it are on a different plane to people who can't.

When I was in high school (early 90's) I was a TA in drivers ed for a period. I also took the class the period before it. My job? Enter grades into the computer and run it for the teacher so he didn't have to. When I asked him about what grades to put in for myself he said "Just give yourself A's". So I did. Also aced the DMV written and drivers test 100%. But that's besides the point. I had the knowledge, so I didn't have to work the same as other kids. Been that way ever since!

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#194

Post by withinboredom »

rhino369 wrote: post #147
fesoliveira wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW he mentions that there is no IT department in the firm, and that he works under administration.

This is the actual red flag. A mid-size firm simply couldn't function without IT. They could outsource it to a contractor, but, in that case, they'd never then hire someone for 90k to do one small IT task. If there is any true to this, he's probably on the books as an "Litigation Support Tech" and his job probably involves (or is supposed to involve) more than he's describing--like interfacing with vendors who do the…

You’d be surprised. I interviewed at a multi-million dollar firm and there were two IT people there for the whole firm.

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#195

Post by andrew_ »

zffr wrote: post #191
binarytox1n wrote: post #7

Many subreddits are simply themed containers of creative writing. With all the media attention the AntiWork subreddit has gotten lately that brings more karma farmers and therefore more fiction. It's an entertaining read, but not likely true.

I personally know someone who claims to have automated his work with Excel after learning how to code. He ended up telling his manager after feeling guilty. He got a promotion and eventually left the team to become a real software engineer. The rest of his team was eventually let go since they were not needed. This was at a large company you have definitely heard of. Its possible that my friend lied or exaggerated th…

A very good friend of mine has done almost the same thing (except he works from home for different reasons). He's done this with three companies in the 10 years I've known him. It's not fiction - this kind of thing is completely doable with the tools we have available now, and the antiquated thinking that many offices are still run by.

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#196

Post by cptskippy »

nlh wrote: post #26
binarytox1n wrote: post #7

Many subreddits are simply themed containers of creative writing. With all the media attention the AntiWork subreddit has gotten lately that brings more karma farmers and therefore more fiction. It's an entertaining read, but not likely true.

Funny, I had this exact same thought. The red flags for me were their use of “clock in” and “shift”. Those are not concepts generally in play for IT staff at law firms.

This is how a lot of small businesses operate, and Law Firms are small in terms of staff. Everyone tracks their hours, even if their hours aren't billable.

The same thing happens at engineering firms small or large. Everyone tracks their hours the same way.

Heck, I'm a salaried IT staff at an enterprise level nfp and have to track my hours in two different systems. One of those systems is the same one used by hourly staff and has the concept of clocking in/out.

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#197

Post by withinboredom »

robinduckett wrote: post #83
binarytox1n wrote: post #7

Many subreddits are simply themed containers of creative writing. With all the media attention the AntiWork subreddit has gotten lately that brings more karma farmers and therefore more fiction. It's an entertaining read, but not likely true.

The key hint for me was "the type of script people put on GitHub with a $5 price tag" :)

Have you never seen a readme with a donate button?

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#198

Post by AeroNotix »

zffr wrote: post #191
binarytox1n wrote: post #7

Many subreddits are simply themed containers of creative writing. With all the media attention the AntiWork subreddit has gotten lately that brings more karma farmers and therefore more fiction. It's an entertaining read, but not likely true.

I personally know someone who claims to have automated his work with Excel after learning how to code. He ended up telling his manager after feeling guilty. He got a promotion and eventually left the team to become a real software engineer. The rest of his team was eventually let go since they were not needed. This was at a large company you have definitely heard of. Its possible that my friend lied or exaggerated th…

When I worked at HP over a decade ago it was literally my job to walk into a department and find processes that were automatable, implement whatever program or automation was necessary and gtfo.

One of the highlights for me when working there was automating a process which took three people thirty days to perform. I made a point to unnecessarily optimize the program to the point where it ran in a handful of milliseconds.

These kinds of low-hanging fruits are all over certain industries and companies which aren't primarily software-development based.

I sort of miss it, in ways.

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#199

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

neom wrote: post #164
wonderwonder wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ok, lets go with that. What happens when the manager says "yes, implement the script and then we are going to fire you". What if Op refuses to implement the script then and just quits? A logical employee with rational self interest would never have that conversation because they know it likely ends with their termination. So in reality your proposal actually leads to the employee never implementing or recommending th…

Fire the employee and hire someone off fiver to look at the script and explain it, and then get an intern to run it once a week. If the script isn't written, I now know I can hire a consultant to write the script once. Sounds like a win for me. Except that's not how it would play out in one of my orgs, I'd chat with the employee and find a solution, if they're not excited about ANY other work in my business at all, I…

I've read through this thread and you're doing a pretty poor job of convincing me the employee should speak up.

The employee has two choices:

1. Say nothing and keep collecting a paycheck.

2. Speak up about the script and start a conversation that has the possibility of leading towards termination.

It's a pretty big no-brainer for what they should do.

Re: I automated my job over a year ago and haven't told anyone

#200

Post by wobblybubble »

lemmiwinks wrote: post #189
wobblybubble wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does there need to be passion project? He could study philosophy or do whatever that one can do in an office by oneself.

Why woudn't studying philosophy not a passion project?

It could be.

But this is Hacker News so it often means something hacker-related.

Post reply on HN