Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#61

Post by paul7986 » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:26 PM UTC

Wow that sounds like a lot of stress and if you're looking to climb a corporate ladder and that stress is worth continue to work in tech at such places where the environment feels competitive.

If you want to work in tech yet have little stress work in government IT.

Personally I could never work at places like meta, amazon, google and other places where you are under a heat lamp and those around u are too. Of course there's more money but for me the stress (affects health hugely) isn't worth it!

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#62

Post by jmartrican » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:27 PM UTC

eckza wrote: post #28

jmartrican wrote: post #21

One of my problems is that I like to write code. Specifically novel code. But the places I work at really want me to just do regular CRUD work and glue work (use other people's code and avoid novel code). How do I find companies that write their own cool new code? Maybe coding teams get broken down into such small teams that there is only room for CRUD and glue and novel code gets too risky when trying to deliver use…

Learn a statically-typed FP lang and get a job doing that. Even if you end up at a "Simple Haskell" place, you'll still have all sorts of opportunities to reinvent the wheel (so that you can run yourself over with it, of course).

Great suggestion. Maybe my programming language is the problem and I need to tackle this issue by learning a different language.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#63

Post by blululu » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:27 PM UTC

buscoquadnary wrote: post #24

mattw2121 wrote: post #9

I had a situation once where we had a minor re-org and I ended up with a new manager. Literally day one, he made an attempt to change everyone's role. We were a team of developers and business analysts. He decided that everyone would become both and spend 50% of their time on each activity. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but he did. After he announced it, I had a 1x1 with him and clearly let him know t…

This right here. I realized long ago I should do whatever I can to the best of my ability. If my superiors want to do something stupid or use my skillet in a suboptimal way my responsibility is to do my best to council with them, share what I see and then do the best job I can at whatever I am assigned to, assuming over course it doesn't cross legal or moral boundaries. My job is not my Identity we have an economic a…

You know who is going to be the first one fired and the last one promoted? The SWE who is being asked to do some bogus tasks that aren't even close to what they are capable of. In many cases you are in one way or another obligated to act as you suggest, but it is not always good for you personally and simply pretending that you aren't getting screwed is pretty naive. You often don't really have much of a choice in these matters, aside from closing up shop and leaving. You can try to work it out with your boss and if that works great. Then again bosses who don't know how to use their people kind of suck to begin with as a rule, so it would be wishful thinking to expect that they will simply come around.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#64

Post by codegeek » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:27 PM UTC

treyfitty wrote: post #37

mattw2121 wrote: post #9

I had a situation once where we had a minor re-org and I ended up with a new manager. Literally day one, he made an attempt to change everyone's role. We were a team of developers and business analysts. He decided that everyone would become both and spend 50% of their time on each activity. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but he did. After he announced it, I had a 1x1 with him and clearly let him know t…

Communication is a 2-way street. From experience, this approach doesn't work if your manager is dogmatic/egotistical and unwilling to hear you.

You wouldn't know until you talk to them at least once. Don't assume anything.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#65

Post by daneel_w » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:28 PM UTC

A few years ago there was a similar phase at my current employment. Someone with a key position in the product team, who had become the primary conductor of the developers, attached an excessive importance to "delivering results" to her higher-ups. This manifested in a desire to stack up as many Jira tickets as possible in the "deployed" column between the releases that the product team digested into result summaries/breakdowns. I'm not sure how the pressure to show progress made it into the everyday concerns of me and the other developers, but for a period we regularly made up small contrived "problems" - nonsensically technical Jira tickets that nobody in the product team would ever bother to deconstruct - in order to produce enough "results".

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#66

Post by buscoquadnary » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:28 PM UTC

nimblegorilla wrote: post #58

buscoquadnary wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This right here. I realized long ago I should do whatever I can to the best of my ability. If my superiors want to do something stupid or use my skillet in a suboptimal way my responsibility is to do my best to council with them, share what I see and then do the best job I can at whatever I am assigned to, assuming over course it doesn't cross legal or moral boundaries. My job is not my Identity we have an economic a…

I sort of agree. Jobs usually have aspects that seem unrewarding. But if you spend most of your time cleaning break rooms then it doesn't let you grow the type of skills needed to land a SWE salary at the next place.

I can and do practice those things in my own time. I love my craft I love to excel at it. I have a period of time coming up where I will not work for several weeks (still paid though), during this time I am planning on working through The Art of Computer Programming and learning mobile development.

The responsibility for me to keep my skills sharp is upon me not my employer.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#67

Post by blululu » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:28 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #32

mattw2121 wrote: post #9

I had a situation once where we had a minor re-org and I ended up with a new manager. Literally day one, he made an attempt to change everyone's role. We were a team of developers and business analysts. He decided that everyone would become both and spend 50% of their time on each activity. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but he did. After he announced it, I had a 1x1 with him and clearly let him know t…

So many developer stories out there where it doesn't sound like they ever really had a direct talk with their boss.

So many manager stories where it doesn't sound like they even did a basic check in with their subordinates...

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#68

Post by duxup » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:35 PM UTC

blululu wrote: post #67

duxup wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many developer stories out there where it doesn't sound like they ever really had a direct talk with their boss.

So many manager stories where it doesn't sound like they even did a basic check in with their subordinates...

Communication is a two way street for sure.

But I haven known plenty of devs who keep their heads down and bemoan their boss and wouldn't say anything to them anyway. Hard to know how a person feels in that case.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#69

Post by SkyBelow » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

buscoquadnary wrote: post #24

mattw2121 wrote: post #9

I had a situation once where we had a minor re-org and I ended up with a new manager. Literally day one, he made an attempt to change everyone's role. We were a team of developers and business analysts. He decided that everyone would become both and spend 50% of their time on each activity. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea, but he did. After he announced it, I had a 1x1 with him and clearly let him know t…

This right here. I realized long ago I should do whatever I can to the best of my ability. If my superiors want to do something stupid or use my skillet in a suboptimal way my responsibility is to do my best to council with them, share what I see and then do the best job I can at whatever I am assigned to, assuming over course it doesn't cross legal or moral boundaries. My job is not my Identity we have an economic a…

This works if you are at the end of your career, but otherwise one should look at building their career in case something happens to their current job.

Re: Tell HN: Beware 'Ungrowth' in Your Job

#70

Post by Izmaki » Tue, Oct 18, 2022, 2:37 PM UTC

You and I are in a similar train if not actually the same train. My last day at my current position is end of the month - next month I will take up the same position at a competitor who created the job position because they have a need, not because upper mgmt said they had to (as with my current). I'm happy for you that you too found your final destination on the train towards nowhere. I wish you the best, oh familiar stranger. :)

Yours truely, A dude on your train.