51–60 of 68 posts
I dropped out of a cushy job to start contracting, and since then the axe has always been there. I have 4 months left in my current contract, but with only verbal promises of extension, I have been networking for the past 8 months to make sure that I can get back up into a new contract with days to weeks.
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Too low anyways but Take it and keep looking Or take it and maliciously comply with whatever they want in the most brutal way possible
Or stay true to your professional standards? Maliciousness usually is detectable.
Do what they want just make it difficult.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. And in this case they’re playing a very stupid game.
I dropped out of a cushy job to start contracting, and since then the axe has always been there. I have 4 months left in my current contract, but with only verbal promises of extension, I have been networking for the past 8 months to make sure that I can get back up into a new contract with days to weeks.
What made you leave the job for contracting?
Yeah, I think that is a totally reasonable set of feelings to have. The recent wave of layoffs seems to be about something very different than P&L. I thought this McSweeney's piece portrayed it well: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/macroeconomic-changes-ha... > There’s no easy way to say this: I have made the difficult decision to lay off over six thousand of you. In the past two years, we have achieved huge wins…
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What are you talking about? A month of tech salary at $180k annually is maybe $10k after taxes. In the high CoL areas where those salaries are “common”, $2k/mo might get you a studio with a reasonable commute.[1] Throw in utilities and food and you’ll be lucky to make it 4 months. That is absolutely not a “very, very, very, very long time”. You can’t compare the cost of a studio in Albuquerque with a salary from the…
Commute to where? You'd have no job.
Given that moving also incurs a significant cost (outside of a lease breaking fee), you have to be sure you won’t find work for >6 months for that strategy to pay off.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are you talking about? A month of tech salary at $180k annually is maybe $10k after taxes. In the high CoL areas where those salaries are “common”, $2k/mo might get you a studio with a reasonable commute.[1] Throw in utilities and food and you’ll be lucky to make it 4 months. That is absolutely not a “very, very, very, very long time”. You can’t compare the cost of a studio in Albuquerque with a salary from the…
If you can build 4 months (or even just 3) of runway on 1 month of salary, it doesn't take long to get a really good buffer in place.
Anyway, it takes longer than you think, especially if you had to relocate to take the new job. Once you take into account paying off that type of stuff, paying car insurance, car payment, funding your 401k, etc, you’ll be lucky if you can buffer one month for each month.
Well its the grass hopper and the ant isn't it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper If you've been the ant you'd have prepared for the winter. I guess in reality most of us fit somewhere in between the ant and the grasshopper. It'll teach us all a bit of prudence we'd do well to remember thereafter.
How do you plan your life and career around the idea that you can be let go at any time for and be unemployed for an unknown amount of time, with no assurances you’ll be employable in the future? For sure, one should not overextend themselves, but conversely you can do everything right (live below your means, invest vs frivolous spending, robust emergency fund) and still fail. The anxiety of those faced with this rea…
- try to maximize savings starting right now
- cancel all subscriptions
- look for a roommate
- look up how to apply for unemployment
- look up how to apply for food stamps
- research local food banks
- cut all luxury spending
- research what loans you have that can forgiven via bankruptcy
The act of doing something proactive can feel very therapeutic, as opposed to waiting for a negative event that may or may not happen.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you can build 4 months (or even just 3) of runway on 1 month of salary, it doesn't take long to get a really good buffer in place.
This wasn’t about the ability to build a buffer, it was about what can be done on a single months salary. Anyway, it takes longer than you think, especially if you had to relocate to take the new job. Once you take into account paying off that type of stuff, paying car insurance, car payment, funding your 401k, etc, you’ll be lucky if you can buffer one month for each month.
Maybe I've read too much FIRE financial independence content though.