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Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
51–60 of 112 posts
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
I actually had to insist on being given that ticket. My boss was actually happy to let me spend more time learning angular and setting up my dev env. Think about that. But the moment I stepped up to, and embraced the challenge, everything changed. Maybe someone whispered some bad things about me? I will never know... What I'd do differently if I wanted to work there? Keep my mouth shut, and not say anything about my…
From your second paragraph here, I understand you were somewhat critical of the management at this company?
Yes, I think I was... good catch :)
So they'd recently changed their policy from 2 days to 3 days work from office. Meaning the majority of dev time, would be spent at the office. I simply told my manager that since we'd be spending more time in the office, could they give us the equipment we need? One of the devs wanted an extra monitor, some other two devs were sharing a laptop charger, I'd been waiting 3 weeks for my second monitor and laptop charger....
I want to be productive. My home office is 100% set up for my productivity. So I need to spend more time in the office? Ok. But please supply all the equipment I need to work effectively. If you consider how much devs get paid, hardware is cheap! You are wasting money by not giving them the tools to do their job!
I was not that blunt, but kind of hinted that, after spending my first 3 weeks waiting for a monitor, usb port and laptop charger.
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#53Firing you for using the only browser that actually makes a decent implementation of web standards?
Phew you dodged a bullet there, they are a sh* company for sure. Hope you find a suitable company soon!
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
From your second paragraph here, I understand you were somewhat critical of the management at this company?
Yes, I think I was... good catch :) So they'd recently changed their policy from 2 days to 3 days work from office. Meaning the majority of dev time, would be spent at the office. I simply told my manager that since we'd be spending more time in the office, could they give us the equipment we need? One of the devs wanted an extra monitor, some other two devs were sharing a laptop charger, I'd been waiting 3 weeks for…
It sounds to me like the manager realised you weren’t a good fit for each other, and used the Firefox thing as a pretext.
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Hey, man. I'm only reading what you wrote and responding to the impression it left. Please try to take it constructively. > Imagine your boss was actually happy with you not delivering anything those first few weeks. Would he have let you go? If you were a boss, at what day would you expect from your newly hired developer to start delivering any result? > I've watched this exact situation play out too many times no…
> ...and you consider this a healthy behavior from any working environment? No. Of course not. But there's a difference between the world we want to exist and the world we live in. And that world is full of people who behave like your manager and the ones I've seen that led to my observations here. The sad truth is that you need to be able to read situations like this and adapt to them. > If you were a boss, at what…
> The sad truth is that you need to be able to read situations like
If my manager wanted me, as a senior dev to only use chrome for a browser, and use a its debugger for solving all my tickets, he should have made this clear during the recruitment process.
"Senior Front-End Dev required, must only work with the Chrome Web Browser, and full blown IDES"
We would have saved one another a lot of time...
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#56Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#57Legally in most countries, it's up to the company to provide you with the tools to work, therefore it's up to company to choose these tools.
In other words, if they provide you with a PC on Windows 7 with Notepad as an editor, you shouldn't (and you probably don't have the admin rights anyway) to install anything else on company's property.
In reality, it's usually in the interest of the company to allow you to work with tools on which you are the most productive. But they don't have to.
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#58Yes, it is fair to fire you for _any reason_ during the probation period (ok, maybe not for your ethnicity or religious reasons etc - but this is not what has happened here). It is also fair for you to leave on a short notice during the probation period for no reason. It is a two way street. Don't try to read more into this situation than what it really is. Either party did not like the other, no big deal, this happe…
I think you are missing the point. That one month gap in my resume? Very hard to explain. "So, they let you go why...."
It is absolutely unfair, for someone to hire and fire you "for any reason". We are not slaves.
Do your due diligence when hiring, and when firing. Is that too much to ask?
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Hey, man. I'm only reading what you wrote and responding to the impression it left. Please try to take it constructively. > Imagine your boss was actually happy with you not delivering anything those first few weeks. Would he have let you go? If you were a boss, at what day would you expect from your newly hired developer to start delivering any result? > I've watched this exact situation play out too many times no…
> ...and you consider this a healthy behavior from any working environment? No. Of course not. But there's a difference between the world we want to exist and the world we live in. And that world is full of people who behave like your manager and the ones I've seen that led to my observations here. The sad truth is that you need to be able to read situations like this and adapt to them. > If you were a boss, at what…
Rule #1: Identify the environment you are in.
You never EVER do any ticket closing or commenting on your very first day. Others might interpret this as a threat: e.g. who is this who came here to show-off, that thinks he knows more than us?
Good luck after this type of behavior; you are doomed by your own colleagues, let alone the management.
Rule #2: Be observant, at all levels.
See how each and everyone behaves; who talks a lot and who does not, who is the silent one and who is the mystery one.
Learn to read and interpret human behavior and professional behavior, both verbal and professional; I know from experience that some colleagues pretend to care about you in verbal communication, but in professional they dig your grave...let's call them insecure people.
Rule #3: Go with the flow and apply #2 and #1 accordingly.
A working environment should be a pleasant place to work for that helps you acquire professional and personal experience, not make you feel like you are in a military camp or in a prison with unwritten laws, that is surrounded by invisible landmines.
So, to answer to your counter-question:
> I'd suggest flipping this around. If you were a boss, and your new hire jumped in with both feet on day one and started closing tickets, would you let him go after his 3 week probation was up?
Unless that person was exclusively hired to save the whole company from bankruptcy, due to his or her previous professional experience in such stressful time constraints and was guaranteed to deliver in time, I would call this person in my office and give him a warning that such behavior would cause nothing but trouble and would advice him / her to take it slowly, but at a moderate degree; a person should understand when should draw a line, else that person is out, not by the management, but by his / her colleagues.
Does this cover you?
Re: Ask HN: Fired for Using Firefox
#60Legally in most countries, it's up to the company to provide you with the tools to work, therefore it's up to company to choose these tools. In other words, if they provide you with a PC on Windows 7 with Notepad as an editor, you shouldn't (and you probably don't have the admin rights anyway) to install anything else on company's property. In reality, it's usually in the interest of the company to allow you to work…
I agree. This company provided a windows box, but did not provide any set any proper guidelines or specifications on how it should look. All the knowledge about that was locked into different developers heads.
I was trying to fix that, by documenting everything in the wiki but I guess I use Firefox, so red flag, I've got to go.