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I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

efinancialcareers.com

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Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#121

Post by boringg »

earthwalker99 wrote: post #110
sillysaurusx wrote: post #108

Please stop working more than 40 hours a week. It’s your choice, and you don’t need to choose to. When it goes badly, you also don’t need to use it as a point of honor. It’s not. It just means you let your employer exploit you. Doing it because you want to is a little different. I often do. But you have to understand that the only thing you’ll get out of it is mild intellectual gratification, and sometimes not even t…

> It just means you let your employer exploit you. By definition, all labor on which another profits is a case of exploitation, regardless of length in time.

That is definitively not exploitation.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#122

Post by throwaway019254 »

devmor wrote: post #118
throwaway019254 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s your choice, and you don’t need to choose to. And if I don't choose it, I can just choose to not pay bills/rent when I'm fired. What a simple solution.

As you can see from the article you're commenting on, it does not protect you from being fired, so I don't see your point.

The point is that some people just don't have a choice.

You are right, as described in the article, it will not protect you from being fired. But choosing not to work overtime may directly cause the firing.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#123

Post by WalterBright »

> I was told it was “with regret” that my contract would be terminated that day, and that the “substantial bonus” which would be paid to me was “thanks” for the critical role I played in starting the company.

Always put what you want in the contract, because that's what you're going to get. Don't feel bad, everybody learns that the hard way.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#124

Post by boringg »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #108

Please stop working more than 40 hours a week. It’s your choice, and you don’t need to choose to. When it goes badly, you also don’t need to use it as a point of honor. It’s not. It just means you let your employer exploit you. Doing it because you want to is a little different. I often do. But you have to understand that the only thing you’ll get out of it is mild intellectual gratification, and sometimes not even t…

I think thats a noble position to take but I don't think it matches up with real world expectations esp if you have plans to move upwards in an organization (org culture dependent).

I hear what you are saying but it’s a tough line to hold down in some companies.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#125

Post by WalterBright »

Frost1x wrote: post #120
communitynotes wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"all labor on which another profits" is not the definition of exploit. https://www.google.com/search?q=exploit+definition

That’s not what OP said. They said it was a case of exploitation and they are correct. People just don’t like to hear it phrased that way because it brings up negative connotations. Now, while the agreement may be exploitive that doesn’t mean it isn’t mutually beneficial or that the situation be zero sum, at least viewed at a small scale. It’s perfectly possible to be exploited by someone and still end up in a better…

The ideal compensation is:

    compensation = (value produced) - (cost to employ the person) - (opportunity cost) - (risk)
By and large, that's what the employee gets. Get paid more than that, you're apt to be fired. Get paid less than that, you're apt to change jobs.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#126

Post by xyst »

I'll never understand why people would work for free like this. I learned very early on (like during my minimum wage job years - 16-21). I am not working more or less and I only work when clocked in (or in the case of most corp jobs, 9-5). If I don't get paid a sizable diff for "non-regular working hours", your call/email/text is going to be ignored until next business day. Idc if it's G or some low rent dogshit company.

"fuck you, pay me" [1]

Only time I would put in those marathons is for myself (from idea to hacking together an mvp over the weekend), or maybe I am learning something new.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XGAmPRxV48

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#127

Post by poulsbohemian »

dfadsadsf wrote: post #24

I just do not believe this story. Nobody in the right mind will fire key software engineer 48 hours after system goes live. This is where all the bugs/problems show up and you need all hands on deck to fix them. Six months after launch when all problems are solved - absolutely, you can fire engineer. 48 hours after launch? absolutely not.

Good sir / madam - I was in the middle of fixing a production bug on what was at the time one of the busiest sites on the net when the layoffs came. Like literally was typing out a fix when I got called to the conference room, computer locked when I returned to my desk. Corporate American don’t care.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#128

Post by metabagel »

charred_patina wrote: post #48
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you serious? Answer your own question: if it were legal, then you certainly wouldn't need "plausible deniability."

Sorry, replace "is it legal?" with "how likely are you to get caught and face penalties?".

It’s not worth the risk nor the guilt.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#129

Post by 1024core »

neilv wrote: post #101
dfadsadsf wrote: post #24

I just do not believe this story. Nobody in the right mind will fire key software engineer 48 hours after system goes live. This is where all the bugs/problems show up and you need all hands on deck to fix them. Six months after launch when all problems are solved - absolutely, you can fire engineer. 48 hours after launch? absolutely not.

There are many possibilities (and I can't really tell from skimming this writeup), but the possibilities absolutely include someone thinking "We got what we needed, now let's drop this person, and free the salary and bonus obligations". Or they might've decided they didn't want that employee for some reason, maybe even dudebro culture fit mismatch when he showed up looking fatigued, and were "sux2bu" about how they g…

Or maybe they thought: we don't want this fool around who let us exploit him so much.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#130

Post by lacrimacida »

testval124 wrote: post #22

As someone near to this space, why in the world would you develop a custom order management system (OMS) as opposed to buying something off the shelf?

Because they paid less than they would’ve paid for an off the shelf solution? They ripped off a bloke instead
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