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Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

programmers.stackexchange.com

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Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#21

Post by BadassFractal »

antidoh wrote: post #17
BadassFractal wrote: post #9

I've had more than one question closed for being too close to a discussion on Programmers. It's very tiresome. What's a good alternative for asking meaningful questions and having a quality discussion with people who have words of wisdom to spare? Quora? Reddit? HN?

I like HN best, some of the subreddits second. I just can't come to like Quora, which is odd because it seems exactly the sort of thing I'd like. The interface is either confusing to me, or I think of it in a way that conflicts with its reality.

The problem with HN is that threads in the New section can get ignored too easily. In my exprience, 4/5 posts I make are never answered.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#22

Post by eckyptang »

therealarmen wrote: post #5

An interesting question on a relevant topic? Let's close it. Thanks, SO mods.

Yes it's annoying. Perhaps there needs to be another alternative on the web which actually values users. People with useful information don't bother with it any more.

Its also incredibly fragmented - its impossible to pick the right instance for a question without getting in trouble.

its a proper power struggle.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#23

Post by gizzlon »

therealarmen wrote: post #5

An interesting question on a relevant topic? Let's close it. Thanks, SO mods.

It's right there in the closing message:

We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or specific expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion

Seems to be according to the SO "rules".. no?

Edit: davidlumley points out that this is not SO, and he might have a point.. Anyway, I don't think ppl should be mad at SO for not being what they expect or want it to be.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#24

Post by gizzlon »

wpietri wrote: post #13
davidlumley wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most confusing thing for me, is that this _isn't_ Stack Overflow - it's Programmers. While SO is meant to have objectively correct answers, and that's why they are so quick to close threads, Programmers is meant to be more open and allow more general questions.

Yep. There was a question on Programmers that was something like "What is the good/bad decision you made in your mid-20s about your career". There were a ton of great answers, and I was so proud of my heavily upvoted answer that I linked it on my website. Only to get a note a couple of months later that the link was 404ing. I looked, and guess what: Not only did the mods close it out of some insane sense of tidiness,…

Maybe someone has mirror it?

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#25

Post by ollysb »

davidlumley wrote: post #7
antidoh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really the most bizarre thing. They built a site with affordances for discussion (although the mods might call them attractive nuisances). It looks every bit like a discussion site. The users clearly want to have discussions, and not just factual Q&A. And yet when you use these affordances to engage with like minded people, you get shut down. It's become a game with myself when I go to an SO page to guess whethe…

The most confusing thing for me, is that this _isn't_ Stack Overflow - it's Programmers. While SO is meant to have objectively correct answers, and that's why they are so quick to close threads, Programmers is meant to be more open and allow more general questions.

Who exactly does closing questions benefit? I can't remember the last time I went to stackoverflow to search for an answer. I always find the pages through a google search. Google does a great job of finding me relevant material on stackoverflow and the voting mechanisms on stackoverflow do a great job of letting me know which content the community value.

In the early days of stackoverflow I seem to recall they had a policy of keeping similar or even duplicate questions. The reasoning was that the extra interpretations of the same question made it easier to find them in a google search. What they have now seems entirely the opposite, content being removed to the point where it doesn't exist in any form. I don't really care if someone thinks a piece of content is on topic or relevant, if it isn't relevant to me I just won't look at it.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#26

Post by rorrr »

I was offered raises at only one company, ever. At every other company I had to ask for them after positive annual reviews, and I mostly got what I asked for.

If you look at the amount of raise, it's usually ridiculously small, maybe 5-10%. When I switch jobs, my salary has grown 30-40% pretty much every time.

And that I never understood. When I leave, you have to spend money hiring a good developer, you have to spend money training him, all while possibly losing money because the work is not being done.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#27

Post by tikhonj »

therealarmen wrote: post #5

An interesting question on a relevant topic? Let's close it. Thanks, SO mods.

There are already far too many answers to the question--more wouldn't really help anything. Any new answers--even really good ones--would just get lost in the noise.

Apart from posting answers, there really isn't much else restricted by the question's being closed. I really think it is not a big deal.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#28

Post by vetler »

rorrr wrote: post #26

I was offered raises at only one company, ever. At every other company I had to ask for them after positive annual reviews, and I mostly got what I asked for. If you look at the amount of raise, it's usually ridiculously small, maybe 5-10%. When I switch jobs, my salary has grown 30-40% pretty much every time. And that I never understood. When I leave, you have to spend money hiring a good developer, you have to spen…

Someone once told me that the easiest way to get a higher salary will always be to get a new job, and I believe this to be true - either your salary at your new job will be higher, or your current employer will increase your salary to keep you since you have another job offer.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#29

Post by praptak »

vetler wrote: post #28
rorrr wrote: post #26

I was offered raises at only one company, ever. At every other company I had to ask for them after positive annual reviews, and I mostly got what I asked for. If you look at the amount of raise, it's usually ridiculously small, maybe 5-10%. When I switch jobs, my salary has grown 30-40% pretty much every time. And that I never understood. When I leave, you have to spend money hiring a good developer, you have to spen…

Someone once told me that the easiest way to get a higher salary will always be to get a new job, and I believe this to be true - either your salary at your new job will be higher, or your current employer will increase your salary to keep you since you have another job offer.

> ... or your current employer will increase your salary to keep you since you have another job offer.

Accepting a counter offer is almost never a good decision.

The old employer is probably only buying time before replacing you. Even if this is not the case: You stay at a company that only pays you fair money when you threaten to leave. You look disloyal to the old company (see point 1, even if not now you might get fired later) and unreliable to the new one. It also perpetuates the "no raises, we'll just make a counteroffer if necessary" mindset which probably made you seek other job in the first place.

Re: Dealing with engineers that frequently leave their jobs

#30

Post by smartial_arts »

Andaith wrote: post #2

I recently read on HN about how Stack Overflow is being taken over by the editors and that questions are being closed all too often. Is this an example of that? "this might cause debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion." is a bad set of reasons to close a question. Surely that's the desired result? If people start behaving like children, close the question, but until then, let the discussion grow... I thin…

I remember asking once what should I do with my career, provided that I somehow feel that I reached the end of it.

Guess what happened to that topic. Likely quora was more open-minded in that regard (although not necessarily heaps more helpful, but I digress).

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