I figured the whole "be loyal to yourself" stuff almost in my first job when I was not allowed to rise up the ladder too quick as "more senior people" need to be promoted first. That day I decided my job will always be my plan B. I am happy to report now I run my own , very profitable business and have achieved financial freedom from JOBS and BOSSES
Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
101–110 of 149 posts
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#102I have a very different take here. I will delete it if it doesn't resonate with others: Those who live by the sword die by it. He particularly liked "you're a great cultural fit." That means you are JUST LIKE THEM. We can't say, "same race" (but it's true), we can't say, "same gender" (but it's true), and we can't say, "same taste in technology, living address, clothes and what you do on your off time" (but it's true…
I've read this comment like 8 times now and I'm really starting to believe it's some sort of psychedelic fascist performance act. That rating people by letters bit was gold!
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#103His boss fired him and told him why? Never do that. When firing someone in an at-will state, just do it and explain nothing. Explanations can easily lead to lawsuits. It's just not worth the risk.
So in the US you don't have to give explanations? Damn that sucks for the ex-employee. In France you have to write a report in order to fire someone unless they're in their trial period.
It differs by state in the U.S. (business law being left to the states, by and large). California is an "at-will" state, where you can be terminated by a firm with no notice, for no reason. However, California also has strong unemployment insurance regulations, a healthy litigation industry, and corporate laws that tend to shift more liability to employers than employees. I was able to tell an employee I fired that his performance was not up-to-par, but I had pretty substantial written documentation prepared in advance. It is certainly the case in California that you don't give recommendations to ex-employees nor provide unsuccessful job candidates with detailed feedback.
Some other states are more employer friendly, and others are less.
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#104I have a very different take here. I will delete it if it doesn't resonate with others: Those who live by the sword die by it. He particularly liked "you're a great cultural fit." That means you are JUST LIKE THEM. We can't say, "same race" (but it's true), we can't say, "same gender" (but it's true), and we can't say, "same taste in technology, living address, clothes and what you do on your off time" (but it's true…
Just a note that I truly did mean to delete this after seeing what reception it got (a positive one here); however I was called away before even finishing it, and unfortunately it is now outside my edit window. (I was still editing it.)
The comment should be regarded as a draft, only, of a satire and/or opinion piece.
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#105Nice story, but we're hearing only one side of it. Was the writer working running his "sex and comedy" blog at the same time as working for the company? I can imagine the CEO sacking him when he came across the guy's blog; what with the pictures of vibrators and skanky models.. The start-up's customers were looking for Software Developers: unless they were limiting themselves to the young/liberal Bay then this kinda…
I can imagine 99% of customers never putting two and two together in the first place. I talk to salespeople all the time, and not once have I thought to inquire about their personal interests, side projects, etc.
I talk to a lot of tech sales people and I often find myself doing some casual Google research on them. I've had problems with sales people over-promising because they didn't understand the product they were selling, so I'm often interested in how long they've been with the company they are repping. And the answer is usually one Linkedin request away. I can also get their eduction and previous work history from there, which is useful in framing how well they know the industry as a whole and whether they have any technical background to understand what they are selling. From there, a lot of people link to personal projects or blogs. I don't know why; in a professional context, most personal blogs make you look like an idiot.
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
It hasn't yet that you are aware of . I would immediately pass on your resume without a second glance. Four jobs in less than six months very strongly signals a number of negative things to prospective employers. Perhaps the only companies willing to hire you now are those with high developer turnover who just need a warm body to fill the last vacated seat? And perhaps you are perpetuating that?
Hmm. The 3 jobs I've gone through were all very different. One was a very small software development company, they decided after three weeks that they wanted someone with a lot more experience. I went from there to a huge corporation, where I was unhappy so I found another job. This one I'm at now is a largish "small business", like 300 employees. I'd be confident in my ability to find another should these guys sudde…
Where are you in your career? Just based on what you've written, it sounds like you're early on in your career and don't have a good idea what the right questions to ask during an interview are. Interviews are as much about you vetting the company as the company vetting you.
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious about your comment "but I'm sure we could get sued if the strangeness was due to a disability." If the possibility that the candidate's "strangeness" was due to some sort of disability crossed your mind, how did you justify putting your employer at risk of a lawsuit by communicating with the candidate, particularly when your superior had directed you to ignore his submission?
Doing the right thing is worth taking a little risk. As a side note, some people send out a crap resume while on unemployment so they don't get interviews. In theory you need to look for work, but if you have a fair amount of savings and want to spend the summer surfing then it's a 'safe' way around the rules.
> Doing the right thing is worth taking a little risk.
I won't disagree outright with that, but what is "the right thing" here?
The threat of litigation is incredibly real when it comes to employment issues. Even the most proactive employers (those that attempt to follow the law and keep meticulous records) face lawsuits from employees, former employees and job applicants. The potential damages can be significant (particularly for certain causes of action) and even small and seemingly baseless claims can easily result in five figures worth of attorney's fees (or more).
Here, despite apparently having some idea that his actions could expose his employer to a lawsuit, an employee decided that his employer should take on legal risk despite the fact that his supervisor effectively told him to proceed in a manner that would reduce risk substantially.
If as a result of this employee's actions, the company was unable to pay someone's salary, or had to allocate money from expansion to legal expenses, would you still suggest that the employee did "the right thing"?
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you share more details of the story? I've been assuming this rule exists mostly to avoid the danger that you might accidentally phrase the reason for termination such that it could be treated as discriminatory... but this really sounds like the problem is deeper than that.
Facts matter not when the Labor Department gets involved. I walked in with a legally-binding contract done by my attorney and singed by the guy I fired. He was required to sell a certain dollar amount in 90 days. He sold exactly zero. Zero. The Labor Department mediator made me pay him several thousand dollars in ADVANCE COMMISSION I withheld at the time of firing. In reality, per the agreement, he owed ME several th…
What is advance commission? Was he paid a base?
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is basically why unions were formed in the first place. HR is there to protect the company, and they are owned by the company. Unions are there to protect the employees, and they are owned by the employees. I know the current attitude is against unions, and there are probably a lot of anti-union people on HN, for good reasons. Unions realized their power and became corrupt, became money-hungry, became power-hung…
Good unions are great. For employees, for the economy, and even for the employers. I don't understand how American unions got so crazy and self-destructive (or if they're not, why so many Americans are convinced the are).
I'd say it's because of the same reason why some people vote against their own best interests (e.g. less taxes on the wealthy). They believe that one day, they will be rich and powerful, so they had better not vote in things that would affect them when they get there.
The problem is, most of them never get there.
Re: Why I Was Fired From a Tech Startup and What My Boss Had to Say About It
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unrelated to the validity of this advice: it's kind of sad that our society has evolved legal structures that make it prohibitively risky to tell another human being why you're taking an action against them. Hmm... what if you could have an employee sign a release as a precondition of being told why they were fired?
I got a CV through the other day from a stranger. The guy had some great experience but the CV was weird. It was 10 pages long for 4 jobs. He listed every course he'd ever been sent on, including health and safety and diversity training ones, and just mixed his degree in somewhere with them. He listed each version of word he'd used (seemly every version released) with equal prominence as Java and SQL. Each time he'd…
IMO CVs should be 3 pages.
1) Cover letter. Explain why you want the job and why you're a good person for that job.
2) Contact Details & Education. Most relevant and recent should be top of the list.
3) Previous Work experience. List only relevant skills from each position.
Less is more. If they want more detail they will ask for it in the interview.