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Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

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Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#51

Post by scribu »

segmondy wrote: post #33

You have a problem and it's not your job, it's your laziness. you are 25, you can't coast through the rest of your life being lazy. If you try, at some point you will fall, and when you fall, you will fall hard. Your problem should be to find a way to motivate yourself to work even harder and earn even more.

I agree that a sinecure is probably not the best long-term strategy, but "work even harder and earn even more" doesn't sound any better.

There's simply no guarantee that working an extra 10 hours per week, for example, will gain you enough extra cash to make up for the activities which might have been more meaningful to your life (such as spending time with a significant other, pursuing a hobby etc.).

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#52

Post by gkmoyn »

falcolas wrote: post #40

Line coder at a huge company (such as Oracle). You can't make many major changes without going through bureaucracy, and you don't have the leverage to even begin to navigate the bureaucracy. Do what you're told, and reap the benefits of decent monetary compensation and golden health/retirement benefits (AKA really good 401k matching).

Have you worked at Oracle, or just bashing them for fun because they're a large successful company?

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#53

Post by lotsofcows »

segmondy wrote: post #33

You have a problem and it's not your job, it's your laziness. you are 25, you can't coast through the rest of your life being lazy. If you try, at some point you will fall, and when you fall, you will fall hard. Your problem should be to find a way to motivate yourself to work even harder and earn even more.

Or, you know, chill out, enjoy life, make what you need and dream about more money for no extra work.

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#54

Post by notacoward »

JonFish85 wrote: post #20
notacoward wrote: post #13

At many medium-to-large companies, being the CTO or in the office of the CTO fits this bill. I've worked with many such people who were brilliant and/or hardworking, but I've also worked with many who just liked to fiddle with stuff and either throw it over the fence (where it inevitably had to be rewritten) or just never finish it. Generally "staff" (as opposed to "line") positions are a bit like this, because you c…

As a CTO, I imagine you're legally responsible for all sorts of stuff. Having your name on corporate documents and such, there is all sorts of responsibility for things!

That's likely to be more true at startups than at mid-to-large companies. There, the CTO is often further from the center of power and responsibility. It's even possible to have a CTO who is not an "officer" of the company in a legal sense.

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#55

Post by bduerst »

JonFish85 wrote: post #17

It's probably a gamble. I'd imagine that these positions are at a company that's doing reasonably well, and hasn't had to make cuts anywhere. From what I've read, Yahoo had lots of these positions pre-Marissa Mayers--the company was just coasting along, not really having to change anything, but when she came in with energy & force, these kinds of people were the first to go. I'd say this is a terrible thing to aspire…

You're pretty spot on.

This is anecdotal, but I've worked both the vapid, high-paying job that comes about from credentials and experience, and the average-paying, engaging job doing work that I love.

I'm currently working the latter, and while I voluntarily took almost a 30% pay cut and sometimes miss the extra disposable income, I can say that I am happier and healthier for it.

One of the negatives you missed of working these fluff positions is that it's difficult to nail down what you did to contribute to your current employer. This makes it difficult when looking for other jobs, when interviewers start asking the "... and how did you do that?" detailed type of questions.

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#56

Post by falcolas »

gkmoyn wrote: post #52
falcolas wrote: post #40

Line coder at a huge company (such as Oracle). You can't make many major changes without going through bureaucracy, and you don't have the leverage to even begin to navigate the bureaucracy. Do what you're told, and reap the benefits of decent monetary compensation and golden health/retirement benefits (AKA really good 401k matching).

Have you worked at Oracle, or just bashing them for fun because they're a large successful company?

Yes, I have. And I'm not bashing them with this post, I'm just answering the OP's question. I know of a few people who are taking advantage of these traits right now, and they love it there.

As for the bureaucracy comment - it's real. If you're in dev and need a server, your request will end up going through Larry Page's office. When the CEO's office needs to be involved in cross-departmental requests, that's the very definition of red tape.

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#57

Post by gkmoyn »

falcolas wrote: post #56
gkmoyn wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you worked at Oracle, or just bashing them for fun because they're a large successful company?

Yes, I have. And I'm not bashing them with this post, I'm just answering the OP's question. I know of a few people who are taking advantage of these traits right now, and they love it there. As for the bureaucracy comment - it's real. If you're in dev and need a server, your request will end up going through Larry Page's office. When the CEO's office needs to be involved in cross-departmental requests, that's the ver…

Cool. I've never worked there, but I appreciate that your comment came from personal experience.

Also, Oracle sounds super bureaucratic if you actually need approvals from the Google CEO! ;-)

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#58

Post by inzax »

Government. More specifically, get contracted by the State Department in Wash DC. No lies when I say, very low accountability and lots of pay.

Think 86$ an hour when jobs that are supposed to take you 2 days to do are setup for 2 weeks of work. So lots of doing nothing.

Speaking from experience. Its a lazy persons wet dream.

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#59

Post by falcolas »

gkmoyn wrote: post #57
falcolas wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I have. And I'm not bashing them with this post, I'm just answering the OP's question. I know of a few people who are taking advantage of these traits right now, and they love it there. As for the bureaucracy comment - it's real. If you're in dev and need a server, your request will end up going through Larry Page's office. When the CEO's office needs to be involved in cross-departmental requests, that's the ver…

Cool. I've never worked there, but I appreciate that your comment came from personal experience. Also, Oracle sounds super bureaucratic if you actually need approvals from the Google CEO! ;-)

Whoops. Larry Ellison. :D

Re: Ask HN: High paid job with low accountability?

#60

Post by noodle »

instakill wrote: post #39
noodle wrote: post #18

Supporting legacy products in a large company.

That sounds like anything but coasting...

Its obviously something that varies from job to job, company to company. But in my experience, these are by far the cushiest of jobs.
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