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Ask HN: Are you ok?

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11–20 of 898 posts

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#11
As a team lead, one question I always ask in my 1-on-1's:

On a scale of 1-5 (low good, high bad), what's your stress level since we last met?

If my teammate says 4 or 5, I ask what we can do to bring it down to a 3.

We also address this as part of the simple assessment we do in each sprint retrospective.

My company struggles to define meaningful KPIs and OKRs. This is the one that's most important to me.

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#12

Not really, I’ve been looking for work for about three months after my team at a FANG was let go due to a legal fuck up by my boss. I’ve been leetcoding but have only passed 3/7 tech screens only to be ghosted for the on-site after a pass or passed up after the on-site. Starting to question if I was ever creative or really good at this profession - but don’t think I’m skilled enough or have the energy to do my own st…

If it makes you feel better, for my first four years, I hopped around jobs about once every six months...Quit the first job, fired from the second, company went broke for the third and fourth, quit the fifth job, and fired from the sixth, company went broke for the seventh, did a bit of contracting work, then started staying at jobs for a bit longer term.

In my particular case, it was later determined that I am manic-depressive which I think contributed to my firings, but I haven't ever told an employer about this and don't plan to. Typically I find that a lot of people are pretty forgiving of younger people hopping around a lot early in their career.

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My point is, try to not get too upset over it; I'm sure you'll find something soon, and I wouldn't worry too much about a slightly spotty work history in your first couple years.

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#13

Not really, I’ve been looking for work for about three months after my team at a FANG was let go due to a legal fuck up by my boss. I’ve been leetcoding but have only passed 3/7 tech screens only to be ghosted for the on-site after a pass or passed up after the on-site. Starting to question if I was ever creative or really good at this profession - but don’t think I’m skilled enough or have the energy to do my own st…

I've seen fairly few companies in the Bay Area (sorry if that's not you, assuming from FANG) that actually care that I've only stuck around most places for a year.

I've only been in this field for 5 years myself, but I've climbed this job-hunt mountain before if you want a good pep talk. I've taught people how to get their first job, which is a lot harder imo.

Totally up to you, wish you the best either way

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#14

As a team lead, one question I always ask in my 1-on-1's: On a scale of 1-5 (low good, high bad), what's your stress level since we last met? If my teammate says 4 or 5, I ask what we can do to bring it down to a 3. We also address this as part of the simple assessment we do in each sprint retrospective. My company struggles to define meaningful KPIs and OKRs. This is the one that's most important to me.

You sound like an excellent team lead!

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#15

Not really, I’ve been looking for work for about three months after my team at a FANG was let go due to a legal fuck up by my boss. I’ve been leetcoding but have only passed 3/7 tech screens only to be ghosted for the on-site after a pass or passed up after the on-site. Starting to question if I was ever creative or really good at this profession - but don’t think I’m skilled enough or have the energy to do my own st…

Can you try teaching at your local university meanwhile?

I have a bit of dumb question on this...is it easy to just get a job teaching at a university? I thought those jobs typically require a bunch of degrees and were pretty competitive?

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EDIT: The reason I ask, this is something I wouldn't mind doing but I've never really considered due to a lack of credentials.

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#16
Right now no, the last couple weeks is where everything in my life is going down the shitter. I'm trying to just get on with it cuz my stoic nature just tells me I'll get through it eventually.

I'm in substantial debt for me but at the rate in which I earn I can pull myself out of it within 6 months, but I've been working on launching new companies and it's been a struggle. My 2 cofounders are waiting for me to finish my part of the process so they can go sell, I'm almost there. The property I was renovating has taken way longer than it should have but it's almost done. My car got seized by the police because I wasn't aware it was uninsured, taken all day to sort that and I'm not done yet. Clients are not paying invoices, I'm having to manage a number of other things at the same time, and the charity I run with my other half might be getting sued.

I need to find some work soon and bring in some money. So if anyone wants a remote php/js dev let me know. I know I've got a lot of things I'm dealing with but basically all of them are 90% there so life will simplify soon.

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#17

Not really, I’ve been looking for work for about three months after my team at a FANG was let go due to a legal fuck up by my boss. I’ve been leetcoding but have only passed 3/7 tech screens only to be ghosted for the on-site after a pass or passed up after the on-site. Starting to question if I was ever creative or really good at this profession - but don’t think I’m skilled enough or have the energy to do my own st…

You'll land back into something. I know being out of work is stressful and very hard on people, but there are a lot of open positions, more if you are flexible where you work.

What type of employers are you targeting? How many resumes have you sent out? Are you trying to target a single geographical area? Open to moving? All those can drastically effect your prospects. Have you tried more traditional enterprise or non-tech companies?

If you want some resume feedback, shoot it to me, my email is in my profile.

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#18

As a team lead, one question I always ask in my 1-on-1's: On a scale of 1-5 (low good, high bad), what's your stress level since we last met? If my teammate says 4 or 5, I ask what we can do to bring it down to a 3. We also address this as part of the simple assessment we do in each sprint retrospective. My company struggles to define meaningful KPIs and OKRs. This is the one that's most important to me.

This is great.

But the real problem comes when the stress is caused by the team lead!

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#19

As a team lead, one question I always ask in my 1-on-1's: On a scale of 1-5 (low good, high bad), what's your stress level since we last met? If my teammate says 4 or 5, I ask what we can do to bring it down to a 3. We also address this as part of the simple assessment we do in each sprint retrospective. My company struggles to define meaningful KPIs and OKRs. This is the one that's most important to me.

Really wished my lead would ask this. I might suggest it!

Re: Ask HN: Are you ok?

#20
post #14

As a team lead, one question I always ask in my 1-on-1's: On a scale of 1-5 (low good, high bad), what's your stress level since we last met? If my teammate says 4 or 5, I ask what we can do to bring it down to a 3. We also address this as part of the simple assessment we do in each sprint retrospective. My company struggles to define meaningful KPIs and OKRs. This is the one that's most important to me.

You sound like an excellent team lead!

Asking that question is the simple part. I am more curious what he actually does afterwards to reduce the stress..
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