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Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

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Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#111

Post by amiuba »

jogjayr wrote: post #18

Look into the financial independence/retire early (FIRE) communities. Here's a good starting point. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-sim... It's important to note that (Mustachian) financial independence isn't about making money so you can retire (despite the name). It's about designing a lifestyle for yourself that makes you happy without the need to buy things or experiences to sustain that…

FI/RE is a tremendous idea, and that's the thing that motivates me. I've been working on it for a few years now, but it's still far away.

But it feels like it's not enough, I don't know that I can keep eating sh*t for another 7 years. We're saving about 55% of our net income after rent, we're pretty frugal to begin with in a high col area (not in the US).

It's definitely part of the solution and I can't wait to quit working but it's not enough to carry me on its own. If it were I wouldn't feel this way.

Do you have this sentiment too?

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#112

Post by amiuba »

chickenfries wrote: post #8

I just started contracting in the public sector and I don't know if this honeymoon will last but so far, it's amazing how much more I care about the problems they are solving compared to working in the private sector. It's work that I think needs to be done. "He who has a Why? in life can tolerate almost any How?"

How did you get the gig? It seems my local and national government (Canada) only hires FTEs. I've applied before but was never successful.

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#113

Post by amiuba »

arximboldi wrote: post #32

I felt similarly often, even though I was working for a great company with great products and with a very humane way of working. At some point I just could not stand the worker-owner fundamental power imbalance. There is a lot of pretending in our industry that this conflict does not exist, which often ends up in quite schizophrenic logic. I had to go. And Since I don't want to inflict such pain in other people, beco…

Thanks for the input. Like WaxProlix, I'd be very interested to hear more. How to shift to freelancing (fiver/elance/whatever it's called today doesn't seem too good), and how does a co-op work in practice?

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#114

Post by amiuba »

jventura wrote: post #35

> This thinking is hurting me though because it makes every job I ever had barely tolerable, slowly creeping towards miserable after enough time. Profound changes in life are not easy, and feeling miserable is a sign that you probably have to change something.. Personally, I believe that people that are willing to change their lifes when circunstances ask for it are courageous. Most people will keep feeling miserable…

I have considered freelancing, but I don't know where to start. The only place I know of is fiver and elance which have pretty bad reputation and where I couldn't charge enough for it to be viable.

Any insight on how to execute the shift and find your first customer?

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#115

Post by amiuba »

liquidcool wrote: post #72

You mention a couple times that your work has a significant impact on the company's sales/revenue. If you can actually quantify the value of your work, you are in a much stronger negotiating position with your employer and others. It is rarely done by engineers and sets you apart. In addition to fair compensation, you mention "stressing over issues." I've noticed more than once that I've been stressed over problems m…

Value provided to my employer is more or less known: they sell my time for about 5x what they pay me (software consultancy).

The stress is over issues that the client is pressuring us to solve before a deadline, that usually requires overtime. I always refuse to do overtime, and try to work less rather than more. This creates a situation where my colleagues resent me because it feels like I'm not doing my share since they roll over and do whatever it takes to meet the deadline. And the client never learns, expecting overtime.

As a result, my last performance review wasn't great because my employer would prefer that I worked as much or more than my colleagues while only paying me 40h (clients are billed by the week, not by the hour.) I'm not in the top performers at my job either, I'd say I'm average at best. I don't feel like my bargaining position is particularly strong at the moment with this employer, and I negotiated my initial salary well from what I gather from colleagues I've discussed comp with.

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#117

Post by amiuba »

techjuice wrote: post #3

If you are not the type of person to run your own business then you would need to get a job working for someone else. Now it seems the issue is not you really working for someone else, but not properly being compensated for performance. Now, the good thing is until you have enough time, money and feel comfortable taking the plunge into being your own boss you can work on gaining the skills by working for someone else…

I negotiated my initial salary well (from talking with other colleagues who also shared their salary), but the only thing my company does is an annual performance review and a raise based on that. The raise is a few percents and that's it. No bonus or profit sharing.

I have yet to work somewhere that gives bonuses. Based on my experience, it isn't that common here it seems (Canada). My current base salary is a tad more than the median household income for my city.

You make a good point that while I'm employed, I'm getting paid to learn some of the skills I'll need to become an independent developer. What I still don't know is how to go from employee to independent: where do you get clients?

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#118

Post by amiuba »

robot wrote: post #37

You make yourself unhappy by focusing on what your boss or company owners are doing. Don't think about them, they are external to you. Focus on what you want or like to do. You can try starting a consultancy business. Start as a freelance and grow that. Anything you do you must work hard and create value for others. If you do this consistently you will eventually move into a position where you are comfortable. The be…

That's the thing though: how do you start? Where do you find clients? I obviously can't go after any of my current employer's clients, I don't have friends who studied CS and work at prestigious companies... How do you get started?

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#119

Post by amiuba »

cynusx wrote: post #62

You seem very focussed on the money-side of the equation, however for most people job satisfaction consists of more things like feeling part of a team, being friends with colleagues and growing as an individual. e.g. some companies enable you to solve problems you cannot do anywhere else, or allow you responsibility that you wouldn't have anywhere else. Maybe the easiest to identify what would make you more satisfied…

That's the thing... I've worked at many different places (startups come and go fast), and I've never worked on something that I felt very strongly about. I was always solving someone else's problems while making someone else money.

If I had enough money to live, I would quit writing software for money instantly. I have a few side projects in various states of neglect and I'd much rather work on these for free than solving yet another meaningless corporate or business problem.

But I can't do that yet, because I like sleeping in a bed under a roof and eating food.

I get the risk/reward thing, but I think that one side has too much power and reaps too much profit from it.

Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?

#120

Post by amiuba »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #31

Public sector employee plus FIRE sounds like a great combo to try. Maybe freelancing too but I think that’s closer to entrepreneurship than some here are willing to admit.

Can you do it though? Public sector men's that you're paid less, a third of your pay is out away in a pension you cant touch until you turn 65 (if it's still there then). I've always wondered about it because I'd rather work at making people's life better and it feels like it's what most of government jobs stand for.
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