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What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

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Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#121

So having interned at Facebook, I find this post confusing. They made it very clear to us during HR onboarding that the only zero tolerance policy was on unauthorized access to user data. The harassment stuff isn't a zero tolerance thing. They even told us to go ahead and ask out other employees if you're interested, but just don't press if you get a no. It's pretty clear he accessed data he shouldn't have, and for t…

The person kept saying that what they did was "just like jaywalking," but as soon as they were called in by HR they knew they were in serious trouble. That doesn't add up.

Perhaps speeding would be a better analogy. Everyone does it, but when you see the blue lights(or get a meeting req with HR) you know you're in trouble.

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The person kept saying that what they did was "just like jaywalking," but as soon as they were called in by HR they knew they were in serious trouble. That doesn't add up.

Perhaps speeding would be a better analogy. Everyone does it, but when you see the blue lights(or get a meeting req with HR) you know you're in trouble.

It doesn't sound like the violation and the investigation were temporally linked though. When you're speeding and you see flashing lights, you know you're in trouble for the thing you're doing right then. If some minor violation is common practice (everyone is doing it all the time), how would you know immediately that you were in trouble for it when you get the meeting notice? The person even said that they had previously been called into HR as a witness in investigations of other people, yet this time they knew they were being investigated without being told.

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This person used someone else's electronic credentials to perform a task without asking for permission. [...] This would/should get you fired at many places. You mean that thing that happens all the time at every office? I have a post-it note on which my boss wrote his password for me, specifically because he was sick of my asking whenever I needed to be granted access to new things. I can't think of a single job I'v…

Which company do you work for?

[deleted]

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#124

> For instance, on harassment: telling a coworker of either gender that you like their clothes can be reported as harassment What a terrible society we're developing for ourselves.

There's a huge difference between 'I like your clothes' when it means "that's a good look for you" and 'I like your clothes' when it means "they'd look better on the floor next to my bed" and 'I like your clothes' when it means "I realize that you have asked me many times to stop this unwanted attention, but I also realize that you don't really mean it and don't you realize that I am really a Nice Guy".

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#125
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you don't know which is that case when its assigned to you.

If you know your company and/or your manager you have at the very least strong hints.

I disagree - the impetus for it may come from outside anyone you know.

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like he violated a privacy issue. Probably looked up a friend or celebrity. At my last job, a company that sells houses, people looked up each other's data for fun. I was kind of annoyed that one of the college hires found how much I paid for my house but that was the norm. Okay, I should probably specify that I didn't tell anyone my address. People don't even know my legal name. I worked at and bought my h…

Home sales, including home ownership data, is public in most (all?) of the US. Even without providing your address, many US county government websites (the Recorder's office, Clerk's office, etc) allow for online lookups by name. This is precisely how RedFin, Zillow, Trulia, and the like are able to obtain that same data...

That is not how Redfin works. Nor is it how Redfin is spelled. Source: I worked there.

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean don't blindly believe everything you read on the internet, especially if it triggers your emotions or is about a popular company. HNers are susceptible to sensationalism too.

what you're doing now is basically a variation on concern trolling. what you just said to me is something like "I am CONCERNED that you are reacting emotionally due to your biases" and then you go and cite some article about a psychological research effect to try and make your point, by quoting something from a fiction writer speaking about an entirely different scenario that seems to be at-best tangentially related…

Damn you touchy.

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#128
post #19

I would be interested in what constitutes as "jaywalking" in a software company. Something everyone does but can be grounds to termination? Can anyone tell me about specific cases?

The first thing that came to mind was something like deploying something without going through the proper process or modifying something directly in production. (It probably isn't either of those things since I'm sure their tooling prevents that sort of thing)

> modifying something directly in production

That's a good way to lose access to production forever.

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#129

> For instance, on harassment: telling a coworker of either gender that you like their clothes can be reported as harassment What a terrible society we're developing for ourselves.

There's a huge difference between 'I like your clothes' when it means "that's a good look for you" and 'I like your clothes' when it means "they'd look better on the floor next to my bed" and 'I like your clothes' when it means "I realize that you have asked me many times to stop this unwanted attention, but I also realize that you don't really mean it and don't you realize that I am really a Nice Guy".

And apparently you can be fired for any of the three.

Re: What does it feel like to be fired from Facebook?

#130

> For instance, on harassment: telling a coworker of either gender that you like their clothes can be reported as harassment What a terrible society we're developing for ourselves.

I agree; it's absolutely a shame that people need to be explicitly told that harassment can take the form of compliments, and that saying something nice about somebody does not give you a free pass about the content of your statement. I'm not sure this is something we're developing, though; I'm pretty sure society has been this way for a while. If anything, it's good that it's being explicitly spelled out, because ho…

>saying something nice about somebody does not give you a free pass about the content of your statement.

And sometimes people really do think you're wearing a nice shirt and want to tell you that.

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