Wow, taking hipster to a whole new level. Working at a startup, having catered lunches & the latest mac is too much so he quit.
I quit my job
161–170 of 197 posts
Re: I quit my job
#162Re: I quit my job
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be criminal negligence if I didn't mention Michael O'Church's seminal work on this issue [1]. There is surprising depth and complexity to the power dynamics in companies, both large and small. What you've discovered first hand is that, unfortunately, politics determine the fate of nations and companies alike. 1. http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/gervais-princ...
Now that you mention michealochurch, his stinch as an active HN commenter was short and powerful, wasn't it? Haven't seen much from him lately.
I recall upvoting a comment of his just yesterday, so he is still around..
Re: I quit my job
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
Whoa! Given all the reference Michael makes to MacLeod's hierarchy, I'd just tacitly assumed it was a well-known model in organisational studies. I guess the "I should really read the original work" pangs I occasionally have when reading Michael's stuff can go away now...
You really should read the original work. I mean, it's just a cartoon drawn on the back of a business card, how much time could that possibly take?
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Re: I quit my job
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be criminal negligence if I didn't mention Michael O'Church's seminal work on this issue [1]. There is surprising depth and complexity to the power dynamics in companies, both large and small. What you've discovered first hand is that, unfortunately, politics determine the fate of nations and companies alike. 1. http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/gervais-princ...
I'm sorry, but it's really difficult to take that "seminal work" seriously when that work is an in-depth analysis of the "MacLeod Model of organizational sociology". Do you know what the "MacLeod Model" is? A cartoon on the back of a business card, posted to the web without comment nine years ago: http://gapingvoid.com/2004/06/27/company-hierarchy/ Michael O'Church might have some interesting things to say, but when…
The analysis seems to be based more on Venkatesh Rao's fairly lengthy "Gervais Principle" series rather than MacLeod's cartoon per se:
http://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-principle/
Re: I quit my job
#166From the first comment on the guys page: >> You haven't yet discovered that any business -- any real business that is-- is going to get to the point where you actually have to do work. Automate away everything you can, but there is still going to be work. >> If you're bored doing work, and only interested in the exciting stuff, you're never going to be happy in any job beyond 6 months or so There's a lot of truth in…
From the boss's point of view, you must seem like a great team!
Re: I quit my job
#167If you're in a similar position and this resonates with you, do yourself a favor and just quit. Seriously. Stop waiting for things to get interesting. They won't. It's so easy to get stuck. If you're good at what you do, you'll find a job you love immediately (if that's what you're looking for). As developers, we're fortunate to be in extremely high demand. Life is too short to be bored. Work on interesting things.
I've been in a similar position for the last 3 years (of a 9 year stint at current company), and your story does resonate with me. I am bored at what I do all day long and have lost the passion for doing any sort of programming in my free time. I've considered leaving a few times, but I always take a look at what sort of openings are out there before I hand in my notice, and the answer is: "there are none".
There has been one programming position advertised in the city I live in in the last 3 years. That company has since closed - as I suspected it would (the entire team of 10 was Polish guys and gals and as it turns out they just wanted a presence in the country and farm out all the work back to Poland). Programmers in the US are totally spoiled right now, as there is a huge demand for them, but its not the same elsewhere. A number of other software businesses have also shut down or retreated back to their base.
Life may be too short to be bored, but its also too short to become penniless and homeless in a few months after quitting because you couldn't hack it anymore in a dead end job.
Re: I quit my job
#168One of the most liberating things I ever did was quit my job and go travel for a couple years. I'd do it again, but I'd like to keep my home on the Peninsula.
Thiel should pay people to quit their jobs. The creative energy would be incredible.
Re: I quit my job
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
Working at a single place for 10 years and having 0 connections to other companies is not going to put you in a good place to find a job. I imagine they would struggle to find a job regardless of whether or not they quit.
In my naivete, I don't know why this is true. What is it about staying at a place for a long time that makes a person less desirable? I ask in part because I've been at my current employer for 9 years -- should someone in my spot be looking for a new job?
It depends on your experience and career trajectory. You have a lot of firm specific knowledge, which makes you more valuable to the firm but if you're using an internal stack maybe the only people who value that knowledge are the company you're working for. That's a bad bargaining position. And if you've been at the same company for nine years and have not been negotiating aggressively for raises the whole time there's an excellent chance you're underpaid because job hopping every two years is really the only semi-reliable way to get a 20% raise.
Try interviewing and seeing what you get offered.
Re: I quit my job
#170Even for employees, startups are hard and take commitment. It's not for everyone, in fact it's probably not for most. People seem to have this idea of lavish Zynga style life styles. It's not. It's really really hard work. You still have to do as you're told. Everything is always going wrong. You still have to be responsible for your productivity. In fact you have to do a lot more. You cannot just hide. As startups a…
I've felt like this at every company I worked for, and not just at startups. At the start, I'm learning tons of new stuff, solving new problems, growing a lot of lots of different ways, and that gives me energy to put in way too much work. Eventually that slows down; I've seen those problems before, it's just another feature on some thing I've already worked on, and it starts to feel repetitive.
I just need something new every once in a while. I thrive on change, apparently. (My brother doesn't; he's been working at the same company forever.)
The problem is: I never get around to my own projects; when I started at a new job, all my energy goes into that. When it turns into an old job, that extra energy is gone. I never have the surplus energy for my own stuff.