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Programmers are most likely to work from home

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Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#361

Post by pjc50 »

laythea wrote: post #196
pjc50 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. I've been interviewing candidates for "Senior Developer" and mentoring is in the job spec and list of questions we consider when evaluating candidates. If someone gets hired with "mentoring" in their job description I don't think it's reasonable for them to expect to do none of it. Now, if their performance metrics don't account for this, that might be unreasonable .. (C++ in Edinburgh, if you happen to be lo…

C/C++ amongst others, 10+ years, available immediately! (Seriously)

Was trying to work out how to give you the info without either of us posting personal information in the absence of a PM system AND the job is erroneously not listed on our website. Sigh. Probably easiest to phone the number on http://www.zonal.co.uk/zonal_careers/ and ask about the C++ job in Research&Development at Edinburgh.

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#362

Post by aphexbr »

samfisher83 wrote: post #240

You spend 8 hours a day working. Why would you want to be isolated from other people? As a kid you go to school you are around people. Working from home seems like you are kind of isolated from people. Its not the same as over skype or slack.

"You spend 8 hours a day working. Why would you want to be isolated from other people?"

So that you can get the work done and not have to think about it when you go socialising with people you actually choose to spend time with?

"As a kid you go to school you are around people."

....and for a lot of people that was the most frustrating, difficult time of their lives that they wish to avoid reliving. Personally, I can't stand office politics, find smalltalk very distracting when it's happening around me and would much rather avoid the 1 hour commute each way.

I can't work from home in my current position, sadly, but I'd jump at the chance to do so. If I found myself feeling isolated from people, it would be much preferable to go somewhere with my laptop for lunch rather than fighting over the microwaves in the office kitchen every day.

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#363

Post by [deleted] »

Bluestrike2 wrote: post #241
chrisan wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My problem with an office or open office is not the noise, I can put on headphones and be fine, but is the actual interruptions. In an open office it is obviously much easier for someone to just lean over or look around their monitor and grab your attention, but having a private office with a door is still prone to someone knocking (or walking in if not closed) Working from home, people can email, chat, or leave a ph…

I wouldn't discount that last reason. There's some research suggesting that friendships between coworkers can greatly increase worker engagement, productivity, and satisfaction.[0][1][2] And a self-report study from LinkedIn suggests that workers perceive workplace friendships as beneficial for both themselves and their work, for what that's worth.[3] Of course, it can also blow up in your face and do the opposite, o…

[deleted]

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#364

Post by Arizhel »

jon-wood wrote: post #321
Arizhel wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might work for you, but every time this discussion comes up around here, there's a whole bunch of parents complaining how their spouse and kids simply will not stop disturbing them, no matter how much they try to explain that they can't do this.

I'm aware its a problem for some people, I just feel it gets overblown. Maybe those of us who find it OK are the silent majority, or maybe I'm an outlier, but I know quite a few parents who work remote and don't have any complaints about being interrupted constantly by family. I also know of far more people who complain of being constantly interrupted by managers and noise in an open plan office. Its not like modern…

Or maybe your kids/family are different from other peoples'. I've seen some peoples' kids who were a complete terror and nothing could make them stay calm and quiet. Some kids are just better than others that way. You got lucky. This is a big reason I never really wanted kids; I just can't handle constant noise and commotion. I have a friend with a 7yo kid who's bouncing off the walls every time I visit; there's just no way I could live with someone like that every day. I have enough noise and commotion at work; I don't need it at home too.

And yes, open offices are horrible this way too. That's why we're having this discussion about people wanting to work from home: for many, it's a lot better than the chaos at the open-plan office at work, even if it isn't ideal. For others, it's at least as bad (kids/wife), so they either deal with the office, or they go to a coffee shop or rent a coworking space or similar.

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#365

Post by Arizhel »

ensiferum wrote: post #360
Arizhel wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why lots of people like to work at coffee shops. You get to be around other people, but it's generally pretty quiet: there's no loud conversations about some stupid sports game the night before; any conversations are usually between two people sitting quietly together, not groups; the people there are total strangers and not coworkers or bosses so it's easy to tune them out mentally and concentrate. In additi…

I've always wondered about what kind of work do these people do. In my (stereotypical mind) they're some skinny hipsters with imacs hacking on the JS framework of the week. I also wonder about the ergonomics of working from some ad-hoc office. I'd prefer a real office with a standing desk + proper office chair to whatever a coffee shop can provide. Also as a customer to a coffee shop who just wants to grab a coffee a…

>I also wonder about the ergonomics of working from some ad-hoc office. I'd prefer a real office with a standing desk + proper office chair to whatever a coffee shop can provide.

And I have to wonder how someone who values "ergonomics" can stand to stand up all day while typing. I can't imagine anything more uncomfortable.

>In my (stereotypical mind) they're some skinny hipsters

In my (stereotypical mind) anyone who wants a standing desk must be some kind of hipster. Standing desks didn't even exist 10+ years ago.

Anyway, negative generalizations aside, the ergonomics of a coffee shop aren't that important when the alternative is a noisy, concentration-killing open-plan office where you can't get any work done because of salespeople yakking on the phone nearby, people coming by every few minutes to ask you inane questions, people constantly walking right by your desk, etc.

>all those people spending their days there after buying 1 drink and taking several seats with their laptops and books really piss me off. If I was the owner of the coffee shop I'd ask them to leave so that other customers can also come in.

Maybe you should ask the owner to do just that, and see what he/she says. If you don't like it, you don't have to go there. Maybe you should start your own coffee shop and run it the way you like.

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#366

Post by laythea »

pjc50 wrote: post #361
laythea wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

C/C++ amongst others, 10+ years, available immediately! (Seriously)

Was trying to work out how to give you the info without either of us posting personal information in the absence of a PM system AND the job is erroneously not listed on our website. Sigh. Probably easiest to phone the number on http://www.zonal.co.uk/zonal_careers/ and ask about the C++ job in Research&Development at Edinburgh.

Thanks, will do.

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#367

Post by Arizhel »

treehau5 wrote: post #56
eddieh wrote: post #12

I like working from my office. I don't understand people that like working from home. Possible confounding variable: I live exactly two blocks from my office and don't have to commute. Perhaps, in actuality, people don't like to commute?

Perhaps is it because you actually have an office, with a door? I hate driving in sometimes because I know I am being forced to waste an hour of my life in traffic to sit in an open floor plan to be distracted for 8 hours and produce minimally quality work, only for me to have to go home and work some more to actually get the job done. "Well sounds like you should get a new job" people always retort -- nope sorry, th…

>this open floor plan bullshit has permeated everywhere, and I have no desire to move to the west coast.

Um, what does the west coast have to do with it? In fact, isn't it even worse over there? It seems like that's where this stupid open-office fad started.

If there's some region where open offices are not the norm, someone please tell me so I can start making plans to move there.

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#368

Post by Arizhel »

tootie wrote: post #192
eddieh wrote: post #12

I like working from my office. I don't understand people that like working from home. Possible confounding variable: I live exactly two blocks from my office and don't have to commute. Perhaps, in actuality, people don't like to commute?

I recently watched the Ali Wong comedy special on Netflix and she really crystallized the major benefit of working from home that I could never put my finger on. Pooping in your own bathroom. I am 100% serious and not being glib at all. I want to poop at home and not in a bathroom I share with 100 people that can watch me coming and going and might try to chat with me while I wash my hands.

There's more to it than this. Your own bathroom is private, so you don't have to worry about going in there and there not being any stalls. You don't have to sit on the pot while someone else is right next to you, separated only by a flimsy partition where you can see their feet. You don't have to smell other peoples' crap odors. You don't have to use shitty one-ply sandpaper-ish toilet paper. You can install whatever toilet you like, instead of having to use whatever is there; you can even install a bidet if you want. You can keep it as clean as you like. You don't have to worry about someone else peeing on the toilet lid or smearing their crap on it. You can dry your hands with a real towel, instead of shitty sandpaper-ish brown paper. Your house might have a bathroom fan installed. You can set the temperature however you like.

I really, really, really hate the bathroom at my current workplace.

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#369

Post by Arizhel »

matwood wrote: post #285
eddieh wrote: post #12

I like working from my office. I don't understand people that like working from home. Possible confounding variable: I live exactly two blocks from my office and don't have to commute. Perhaps, in actuality, people don't like to commute?

For me it's 100% the commute. I like my office, and have zero problems with open plans or noise (my office is quiet, but I don't mind noise). What I despise is driving. My commute is not very long ( My office is in the city, and unfortunately living within walking distance is not really an option. Plus, if I ever change job the odds of being nearby the new job are not that high anyway.

>I will never understand people who like cars and/or driving.

Driving is fun!

Driving in traffic, not so much...

Re: Programmers are most likely to work from home

#370

Post by sctb »

meritt wrote: post #33

> I don't want to teach all your shitty college grads humbleMouse's profile: "Mid-Twenties" lol.

Please don't personally attack other users like this, no matter what they've said. We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14098242 and marked it off-topic.
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