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Quitting a New Job

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Re: Quitting a New Job

#41

Post by filoleg »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #4
nickff wrote: post #2

I realize that HN is very employee-centric, but "exploring new opportunities but don’t quit until something better is lined up" is rather harmful to the team you're working with. If someone's just started, they're generally a net-negative, so the individual is both drawing pay and sucking resources. This is almost 'quitting in-place'. If we expect startups and companies to act ethically (in terms of pay, benefits, op…

> "exploring new opportunities but don’t quit until something better is lined up" is rather harmful to the team you're working with. How so? > If we expect startups and companies to act ethically (in terms of pay, benefits, options, etc.), we should expect the same of employees. I'm not sure what an ethical action from an employee would look like under this framework; quit and live without an income during any job se…

>How so?

Yeah, I am confused by that one as well. If you are delivering value in the same capacity as you did before you started the job search (aka you ain't slacking and doing the bare minimum, with the rest overflowing onto the rest of engineers on your team), then how is it harmful or even noticeable to anyone at all?

Re: Quitting a New Job

#42

Post by jinushaun »

whitepaint wrote: post #13
0x445442 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only that, but I'm getting the feeling a developer's best option these days for maximizing pay increases is to spend their free time on Leetcode. Which in my opinion is a problem from an industry perspective.

> Which in my opinion is a problem from an industry perspective. Why? If a person can learn bunch of algorithms and apply them to custom problems they probably can do quite a bit with computers. And it shows that they probably can learn new stuff rapidly as well. I don't get why so many developers hate Leetcode. I love it personally, I think it's great. And also, I think people are just lazy and don't want to learn n…

Because LC problems has no applications in day-to-day work. You're just doing it for interview practice. It only seems "useful" because it's programming problems, but it's as ridiculous as studying chemistry or calculus as interview prep.

Re: Quitting a New Job

#43

Post by corytheboyd »

On the point of returning to a company you previously left for good reasons... don’t. I made this mistake, and things of course boiled to a breaking point for me after another year. Chances are nothing has changed, listen to that gut feeling. This probably isn’t everyone’s experience I don’t know, but it’s my experience for what it’s worth to anyone reading this.

Re: Quitting a New Job

#44

Post by 01100011 »

I realized a few days into my current job that it was a bad fit for me. Unfortunately I'd have to pay back the $10k relocation package if I left, so I decided to stick it out.

Last year I interviewed with a company and was ready to take the job but I had drinks with the manager and decided it was too much of a brogrammer shop for me. Looking back, if I had taken the job, I would have worked with friends, the brogrammer aspect wasn't as bad as I thought, and I'd be planning my retirement after 3 years of work.

Sometimes you just never know. It does pay to do your due diligence though. Same thing with buying a house. Big changes, like jobs or living arrangements, demand adequate investigation.

Re: Quitting a New Job

#45

Post by whitepaint »

ashtonkem wrote: post #24
whitepaint wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Which in my opinion is a problem from an industry perspective. Why? If a person can learn bunch of algorithms and apply them to custom problems they probably can do quite a bit with computers. And it shows that they probably can learn new stuff rapidly as well. I don't get why so many developers hate Leetcode. I love it personally, I think it's great. And also, I think people are just lazy and don't want to learn n…

Because learning a bunch of algorithms doesn’t translate well into day to day programming capability. This is exactly why those dumb whiteboard problems aren’t good for interviews; you’re not measuring what makes someone successful on a day to day basis.

> This is exactly why those dumb whiteboard problems aren’t good for interviews; you’re not measuring what makes someone successful on a day to day basis.

If that was the case, you think all of the biggest tech companies that have billions of dollars would continue using it? Did you ever consider that you might be wrong?

Re: Quitting a New Job

#46

Post by logicchop »

nickff wrote: post #2

I realize that HN is very employee-centric, but "exploring new opportunities but don’t quit until something better is lined up" is rather harmful to the team you're working with. If someone's just started, they're generally a net-negative, so the individual is both drawing pay and sucking resources. This is almost 'quitting in-place'. If we expect startups and companies to act ethically (in terms of pay, benefits, op…

It is harmful to the team you're with, but there's no alternative right now. It is substantially easier to find a new position when you are currently employed, even if your stint has been brief. This is common knowledge, and as such self-reinforcing: if you quit, then apply somewhere else, the new place will assume you were forced out, since nobody on their own volition leaves a job before finding another one. So there's no way around it right now, so here's my advice: unless you are about to have a breakdown, never quit until you find something else.

Re: Quitting a New Job

#47

Post by xapata »

0x445442 wrote: post #7
MattGaiser wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this solve the other problem, that job hopping is the best way to get a raise?

Not only that, but I'm getting the feeling a developer's best option these days for maximizing pay increases is to spend their free time on Leetcode. Which in my opinion is a problem from an industry perspective.

Leetcode, Project Euler, etc. may not feel like a programmer's daily tasks, but they may yet be a good proxy for many behaviors that large employers desire.

For example, a large employer may want a willingness to do arbitrary, difficult tasks that appear meaningless. These same employers may have a variety of software maintenance tasks that require recognizing a pattern of problem, knowing the appropriate algorithm from Ye Olde Textbook, and quickly applying it.

Re: Quitting a New Job

#48

Post by kemiller2002 »

nickff wrote: post #2

I realize that HN is very employee-centric, but "exploring new opportunities but don’t quit until something better is lined up" is rather harmful to the team you're working with. If someone's just started, they're generally a net-negative, so the individual is both drawing pay and sucking resources. This is almost 'quitting in-place'. If we expect startups and companies to act ethically (in terms of pay, benefits, op…

When I was a manager, I had a rule that all my directs had to always be looking for new opportunities. If they find something better, I wanted them to leave. It made sure of 2 things for us: 1. We knew that anyone could leave at any moment, and we always planned accordingly. 2. We knew we had to keep people happy. If someone didn't like something, we had to change if possible or that person might leave. Conversations about having interviews and being contacted by recruiters became open, honest, and casual. There was no fear about someone might find out if you were looking, and people shared what they found out about talking to potential employers.

Re: Quitting a New Job

#49

Post by icedchai »

macintux wrote: post #35
sethammons wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A buddy of mine got a new job, quit the old one, showed up day one and was laid off immediately. Apparently their budget had changed. Oof! We also hired a c-level exec who came aboard apparently having already accepted a different offer and came on for under a month to collect pay and get some juicy stock. Apparently they negotiated well and walked off very, very well paid. Edit: not sure if I have a point there othe…

> We also hired a c-level exec who came aboard apparently having already accepted a different offer and came on for under a month to collect pay and get some juicy stock. At a previous job, I worked fairly closely with a sales representative who, it turned out, was working in sales “full time” for two different tech companies in different fields. Needless to say, once he was discovered he was jobless (unless, of cour…

How was he discovered? It would be easier to do this nowadays, given the whole remote thing.

Re: Quitting a New Job

#50

Post by pearjuice »

Though I like the sentiment of the post, it's funny and maybe remarkable how software engineers are in such a privileged bubble most probably don't even realize. Quitting jobs after a year at arguably the most innovative fintech company because you didn't feel satisfied, taking a vacation, casually mentioning you can "hack" interviews by focusing on leetcode problems for some weekends, working somewhere for 2 days, taking another vacation and then switching to a new job. Probably hopping through a few salary negotiations and gaining tens of thousands of dollars. Be sure to take a moment to realize.
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