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Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

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Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#581

Post by mcv »

dav1app wrote: post #403

On my last job, a new manager called me for a meeting on Friday 4PM. I spent the whole month on an extremely stressful project. The meeting was about an app that integrates credit card payments, billets and bank account on a terminal that is going to be available to the general public. The deadline? 11PM of the same day. Final version. From 0 to 100% in 6 hours. I said that it was impossible. He said that I was incap…

That is just awful. I'm glad you got out and got something better.

When someone tells you to do something that's both impossible and utterly unreasonable, just stick to telling them it's impossible.

If he tells you you're incapable, tell him he needs to use a realistic planning for these things, and if he can't do that, then he's incapable.

There's no angle from which this is even remotely acceptable. Even more so because it involves financial transactions: writing anything related to that in such a hurry is a recipe for disaster.

This manager needs to be fired hard, or he's going to bring that company down.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#582

Post by Kneecaps07 »

Waterluvian wrote: post #72

I don't want to be fired. I absolutely love my job and the people I work with. But I can just smell that we are about to hit a sticking point with how I don't do on call (it was never mentioned in the interviews or part of my contract) and I don't respond to work after 5pm. If it does come to that sticking point I'm trying to figure out how to be the most assertive and diplomatic. I.e. How do I convey that I badly wa…

Start interviewing for other jobs just in case. Also, if you want to stay, try to find a way to compensate for not being on call. Provide an extra value to them beyond what everyone else is doing and beyond what is in your job description. That worked for people at my previous employer who didn't want to be on call.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#583

Post by Nasrudith »

virgilp wrote: post #440
halfer53 wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the reason I hate about PIP( performance improvement program). They set ridiculous goals for you in very short amount of time that nobody can possibly complete, then fire you on grounds of incompetence. A friend of mine who works in Facebook told me that an employee committed suicide due to the pressure of PIP. I suspect that guy was put into PIP due to poor rating (meet most), then was given a ridicul…

It's a sad story; but PIP is really the pink slip; you take it as an advance notice that you're going to be fired, and start looking for jobs. I've heard stories of people completing PIP programs successfully, but quite honestly, I don't get it. Once you got to that point, you're not a good fit to the team and/or they don't appreciate you. Makes no sense to stay. I could understand staying with the company & switchin…

This points to another problem with toxic management : pathological duplicity which makes it impossible to take them at face value because everything is done under pretenses and leaves not only them but the whole market crying wolf when they ask for something that they are actually saying. Human Resources to help with disputes? Everyone knows they are all about ass covering. Team player means they want unpaid overtime, etc.

It may be harsh but fair to attribute to being infested with sociopaths or their culture.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#584

Post by Nasrudith »

mcv wrote: post #577
AdrianB1 wrote: post #518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost nobody wants to receive via transfer someone with a PIP.

That depends entirely on why they're in a PIP. My team might have completely different needs than the other team.

That unfortunately depends on people being rational. There are those stupid enough to not want to hire the unemployed because of their own prejudices.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#585

Post by itronitron »

shrikant wrote: post #500
virgilp wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a sad story; but PIP is really the pink slip; you take it as an advance notice that you're going to be fired, and start looking for jobs. I've heard stories of people completing PIP programs successfully, but quite honestly, I don't get it. Once you got to that point, you're not a good fit to the team and/or they don't appreciate you. Makes no sense to stay. I could understand staying with the company & switchin…

I'd disagree that a PIP is a blanket pink slip. At my current employer, I've personally seen (and mentored!) people on a PIP who've been given reasonably concrete feedback on how to improve their performance in terms of the parameters set by the organisation . (The last part is key!). People who've responded positively to this have seen reasonably good upward trajectory, and those who've responded negatively have bee…

so, what are some of those parameters set by the organization?

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#586

Post by hn_temp_10_1_19 »

honest_tovarich wrote: post #455
hn_temp_10_1_19 wrote: post #262

I just walked from a job after a week and a half. Applied and interviewed for a junior full stack java/angular developer position. Really excited for it. Got and accepted an offer just to show up day one to a weird point & click/drag & drop visual programming thing called BluePrism. Tried to make myself like it, but couldn't stick it out. Moved 800 miles for that job too, just to get bait & switched.

Holy molly .... dude ... that’s hilarious

In 6 months I'll probably agree. But right now, I just feel lost, depressed, and not sure what to do.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#587

Post by tomp »

throwaway58129 wrote: post #66
throwaway58129 wrote: post #64

I didn't know this format was a thing and am so very excited to discover it. I hope you folks enjoy reading horror stories. I got a job as a Software Engineer in my current company 4.5 years ago; friend-of-a-friend sort of thing. The company had an apparently disastrous piece of software that was their main LOB. They had gone through pretty much every local consulting agency - at least once, on a few occasions they h…

I have no idea the right way of posting long posts. Here's the rest: https://pastebin.com/k0tYZYgY

You should be a writer. Or a movie producer.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#589

Post by mcv »

ckastner wrote: post #496
cwkoss wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yikes. You should send his boss/ceo/investors a spite email telling the story about how he lost a worker who was working for 1/2 market rate by setting impossible deadlines.

> You should send his boss/ceo/investors a spite email That is a horrendously bad suggestion.

A spite email sounds like a bad idea, but this manager sounds very harmful to the company, and the boss/ceo/investors might want to be aware of that.

Re: Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

#590

Post by Xelbair »

d--b wrote: post #458
dav1app wrote: post #403

On my last job, a new manager called me for a meeting on Friday 4PM. I spent the whole month on an extremely stressful project. The meeting was about an app that integrates credit card payments, billets and bank account on a terminal that is going to be available to the general public. The deadline? 11PM of the same day. Final version. From 0 to 100% in 6 hours. I said that it was impossible. He said that I was incap…

Next time this happens to you, write down minutes of the meeting and send the doc to the guy asking to confirm that this is what they ask. When they fire you on Monday, sue.

This is actually a great advice.

I would also add that if it is legal for you to do so - send a BCC to your personal email just in case, or keep offline copy of correspondence.

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