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You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

theregister.co.uk

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Re: You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

#71

Post by pja »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #68
pja wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair to the author of the original article, he suggests buying a round at the pub, which isn't quite on the same scale as buying dinner out for everyone. In the UK that would only be appropriate if you were the manager of the team in question & you had reached a significant milestone in development IMO. Reciprocal buying of rounds on the other hand is standard issue UK social lubricant. Using "We shipped, yay!"…

Exactly , but if your working in a large non IT business you have the problem of getting people who are not in the IT dept to show up at the pub. Especially the movers and shakers.

There's a social dance going on here: You mention drinks to the appropriate people, knowing that some of them won't come but they'll remember the invitation positively.

Re: You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

#72

Post by jiggy2011 »

EliRivers wrote: post #19
csomar wrote: post #17

They key here is that you’re making a difference when it hits the fan, that’s not someone they want to lose. The crap getting paid too much is the author of this article. Your job as software developer (or any other field) is to do your job the best you can. You are offered the salary before you start the work and you agreed on it. The market will define how much valuable you are to the business. You can see that in…

Actually, for what I do, they are paying me too much. They'd know if they were able to monitor what I do all day.

What do you do all day?

Re: You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

#74

Post by billybob »

I'm not huge on the cynicism, but there are solid points here that I wanted to remember. Here's my less-cynical spin in a motivational-speaker style condensation: Show, Celebrate, Support.

Show: make sure the awesome stuff you do is visible to people, and prioritize stuff that will be visible.

Celebrate: do something visible to celebrate your successes and your team's. It makes people feel good and reinforces a sense of progress and success. Buy a round at the pub, bring in a cake, whatever.

Support: publicly support and thank others: other devs, business people, etc. Find nice things to say.

All of these really fall under "be nice and encourage people", and may have the side benefit of getting you paid more.

That's not too hard to swallow, is it?

Re: You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

#76

Post by ttt_ »

I hope this is some kind of joke that I just didn't get, but otherwise:

This is just a guide for you to be hipocritical and a complete jackass to your coworkers while throwing out any values you have out the window. That's the kind of atitude that ruins the workplace for everyone, congrats on getting more money and also an even shittier job than before.

I know plenty of people that are willing to act like this in order to get more money and they have no respect from me. Grow up and start trying to make yours and everyone else's life better not shittier. Please.

I rather take my work seriously, constructively criticize bullshit company police, and make less money if that's what it takes. At least I won't regret being myself.

Re: You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

#78

Post by tatsuke95 »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #67
jrockway wrote: post #20

This is sarcasm, right? All of these things are clear warnings that it's time to flee that company for your life. You get paid what you get paid because someone else is willing to pay you more. The market is competitive and you're being hired by your peers, who recognize the value of "making the backup 50% faster". If you wear a tie and are trying to become a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, then yes, you need to…

No, it is not. This is the reason big conglomerates should be split with an axe and left to the vultures. They are super inefficient because they have incompetents in place that can't measure the real value created by their workers but also because as a company grows bigger and bigger you forget who is your customer and start playing the Soviet Russia central planning trick of "looking like you work is more important…

Big companies are incredibly efficient at generating wealth. Look around you.

>They then use tricks and more tricks to hide the reality(GM or Enron) so the party continues one more day.

You cherry pick two large companies, only one of which can actually be considered a failure (if you think GM has been a failure, I don't know what to tell you). You don't think fraud goes on on a massive scale at the small business level? And what about the other 498 companies in the fortune 500?

Re: You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

#79

Post by krschultz »

skrebbel wrote: post #59
marvin wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. I didn't realize there is actually peer pressure in IT companies not to use knowledge of social relationships and human nature for your own benefit. In my opinion, the general unwillingness of computer workers to stand up for their own rights and interests is keeping our entire profession back from getting the money and respect it deserves. If we actively sabotage efforts of people who are trying to improve thin…

Serious question: how is sucking up to your bosses by giving them treats "trying to improve things"? Note, not trying to be cynical here. Maybe I'm so ingrained with this culture you describe that I can't see your point.

When you phrase it that way, of course it sounds useless.

Have you ever gone out to a bar and bought a round of drinks for your friends? Yes, that's like $90 a round for 10 people in a New York bar. But I bet you got a drink back from every one of those people some day (and if you didn't, they're not great friends or you make a lot more money than them).

It's kind of the same principle here. It doesn't have to be a steak dinner for 20 people - I know I can't afford that. But if you go out for wings and beer, buy around of beers. If you don't want to do that, go to the local bakery and bring in two dozen bagels and cream cheese. The point isn't how much you spend to be impress everyone, the point is to do something other than just show up and mooch.

Re: You're crap and paid too much for the little work you actually do

#80

Post by spqr »

ttt_ wrote: post #76

I hope this is some kind of joke that I just didn't get, but otherwise: This is just a guide for you to be hipocritical and a complete jackass to your coworkers while throwing out any values you have out the window. That's the kind of atitude that ruins the workplace for everyone, congrats on getting more money and also an even shittier job than before. I know plenty of people that are willing to act like this in ord…

Get over yourself. I've been in IT for 20 years and have met so many other IT people that think they know best and love spouting off on things they don't begin to comprehend. You sound like one of them. What precisely do you object to in this article? Was it the "smile more"?

I love my job, pride myself on being able to work with anyone in the workplace, have made decades long friendships from work and last year made over $230k. Can you say the same? The author of the post comes across a little strongly but he seems to understand some rudimentary principles of getting ahead. No need to compromise on principles in the process.

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