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Mental health impacts of a big tech job

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Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#81

Post by trhway »

mathgladiator wrote: post #2

So, recently I achieved happiness because I just don't care about the job anymore. I didn't even do my performance self review, and I wrote a poem instead. I got a Meets-Most, and I've never been happier. I'm writing my final proposal as one final swing at the bat and the title is "XYZ or Bust" where either I get buy-in or I'm leaving. I've never felt better in my entire career. This is made possible because I'm old…

>I didn't even do my performance self review, and I wrote a poem instead. I got a Meets-Most

i don't even care to write anything. They aren't going to fire me - there is so much manure to shovel that somebody got to do it and after 30 years i do it very reliably (and i don't care whether i'm doing it here or at some other place, whereis our department has huge challenges hiring people in US). And i'm not promotable anyway.

>The key to not being on-call all the time is not answering the call unless you in rotation.

additional trick - to not go into rotation too, at least until it is really core nature of the business that you was aware about when coming onboard.

>enough assets that I can quit and retire

unfortunately not there yet. Yet it doesn't really matter much as long as there is a demand for tech labor.

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#83

Post by mbrodersen »

I always feel pity when I read accounts of people destroying their mental health and lives to the “glory” of a company. If you don’t look out for, and protect yourself, then there are plenty of people/corporations out there eager and willing to destroy you and suck every last bit of life out of you, leaving you broken and forgotten.

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#84

Post by throw123123123 »

mathgladiator wrote: post #2

So, recently I achieved happiness because I just don't care about the job anymore. I didn't even do my performance self review, and I wrote a poem instead. I got a Meets-Most, and I've never been happier. I'm writing my final proposal as one final swing at the bat and the title is "XYZ or Bust" where either I get buy-in or I'm leaving. I've never felt better in my entire career. This is made possible because I'm old…

That sounds like apathy to me. I think in this industry we have way more opportunities to find meaning to be content with zoning out 40 hours a week.

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#85

Post by mbrodersen »

murgindrag wrote: post #15

Quotes like this bug me: > If you find yourself in this type of situation, please do what’s best for you and get help if you are feeling stuck or overwhelmed. Get help the !@#$% where? There isn't a magic American "help" fairy who bails people out of trouble. These issues are complex, and therapists/counselors/psychologists suck up time and don't really address root causes.

Change job ASAP. Getting help while still being abused doesn’t help.

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#86

Post by ctvo »

> The manager of that team demanded I get the release out, and just ignored anything else I had to say. I pointed out that it took them a really long time to respond to my initial report of the issue and we may have been able to come up with something had they responded. The other team wasn’t buying it. From their perspective, the expectation had already been set, and it was up to us to get our job done no matter the cost.

The source of all your misery may have been your inept manager. Your manager's job is to insulate you from these situations when it escalates. Your job is to build a good enough relationship with your manager that they go to bat for you in ambiguous situations. If you can't build this relationship, leave the team immediately and find something else. Direct managers make or break your experience.

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#87

Post by [deleted] »

Cyph0n wrote: post #73
ggregoire wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the other curious: https://epicflightacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/maj... https://epicflightacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/car... It's way higher than what I expected.

I could be mistaken, but I recall reading that there are quite a few hoops to jump through before you can fly for the big boys. For example, you would typically start with shorter/less important routes on smaller airlines. Also, the pilot unions keep the good routes (and salaries) for the more senior pilots, so tenure plays a big part in how much you get paid.

[deleted]

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#88

Post by someelephant »

Another way to look at this is that this person was far too invested in their work and as a result had a negative experience. It's likely they would have similar anxiety issues in most workplaces. Easy to blame a toxic culture. Much harder to accept that your personality is part of the problem. And if this person could accept that, they'd hopefully realize that in caring so much about their work, they were damaging their own mental health.

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#89

Post by exBarrelSpoiler »

KingMachiavelli wrote: post #72

> The build server needed to be rebooted, but this was during the pandemic when no one was in the office. Furthermore, it was a Friday making it even more unlikely someone was around to do something as simple as press a button to reboot a machine. WTF? Why is a company like Apple using one off machines for release builds? That should all be on a VM and a server with a management interface. I made that mistake once an…

Apple is a very old and heterogeneous company that flies by the skin of its teeth and there are engineering and organizational practices that would make the most hardcore Mac Addict blanch.

Re: Mental health impacts of a big tech job

#90

Post by ctvo »

someelephant wrote: post #88

Another way to look at this is that this person was far too invested in their work and as a result had a negative experience. It's likely they would have similar anxiety issues in most workplaces. Easy to blame a toxic culture. Much harder to accept that your personality is part of the problem. And if this person could accept that, they'd hopefully realize that in caring so much about their work, they were damaging t…

> Easy to blame a toxic culture. Much harder to accept that your personality is part of the problem. And if this person could accept that, they'd hopefully realize that in caring so much about their work, they were damaging their own mental health.

A very continental take that's much easier to have when others in the organization share the same views. If the culture of the organization is you work late, you care a lot, you're constantly available otherwise you're not a team player and are at risk of being let go, it is unreasonable to say "just don't do it. stop caring". Both psychologically and financially unreasonable.

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