Karjera
The desired triple 8 rule — 8-hours sleep, 8-hours work, and 8-hours leisure.
_I don’t need to squeeze money out of you. I’ll have the rest of your life to take your money. It’s my long-term greedy strategy. Our slogan is, ‘We’d rather you stay than pay.'” — Phil Libin, former CEO of Evernote
“Mushroom management” is where employees aren’t told about the ideas or general state of the company, and are given work without knowing its purpose. So called because they are “kept in the dark and fed bullshit” https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mushroom_management
Atsakas į klausimą: Ar norint tureti programuotojo karjerą užtenka kolegijos?
Q: Sveiki, siuo metu as mokausi antrus metus universitete anglijoj, taciau kuo toliau tuo daugiau mane nuvilia sios studijos. Turbut daugiau nei puse atsiskaitymu sudaro 1-2 tukstanciu zodziu rasiniai remiantis ivairiais moksliniais darbais susijusiais su nagrinejama tema. Kitus atsiskaitymus, kurie reikalauja ka nors paciam sukurti arba optimizuoti, as sugebejau padaryti per savaitgali. Nemanau, kad viso pusmesio darbo ivertinimas turetu uztrukti tik pora dienu. Taip pat puse (kartais nes daugiau) praleisto laiko paskaitose sudaro teorija.
As pasirinkau studijuoti uzsienyje vien su ta mintimi, kad as baiges studijas norejau likti gyventi uzsienyje, taciau cia pagyvenes supratau, kad vis del as noreciau grizti i lietuva ir karejos siekti cia. Todel as svarstau nebesvaisysti cia pinigu ir nebelisti i dar giliasnias skolas ir tieiosg mesti studijas cia ir grizus i lietuva gauti issilavinima kolegijoje. Mano tevai tam gerokai priestarauja, kadangi mano, kad as baiges kolegija galesiu geriausiu atveju dirbti lietuvje. Kadangi as vistiek manau sieksiu karjeros lietuvoje, jei kolegijos uztenka gauti darba, manau didelio skritumo nebus.
Taigi, ko as noreciau paklausi - ar siekiant programuotojo kajeros lietuvoje uztenka issilavinimo kolegijoje ir ar tai man pasunkintu gauti pirmaji darba. Ir jeigu kadanors as vel pakeisciau nuomone ir noreciau dirbti uzsienyje, ar turint kolegijos issilavinima ir poros metu praktika lietuvoje man pakistu koja gaunant programuotojo darba uzsienyje.
Labai dejoku kas duotumet per kokiu patarimu arba pasidalintumete asmenine patirtimi.
A: Jeigu kolegijoje mokysiesi tik tiek, jog tik atsiskaityti tam kartui, tik palei programą - pabaigęs realiai nebūsi pasiruošęs darbui ir įsidarbinti programuotoju geriausiu atveju galėsi nebent ant fux'o radęs kompaniją, kuri noriai priima žalius ir yra pasiruošę juos apsimokyti. Tai čia tikėtina būtų kokia nedidelė firmukė, pvz kepanti svetaines ant Wordpress'o. Šitas variantas reiškia, jog gausi ne baisiai už minimumą didesnę algą arba jog teks išties rimtai pradėti mokytis.
Jeigu domėsiesi, darbuosiesi, mokysies ir programuosi papildomai, laisvu laiku, tai tokiu atveju kolegijos net ir nelabai ir reikia, jei tik sugebi išlaikyti discipliną ir be jos. Darbdaviams nelabai rūpės, net jei ir būtum baigęs puikiai žinomą universitetą. Jiems reikia žmonių, kurie supranta ką daro ir moka spręsti iškilusias problemas greitai ir kokybiškai. Per darbo pokalbius žiūrima su kokiomis technologijomis dirbi, kiek praktikos su jomis turi ir kiek gerai iš tiesų supranti apie tai, ką prisirašęs į CV.
Užsienyje įsidarbinti problemų nebus, jei iš tiesų būsi kažkurios srities specialistas. Turiu omenyje ne įrašą ant popieriaus, o realius sugebėjimus. Jeigu mokėsi suadministruoti tinklus, kurti backend sistemas, karpyti dizainus ant JS framework'ų, programuoti apps'us ir pan, priklausomai nuo to, kurią kryptį būsi pasirinkęs.
Q: Mokytis stengiuosi tikrai daugiau negu tik palei programa ir daznai laisvalaikiu programuoju. Man svarbiausia suzinot ar as nepadaryciau klaidos atsisakes universiteto diplomo ir vietoj to baiges kolegija. Ar gali buti tokiu atveju, kad manes darbdavys net nepakviestu darbo pokalbiui vien del to, kad turiu kolegijos diploma ir ar tai nesutrugdytu gauti aukstesnios pozicijos darbo po keletos metu praktikos, ar man visada teks paprastesni darbai?
A: Jeigu nepatinka studijos, nesijaučia jog jos tau būtų naudingos, kad tobulėji, tai tada tikrai verta būtų pagalvoti apie jų nutraukimą. Manau tokioj situacijoj reikėtų žiūrėti ne iš tos pusės, kad 'na bet gaila sugaišto laiko', o iš tos pusės, jog sutaupysi ir nebešvaistysi dar papildomų kelių metų.
Ko gero pas tave yra tas tėvų įkaltas įsivaizdavimas, koks yra svarbus diplomas. Ir taip, jei norėtum ten kokiu advokatu ar gydytoju būti, tai be jo niekaip. Tuo tarpu programavime? Viskas šitoje srityje susiveda į skills'us. Mūsų tėvai augo amžiuje, kuriame diplomas reiškė stabilumą, patogią, vidutinę darbo vietą. Dabar toli gražu ne taip ir nieko tas diplomas negarantuoja išvis. Didelė dalis dirbančiųjų, net ir nedirba pagal savo įgytą specialybę. Mano kolegos programuotojai varijuoja nuo buvusių barmenų ar filologų iki vadybos ar istorijos studentų. Programavimo patirtis, kaip ko gero žinai, skirstoma į junior, middle, senior, teamlead. Ir gali būti kad ir kokį Harward'ą pabaigęs ar išvis be diplomo būti, visvien nepriklausomai to, dirbti visgi pradėsi nuo junior pozicijos iš kurios pakilsi per 2-3 metus.
Nieko aš prieš jį neturiu, nemaišys aišku jeigu jį visgi nuspręstum gauti. Studijuojant visvien išmoksi dalykų, nuo disciplinos, deadline'ų laikymosi, koloboracijos iki mokėjimo atrinkti, konspektuotis informaciją kas yra labai naudingi įgūdžiai. Pasirinkai universitetą, tad nieko nuostabaus, kad didžioji dalis laiko skiriama teorijai ir rašto darbams. Toks univerų principas mokymo ir yra. Na bet anyway akademinėje aplinkoje įprastai daugiau dėmesio skiriama algoritmų struktūroms, optimizavimui, saugumui ir t.t. ką žinoti tikrai naudinga, tačiau tas gerąsias praktiškas gali išmokti ir savarankiškai su laiku.
Tiesiog sakau, kad turi įsivertinti ar gauni iš studijų pakankamai. Jei sakai jog ne, neturi jokio drive'o ir dabar tiesiog kankiniesi vien tam, kad vėliau geresnį darbą atsirakinti galėtum, tai tada nesikankink. Žiūrint iš finansų pusės, tai protingiausia ko gero būtų pabandyti susirasti darbą jau dabar, bet toje pačioje Anglijoje. Jeigu visgi gyventi ten tikrai nebenori, tai turėk omenyje, kad grįžus savo pirmuosius porą metų dirbsi už ~800€. Čia gali pasižiūrėti realią Lietuvoje esančios programuotojų rinkos situaciją: https://docs.google....qVD0#slide=id.p
Taipogi Lietuvoje studijų kokybė tikrai nedžiugina ir finale ko gero liksi nusivylęs taipogi. Po dabartinių studijų univere tikriausiai atrodys, jog LT kolegijoje yra tiesiog per lengva, nuobodu, tad nemanau, kad tau net ir ji būtų reikalinga. Su sąlyga, žinoma, kad jau dabar kažką moki, na bet sakai programuoji. Tai GitHub'o linkas su keliais tavo projektėliais įdėtas į CV atrakins daugiau darbo pokalbių, jei jie bus geri, nei bet kuris diplomas.
Na kolegijos pliusas bent tas, jog ten tikrai daug daugiau fokuso į praktiką, bei taipogi pamatysi jog turi nemažai laisvo laiko, tad galėsi ir studijuoti ir dirbti. Toks variantas galbūt tau būtų optimaliausias, nes rezultate turėsi ir oficialų savo žinių patvirtinimą "dėl tėvų" ir dvasios ramybės, jei jau taip reikia, tiek ir realios darbinės patirties, kuri ir bus tavo raktas į geresnius darbus. Na tik žinoma turėsi atlaikyti gan smarkų tėvų spaudimą.
Standup meetings
I eventually came to like standup meetings, but with one caveat: no management (including project management) is allowed to attend. Otherwise it becomes a status meeting rather than a "How can we get past our current blockers" meeting. Management glazes over all the technical talk -- the very thing that we need to speak about if we are to need a meeting at all. What a standup is good for is casually checking with your teammates that the approach you are taking is reasonable and to discuss other strategies. It's useful for asking for help, swapping pairs (or getting one in the first place). If you find yourself doing the "This is what I did yesterday. This is what I'm going to do today" dance, then you are not getting much value. It should be blindingly obvious what you did yesterday, because code was written, reviewed and hopefully merged. Possibly you may want to say, "Hey, can you review my code?" It should be blindingly obvious what you are going to do today, because you grabbed a card/task from the backlog. The only thing you need to talk about is, "I'm confused. How do I do this?" and the like.
Maker's schedule, manager's schedule
One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they're on a different type of schedule from other people. Meetings cost them more.
There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour.
When you use time that way, it's merely a practical problem to meet with someone. Find an open slot in your schedule, book them, and you're done.
Most powerful people are on the manager's schedule. It's the schedule of command. But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started.
When you're operating on the maker's schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in. Plus you have to remember to go to the meeting. That's no problem for someone on the manager's schedule. There's always something coming on the next hour; the only question is what. But when someone on the maker's schedule has a meeting, they have to think about it.
For someone on the maker's schedule, having a meeting is like throwing an exception. It doesn't merely cause you to switch from one task to another; it changes the mode in which you work.
I find one meeting can sometimes affect a whole day. A meeting commonly blows at least half a day, by breaking up a morning or afternoon. But in addition there's sometimes a cascading effect. If I know the afternoon is going to be broken up, I'm slightly less likely to start something ambitious in the morning. I know this may sound oversensitive, but if you're a maker, think of your own case. Don't your spirits rise at the thought of having an entire day free to work, with no appointments at all? Well, that means your spirits are correspondingly depressed when you don't. And ambitious projects are by definition close to the limits of your capacity. A small decrease in morale is enough to kill them off.
Each type of schedule works fine by itself. Problems arise when they meet. Since most powerful people operate on the manager's schedule, they're in a position to make everyone resonate at their frequency if they want to. But the smarter ones restrain themselves, if they know that some of the people working for them need long chunks of time to work in.
http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
Atsakas į klausimą: Ar norint tureti programuotojo karjerą užtenka kolegijos?
Q: ****Sveiki, siuo metu as mokausi antrus metus universitete anglijoj, taciau kuo toliau tuo daugiau mane nuvilia sios studijos. Turbut daugiau nei puse atsiskaitymu sudaro 1-2 tukstanciu zodziu rasiniai remiantis ivairiais moksliniais darbais susijusiais su nagrinejama tema. Kitus atsiskaitymus, kurie reikalauja ka nors paciam sukurti arba optimizuoti, as sugebejau padaryti per savaitgali. Nemanau, kad viso pusmesio darbo ivertinimas turetu uztrukti tik pora dienu. Taip pat puse (kartais nes daugiau) praleisto laiko paskaitose sudaro teorija.
As pasirinkau studijuoti uzsienyje vien su ta mintimi, kad as baiges studijas norejau likti gyventi uzsienyje, taciau cia pagyvenes supratau, kad vis del as noreciau grizti i lietuva ir karejos siekti cia. Todel as svarstau nebesvaisysti cia pinigu ir nebelisti i dar giliasnias skolas ir tieiosg mesti studijas cia ir grizus i lietuva gauti issilavinima kolegijoje. Mano tevai tam gerokai priestarauja, kadangi mano, kad as baiges kolegija galesiu geriausiu atveju dirbti lietuvje. Kadangi as vistiek manau sieksiu karjeros lietuvoje, jei kolegijos uztenka gauti darba, manau didelio skritumo nebus.
Taigi, ko as noreciau paklausi - ar siekiant programuotojo kajeros lietuvoje uztenka issilavinimo kolegijoje ir ar tai man pasunkintu gauti pirmaji darba. Ir jeigu kadanors as vel pakeisciau nuomone ir noreciau dirbti uzsienyje, ar turint kolegijos issilavinima ir poros metu praktika lietuvoje man pakistu koja gaunant programuotojo darba uzsienyje.
Labai dejoku kas duotumet per kokiu patarimu arba pasidalintumete asmenine patirtimi.
A: ****Jeigu kolegijoje mokysiesi tik tiek, jog tik atsiskaityti tam kartui, tik palei programą - pabaigęs realiai nebūsi pasiruošęs darbui ir įsidarbinti programuotoju geriausiu atveju galėsi nebent ant fux'o radęs kompaniją, kuri noriai priima žalius ir yra pasiruošę juos apsimokyti. Tai čia tikėtina būtų kokia nedidelė firmukė, pvz kepanti svetaines ant Wordpress'o. Šitas variantas reiškia, jog gausi ne baisiai už minimumą didesnę algą arba jog teks išties rimtai pradėti mokytis.
Jeigu domėsiesi, darbuosiesi, mokysies ir programuosi papildomai, laisvu laiku, tai tokiu atveju kolegijos net ir nelabai ir reikia, jei tik sugebi išlaikyti discipliną ir be jos. Darbdaviams nelabai rūpės, net jei ir būtum baigęs puikiai žinomą universitetą. Jiems reikia žmonių, kurie supranta ką daro ir moka spręsti iškilusias problemas greitai ir kokybiškai. Per darbo pokalbius žiūrima su kokiomis technologijomis dirbi, kiek praktikos su jomis turi ir kiek gerai iš tiesų supranti apie tai, ką prisirašęs į CV.
Užsienyje įsidarbinti problemų nebus, jei iš tiesų būsi kažkurios srities specialistas. Turiu omenyje ne įrašą ant popieriaus, o realius sugebėjimus. Jeigu mokėsi suadministruoti tinklus, kurti backend sistemas, karpyti dizainus ant JS framework'ų, programuoti apps'us ir pan, priklausomai nuo to, kurią kryptį būsi pasirinkęs.
Q: ****Mokytis stengiuosi tikrai daugiau negu tik palei programa ir daznai laisvalaikiu programuoju. Man svarbiausia suzinot ar as nepadaryciau klaidos atsisakes universiteto diplomo ir vietoj to baiges kolegija. Ar gali buti tokiu atveju, kad manes darbdavys net nepakviestu darbo pokalbiui vien del to, kad turiu kolegijos diploma ir ar tai nesutrugdytu gauti aukstesnios pozicijos darbo po keletos metu praktikos, ar man visada teks paprastesni darbai?
A: ****Jeigu nepatinka studijos, nesijaučia jog jos tau būtų naudingos, kad tobulėji, tai tada tikrai verta būtų pagalvoti apie jų nutraukimą. Manau tokioj situacijoj reikėtų žiūrėti ne iš tos pusės, kad 'na bet gaila sugaišto laiko', o iš tos pusės, jog sutaupysi ir nebešvaistysi dar papildomų kelių metų. Ko gero pas tave yra tas tėvų įkaltas įsivaizdavimas, koks yra svarbus diplomas. Ir taip, jei norėtum ten kokiu advokatu ar gydytoju būti, tai be jo niekaip. Tuo tarpu programavime? Viskas šitoje srityje susiveda į skills'us. Mūsų tėvai augo amžiuje, kuriame diplomas reiškė stabilumą, patogią, vidutinę darbo vietą. Dabar toli gražu ne taip ir nieko tas diplomas negarantuoja išvis. Didelė dalis dirbančiųjų, net ir nedirba pagal savo įgytą specialybę. Mano kolegos programuotojai varijuoja nuo buvusių barmenų ar filologų iki vadybos ar istorijos studentų. Programavimo patirtis, kaip ko gero žinai, skirstoma į junior, middle, senior, teamlead. Ir gali būti kad ir kokį Harward'ą pabaigęs ar išvis be diplomo būti, visvien nepriklausomai to, dirbti visgi pradėsi nuo junior pozicijos iš kurios pakilsi per 2-3 metus. Nieko aš prieš jį neturiu, nemaišys aišku jeigu jį visgi nuspręstum gauti. Studijuojant visvien išmoksi dalykų, nuo disciplinos, deadline'ų laikymosi, koloboracijos iki mokėjimo atrinkti, konspektuotis informaciją kas yra labai naudingi įgūdžiai. Pasirinkai universitetą, tad nieko nuostabaus, kad didžioji dalis laiko skiriama teorijai ir rašto darbams. Toks univerų principas mokymo ir yra. Na bet anyway akademinėje aplinkoje įprastai daugiau dėmesio skiriama algoritmų struktūroms, optimizavimui, saugumui ir t.t. ką žinoti tikrai naudinga, tačiau tas gerąsias praktiškas gali išmokti ir savarankiškai su laiku. Tiesiog sakau, kad turi įsivertinti ar gauni iš studijų pakankamai. Jei sakai jog ne, neturi jokio drive'o ir dabar tiesiog kankiniesi vien tam, kad vėliau geresnį darbą atsirakinti galėtum, tai tada nesikankink. Žiūrint iš finansų pusės, tai protingiausia ko gero būtų pabandyti susirasti darbą jau dabar, bet toje pačioje Anglijoje. Jeigu visgi gyventi ten tikrai nebenori, tai turėk omenyje, kad grįžus savo pirmuosius porą metų dirbsi už ~800€. Čia gali pasižiūrėti realią Lietuvoje esančios programuotojų rinkos situaciją: https://docs.google....qVD0#slide=id.p Taipogi Lietuvoje studijų kokybė tikrai nedžiugina ir finale ko gero liksi nusivylęs taipogi. Po dabartinių studijų univere tikriausiai atrodys, jog LT kolegijoje yra tiesiog per lengva, nuobodu, tad nemanau, kad tau net ir ji būtų reikalinga. Su sąlyga, žinoma, kad jau dabar kažką moki, na bet sakai programuoji. Tai GitHub'o linkas su keliais tavo projektėliais įdėtas į CV atrakins daugiau darbo pokalbių, jei jie bus geri, nei bet kuris diplomas. Na kolegijos pliusas bent tas, jog ten tikrai daug daugiau fokuso į praktiką, bei taipogi pamatysi jog turi nemažai laisvo laiko, tad galėsi ir studijuoti ir dirbti. Toks variantas galbūt tau būtų optimaliausias, nes rezultate turėsi ir oficialų savo žinių patvirtinimą "dėl tėvų" ir dvasios ramybės, jei jau taip reikia, tiek ir realios darbinės patirties, kuri ir bus tavo raktas į geresnius darbus. Na tik žinoma turėsi atlaikyti gan smarkų tėvų spaudimą.
“What is your previous salary?” is employer-speak for “Please give me reasons to pay you less money.”
Peter Drucker came up with the terms Profit Center and Cost Center. Profit Centers are the part of an organization that bring in the bacon: partners at law firms, sales at enterprise software companies, “masters of the universe” on Wall Street, etc etc. Cost Centers are, well, everybody else. Engineers in particular are usually very highly paid Cost Centers. This is what brings us wonderful ideas like outsourcing. Nobody ever outsources Profit Centers. You really want to be attached to Profit Centers because it will bring you higher wages, more respect, and greater opportunities for everything of value to you. If you want to work there, work for that. If you can’t, either a) work elsewhere or b) engineer your transfer after joining the company.
Producing beautiful software is not a goal. Solving complex technical problems is not a goal. Writing bug-free code is not a goal. Using sexy programming languages is not a goal. Remember you’re selling the solution to a business need - raise revenue or decrease costs, rather than programming skill or your beautiful face. Those are your only goals. Don't call yourself a programmer, instead describe yourself by what you have accomplished for previously employers vis-a-vis increasing revenues or reducing costs. If you have not had the opportunity to do this yet, describe things which suggest you have the ability to increase revenue or reduce costs, or ideas to do so. The dominant quality which gets you jobs is the ability to give people the perception that you will create value. This is not necessarily coextensive with ability to create value.
People who are skilled in negotiation make more than those who are not. Negotiate aggressively with appropriate confidence, like the ethical professional you are.
You radically overestimate the average skill of the competition because of the crowd you hang around with.
Most jobs are never available publicly, just like most worthwhile candidates are not available publicly. Information about the position travels at approximately the speed of beer, sometimes lubricated by email.
There are other benefits like “free soda”, “catered lunches”, “free programming books”, etc. These are social signals more than anything else. When I say that I’m going to buy you soda, that says a specific thing about how I run my workplace, who I expect to work for me, and how I expect to treat them. (It says “I like to move the behavior of unsophisticated young engineers by making this job seem fun by buying 20 cent cans of soda, saving myself tens of thousands in compensation while simultaneously encouraging them to ruin their health.”
Your true calling lies at the intersection of what you’re good at, what you love to do, what you people will pay you for, and what society needs (James Altucher).
Early in your career, say "yes" to every opportunity. Later on, once you have some success, use the framework: if it's not a “HELL YEAH!” it's a “no.”
Apply specific knowledge, with leverage, and eventually you will get what you deserve. You basically get rewarded by society for giving it what it wants.
Don't try to remember stuff. Brain is bad at remembering but it's rather good at processing.
The biggest division in work may be between jobs that involve making new stuff (science, engineering) and those that don't (administration, sales), and you'll be a lot happier if you end up on the side you're suited for.
In the modern world, you want to earn money through knowledge and leverage, not by selling your time. “Nine to five is just modern slavery…it’s wage slavery”
Recently, I was asked if I was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. No, I replied, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?
Would I ever leave this company? Look, I'm all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I'm being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I'm going wherever they value loyalty the most. - Dwight Schrute
Building multiple income streams decentralizes your finances and is “the single most important thing you can do”. Start with cash-earning assets, not time-consuming side hustles. Financial freedom starts by covering your expenses with revenue streams that don’t require your time.
“What is your previous salary?” is employer-speak for “Please give me reasons to pay you less money.”
Peter Drucker came up with the terms Profit Center and Cost Center. Profit Centers are the part of an organization that bring in the bacon: partners at law firms, sales at enterprise software companies, “masters of the universe” on Wall Street, etc etc. Cost Centers are, well, everybody else. Engineers in particular are usually very highly paid Cost Centers. This is what brings us wonderful ideas like outsourcing. Nobody ever outsources Profit Centers. You really want to be attached to Profit Centers because it will bring you higher wages, more respect, and greater opportunities for everything of value to you. If you want to work there, work for that. If you can’t, either a) work elsewhere or b) engineer your transfer after joining the company.
Producing beautiful software is not a goal. Solving complex technical problems is not a goal. Writing bug-free code is not a goal. Using sexy programming languages is not a goal. Remember you’re selling the solution to a business need - raise revenue or decrease costs, rather than programming skill or your beautiful face. Those are your only goals. Don't call yourself a programmer, instead describe yourself by what you have accomplished for previously employers vis-a-vis increasing revenues or reducing costs. If you have not had the opportunity to do this yet, describe things which suggest you have the ability to increase revenue or reduce costs, or ideas to do so. The dominant quality which gets you jobs is the ability to give people the perception that you will create value. This is not necessarily coextensive with ability to create value.
People who are skilled in negotiation make more than those who are not. Negotiate aggressively with appropriate confidence, like the ethical professional you are.
You radically overestimate the average skill of the competition because of the crowd you hang around with.
Most jobs are never available publicly, just like most worthwhile candidates are not available publicly. Information about the position travels at approximately the speed of beer, sometimes lubricated by email.
There are other benefits like “free soda”, “catered lunches”, “free programming books”, etc. These are social signals more than anything else. When I say that I’m going to buy you soda, that says a specific thing about how I run my workplace, who I expect to work for me, and how I expect to treat them. (It says “I like to move the behavior of unsophisticated young engineers by making this job seem fun by buying 20 cent cans of soda, saving myself tens of thousands in compensation while simultaneously encouraging them to ruin their health.”
We mutually agree that, considering any particular employee, it is in that employee's personal interest to stop selling hours of labor and start renting access to his accumulated capital as soon as humanly possible.
Once I came to the conclusion that I'd probably quit, and therefore discounted the till-your-death-do-us-part slow accumulation of firm-specific capital, I realized something which is fundamentally true of a lot of day jobs. Nothing I did at the job mattered, in the long run.
Sure, in the short run, I was writing XML files and Java classes which, knock on wood, successfully let my employers ship an examination management system to their client (a major university). I was a really effective Turing machine which accepted emails and tickets as input and delivered (occasionally) working code and Excel files as output. But no matter how much I spun, nothing about my situation ever changed. I worked my week, got to the end of it, and had nothing to show. The next week there would be more emails and more tickets, exactly like the week before. The week after that would be more of the same. And absolutely nothing about my life would change. I'd end the week with nothing.
Don't end the week with nothing. Prefer to work on things you can show. Prefer to work where people can see you. Prefer to work on things you can own.
If at all possible, publish what you write. Even if it is published to an audience of no one, you will be able to point people back to it later.
Consumption Is Sometimes Valuable, But Creation Moves You Forward
Work from home
The company "needs to earn the commute" - and explained that if the office is just another place where the desk stands in a room it's not worth it for the employees to spend time to get there.
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Getting to the set of regular, forced interactions necessarily consumes the limited time those people would have to pursue those social activities outside the home. That is, it's hard to have a strong social life when you commute, at best, 5 hours a week. And that's if you're lucky. All of this benefits corporations. Especially, insidiously, the notion that your job can and should double as your social life. What concerns me, today, is that that we're in this middle stage where things could tip either way. For this reason, I think it's important for us to bang the drum loudly that we won't spend 40-50 hours in the office. Hybrid is a sufficient compromise.
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I hate the attitude that I am good enough to be employed but clearly not mature enough to be able to work without being monitored. My hope moving forward is that working from home won't be seen as something "special" the few are "rewarded" with for a day or two a month but that it is a choice for each person without prejudice. For those that want/need an office fine let them go in. But for those of us who function better working from home we can do that. It doesn't have to be a binary option for companies moving forward of "our company is only work from home" but instead a mixture. If I had a really nice detached home with a wife & children then working from home permanently would be the dream. I don't. I live in a flat and live by myself. The only physical people I talk to are cashiers or delivery drivers. This permanent WFH is already making me feel separated and even lonelier than normal.
I think the likely outcome is going to simply be more mix of remote and onsite in the future. Any company that makes it through this is going to realize remote works fine. I'm sure there will be some companies that will still insist onsite-only, and they'll lose a bunch of employees who just realized they prefer remote.
Salary
People are under the illusion they are paid for the work they do. They are not and never have been. They have always been paid what someone is willing to pay them for the work they do. It's subtle but important distinction. Salary is a function of demand and supply like any other price on an open market. This is why its important to not think in terms of work when negotiating a salary. Instead you need to think in terms of cost to find someone to take your place. If that cost is more than your salary, you can ask for more. “Willing” is the wrong word. People are paid based on what the company can get away with paying them, as long as it’s less than the amount that they are “willing” to pay (then they don’t get hired). This is obvious when considering the “go get a competing offer and show it to your current employer who will match” strategy.
Trick yourself into productivity the same way you trick yourself into procrastination
The last two weeks I made it a goal to run 5km every morning. A few times, particularly today, I felt lazy and run down, but I got out of bed anyway and told myself that I'll at least walk. The next thing I know I'm running and feeling amazing and on to set one of my better times.
The point: When you tell yourself "just one more game" or "just one more post", or "just one more video" and end up doing 3-5 hours more, do that with your other tasks too! "just one line of code", "just one tutorial", "just one rep", "just one line of reading/writing".
We all have this amazing mental tool that we've been honing for years, the tool of self deception. Time to use it for good and not evil.
This is the concept of the minimum viable action. Basically, we often procrastinate because we build up fears and friction related to our perception of the difficulty of an activity. All we have to do is commit to the smallest possible action ie) instead of writing a bunch of pages, start by committing to writing a single line, hell even a few words on a sheet every day. As we do this it becomes easier, and we naturally want to write more, run more, eat less .. What ever that is.
A lot of habit forming research says to start with 2-3 minute goals while working on forming the habit. Similar concept, I’d say! I found it very effective while cultivating a daily meditation practice.
Harsh Truths About Corporate Life
The more efficient you are at your work, the more you will be burdened with it.
Nobody cares about your individual progress in the corporate world. All that matters is what you contribute to the company.
There will come a time when you will take up a job just for the money and nothing else.
Desk jobs kill creativity.
Very often, you will be held accountable for tasks that weren’t even your responsibility in the first place.
You will be dealing with a dozen tasks other than what you were initially hired for. Your scope of work will only keep increasing.
You will be constantly made to believe you need the company more than it needs you, and that, is not always true.
Meetings are a waste of time. Always. Nothing good has ever come out of them, really. Most people aren’t listening, and the ones talking are far away from reality.
If you’re sluggish, you’ll be ridiculed by your boss. If you’re proactive, you’ll be hated by your colleagues.
Your needs as an employee would go completely ignored, sometimes. You won’t get what you really deserve until you raise your voice and put your foot down.
You will be made to work with uninspired people and it will be the most difficult task ever. Your team-mates would neither be of any help, nor would they make it possible for you take everything in your own hands, and it will kill your passion.
People around will constantly pull you down with their cynicism solely because they hate your guts.
Nobody is going to appreciate you staying in extra hours every single day but the one time you leave a little early, hell will break lose.
Whichever new initiatives you volunteer for, become your responsibility.
The HR Department is useless, wherever you go.
Office politics is definitely not a myth.
But meritocracy is. There will be times when undeserving people will get credit for the work you do, simply because they are higher up on the corporate ladder.
Half of your time will be spent in sending out unnecessary mails that will never even be read to countless people who want to feel important, before you can actually start working. And more often than not, you will end up doing everything yourself.
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