this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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Been a software developer for 15 years. I've applied for hundreds of positions this summer and all of them either never call me back or say they are interested in other candidates. I actually fucked up two coding tests this week and I dunno anymore. I'm just so disappointed and money is starting to get tight, and I have a surprise medical bill for a biologic. I'm thinking when I can't afford rent, I'll just kill myself.
What's worse is I did have a job for two months but I fucked it up and botched a production instance. They let me go a couple weeks later, I wasn't a good fit. I wanted to die then, and the sensation hasn't gone away either. I lie about it because saying you are suicidal is a great way to be rubber roomed.
Some days posting on 196 isn't even worth it.
Hey friend, I'm sorry that you've fucked up a bunch lately. I know the feeling. Just know that you are really valuable to your family and friends, and they'd be extremely hurt if you did do something like that.
Everyone is feeling so stretched right now, and you are not alone. But we will get through this, and things will get easier down the road.
I know it sounds stupid, but money is just.. money. Yes we need it to survive in this day, but your life is worth so much more than a bit of cash or debt.. and it sounds like you're a smart person. So just know that those mistakes are a part of your journey, and a part of moulding you into the person you will be in a few years.
New guy botching a production instance, for a developer…isn’t your problem.
Sorry but that’s on them. You shouldn’t be able to deploy bad code to prod. Whoever approved the MR fucked up and you caught the blame. You’re better off without them.
Infra guys like me (networking) yeah, sure, because our test environment happens to also be our prod environment.
It gets better, King
Coding tests are the fucking worst.
Almost never representative of the actual work and usually far more restrictive than the actual work too. (In that you can't search, might be watched, etc)
I agree. It pains me that I have to ask them. The ones my company does are very restrictive and high pressure. I personally try to choose reasonable problems with realistic scenarios (especially when interviewing entry level folks). I also have lots of follow up questions that I like to think are well grounded on realism.
I personally give a complete pass for stuff like standard library functions and will outright tell the candidate about an available function if they're unsure what it's called or how its used. I'm testing problem solving and an understanding of language , fundamentals not their ability to memorize a standard library. I mean, heck, I can't begin to count how many times I've had to google "[language] sort list".
Honestly, it sucks to have to watch a candidate struggle. It's awkward and not fun. I want to see the candidate do well. And heck, if they can't do well, I want them to at least be able to make progress, because I know it would feel bad to feel like you bombed the interview. Sadly, the environment of tech interviews isn't conductive to that. They're stressful and sometimes perfectly qualified candidates do poorly simply because of nerves.
I feel like for software, the big barrier is getting past HR/recruiters. Once you get to talk to someone technical, it's a lot easier. But hell if I know how the heck the non technical staff decides how to progress people.
I've done tech interviews. They're leetcode, which isn't great, but at least it's fair. There's no magic words there. I just want to know if you can reasonably approach a problem (and I don't pick anything I couldn't get hired on), can show problem solving skills, and show an understanding of algorithms and data structures. You don't even need to solve the problem if you can come close and your thinking out loud shows good skills. And most definitely don't need to be an optimal solution (though it helps).
But getting to the tech screen, I don't even know. I've made internal referrals that never even get assigned to anyone, despite a glowing referral. Maybe it's just super competitive. Maybe there's a scarcity of low level positions (though I know many teams that are top heavy and only need low level positions). I really know nothing about what it takes to get to the tech screen level. But once you're there, I really do think it's a lot more reasonable (not at all perfect, but better).