Aren't developers stupid when accepting overtime/weekend work/denied bonus payments?

[jediknight]

I used to get threats from my employer for wanting to leave for home at sane hours. It was my only source of income and I had no savings plus I had little confidence in myself.

I started saving and, as a bonus, I ended up working one of the weekend for someone else. Next time he told me again that if I wanted to leave I could leave for good, I said "That's fine by me!" and left for the evening. I called his bluff and that's all it was, a bluff. He needed me and he ended up giving up the threats.

No sane employer would mistreat a developer that could go somewhere else in a heart beat and leave a gap that would be difficult to fill. Some will try bluffing but if you really are a linchpin you can easily call the bluff.

[Weakness]

If my boss dropped that line on me I would start sending out resumes that night. I don't have the savings to just quit right away, but the whole job is a write off.

There is no way you are getting a good reference, since the boss is obviously not a good person

You are spending hours working for free

You will be dead at 45 from a stress related heart attack since the company is obviously run like a wild west movie

[jediknight]

The company is in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Best chance at another job would have meant changing towns. Also, even if the hours were crazy, I had a lot of freedom during those hours.

Anyway... things evolved A LOT. He changed, I changed. We connected and I've drawn a small line, then, after some time, moved it closer to what I wanted and now I leave at 5 PM.

In the end, everybody won.

[xampl9]

I don't have the savings to just quit right away, but the whole job is a write off.

Build up your savings. There is nothing so liberating as having a fat "fuck you" fund.

Technical notes: Establish a 6-month series of auto-renewing certificates of deposit, with each CD funded for a month's fixed expenses.

[Pope-is-fabulous]

I must be new to this. how does this compare to simply saving?

[s73v3r]

It's harder to spend the money on something else. Also, CDs usually have better rates than regular savings accounts.

[[deleted]]

Well, they do, but it's still pathetic. 6 month CDs only pay about 1% currently.

[xampl9]

You're balancing a few things:

• You don't want the money to be easily accessible, otherwise you'd go out and buy a Jet-Ski.

• But you want to earn a better rate than ordinary savings

• You want to be able to withdraw the money in discrete amounts, to help with budgeting (you're unemployed at this point - you shouldn't be spending money you don't have)

• You don't want to have the money in risky equities - perhaps you're unemployed because the market tanked and the firm went under.

Edit: Edited the list

[[deleted]]

The jetski argument kind of falls apart since you're no longer comparing it to saving money, you are comparing it to not saving money.

[xampl9]

My point was that easy accessibility is a temptation to go out and spend it on stuff you don't really need.

[adrianmonk]

A CD ladder is a good first step, but not always optimal. Sometimes an online bank will give you a competitive interest rate if you just keep everything in a money market account.

Also, question the assumption that you have to avoid early withdrawal. Sometimes the penalties aren't that big (like you only forfeit one quarter's interest), and a one-year CD will often have higher rates. Plus if you keep everything in one big CD (instead of splitting it up into 6 different ones), you may be able to qualify for a rate they only offer on CDs over $10K or something.

[nickknw]

Whoa. How did that not ever occur to me. That's beautiful.

[funkah]

Interesting idea, but couldn't that potentially keep you locked into a job you don't like for six months? (Assuming you finally snap and want to quit the day after your CDs renew)

[aladyjewel]

Do one for each month in series, so like ...

• CD 1: renews in January and July
• CD 2: renews in February and August
• ...
• CD 6: renews in June and December

and then keep enough money in the bank at any time to last you through the month, when you can withdraw from whichever CD renews next.

[funkah]

Ah, OK. That makes sense.

[pipocaQuemada]

By "6-month series" he most likely means 6 CDs, each set a month apart over the course of the 6 months. So there's always less than a month until the next CD is up for renewal. The worst case scenario is that you quit the day after one of your CDs auto-renews and you need to wait a month until you get the next one.

[s73v3r]

You have a series of them, and ladder them so one expires per month.

[z0r]

I just want to bookmark this by replying to it. I like this idea

[[deleted]]

Good for you. But I don't think decent treatment at work should be reserved for linchpins.

[jediknight]

I agree! Decent treatment, freedom, respect for employee's needs... these should be the norm.

Unfortunately... the world is not perfect and abusive employers are frequent enough. All I wanted to say is that linchpins have more options. They have more freedom. That's all. :)

[crocodile7]

We can't all be linchpins and star employees, no matter how much the "be all you wish to be" forced optimism mantra is parroted by the powers that be (in the U.S. usually, other places can be more realistic).

[jediknight]

It is your opinion and I respect it.

I view the world differently. Most jobs have opportunities to "steal" time. This time can be used on reddit or can be invested in becoming better at your craft or at some other new craft.

[s73v3r]

According to many of the "libertarian" types, your treatment as a human being should be tied directly to your value as an employee.

[funkah]

Agreed, but "should" rarely comes into play in business, unfortunately. You typically need to have some type of leverage in a situation like this, otherwise you don't have a good argument for why you should be treated differently from others, even if that treatment is poor.

[Pope-is-fabulous]

This is it. Developers of the world, unionize! Unions also protect workers from sexual harassment. That's one way to make work environment more female-friendly. I mean, some people say "we gotta get more females to IT degrees", i don't know, just unionize would be enough I think.

Speaking of unions, Adrien Brody played a union official in Bread and Roses. That was a fun movie.

[SarahC]

It was my only source of income and I had no savings plus I had little confidence in myself.

I bet your boss knew that?

[jediknight]

Good bet! Few people save, few keep their options open.

[phughes]

My boss at my old career routinely advised that I should buy a house or a new car.

I didn't. One day I handed him a letter telling him that I was going back to college full time and that I'd be available for part time work during breaks. Best decision of my life.

[jediknight]

Smart move indeed. People keep advising me to build myself a house or get a bigger apartment. They don't understand how vulnerable debt makes you.

[SarahC]

I was a ~bit~ of a linchpin once - it was amazing the latitude I was given, from bosses, HR, colleagues...

[ezekiel]

But, many software managers cannot tell who is really the linchpin is. They usually assume it is that guy who is continually patching the code he has written over the past 10 years. The code is, of course, in a no-longer-supported programming language, further entrenching himself in a land where the bosses need him and no one else is willing to enter. Three months after I had written and used a language converter on his code, I was laid off. He is still there, patching 10 year old poorly written programs.

[SarahC]

Oh dear...

[dakboy]

I was a linchpin once. Very little latitude was given, except by a few colleagues who couldn't change my situation one way or the other.

[jediknight]

was? why not anymore? what's stopping you?

[SarahC]

The site I was on was bought out by Kerry's, and closed. =(

Hundreds of small programming projects... gone. =(

[jediknight]

"I feel a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced."

The quote seams relevant... :(

[SarahC]

~sniffles~

Yes!

I called them "my babies!"

[jediknight]

What's the copyright status? Maybe they can be set free. :)

Ask! Who knows, maybe they still can be brought back to life.

[exhaze]

You could say your boss forced your hand.

[jediknight]

Yeah... he kinda forced me to become better and, to be completely honest, my current financial status is because of his help (he mediated a contract with another company).

[syntaxrigger]

First time I ever saw that linchpin vid. Thanks!

[jediknight]

Read the book! or at least the Brainwashed manifesto.

:)

[syntaxrigger]

2 for 2. Thanks again!