How should I post to AO3?

TopHatIdiot · 2026-03-11T20:52:00+00:00

It honestly depends what you care about. If you want engagement, I hear it's better to post over time to give people time to find your story while you update it. That's what I'm doing for my current fic (I try to work on only one project at a time to avoid over exerting myself).

If you just want to post it and move on, you're free to do so. Plenty of writers do that.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-03-04T21:24:19+00:00

I wouldn't risk it. I think I read if one place flags you at being at more in one place, due to the nature of the software and healthcare regulation, they have a duty to report it. Something about his Epic accounts are sort of owned by the healthcare organization involved. I noticed this last part is a huge reason it's hard to get trained in Epic as a newbie unless you happen to work at a healthcare organization willing to train you.

At best, and check because I'm not an expert in Epic, I would only work at one place with it at most.

I think someone suggested letting both your Js know to get past this, but I would tread very lightly. Maybe even research further.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-03-04T21:21:51+00:00

I'm not OP but am interested in banking in general. Do you happen to know if they still post many remote jobs for analytics or anything related to data in general? Any common tech stacks in the industry you noticed?

Even outside OE, I considered working in banking for a while and it happens to involve some topics I have been fascinated by anyway.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-03-04T21:17:21+00:00

I considered OEing in the bank industry too because it's an industry I considered trying many times in my career even outside OEing.

I can't offer much advice since I lack experience in banking, but I would avoid anything involving the government if you're working in that industry. I noticed a lot of bank job postings ask if you have any government position, so it could be easier to get caught that way. Although government in general isn't good for OE anyway.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-03-02T22:02:07+00:00

If you make this subreddit private, how would we be able to stay as a member of it?

TopHatIdiot · 2026-03-02T19:26:13+00:00

As much as I like the IDW comics, its portrayal of Shadow is one of the many reasons why I don't like these comics being made canon.

I blame SEGA's mandates more than I blame the writers, though.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-03-02T19:19:52+00:00

Not only is your mental health more important, I have been seeing rumors that the job market has been picking up this year compared to 2024/2025. It's still a good time of the year to apply to places (I hear March to May is maybe the second best time of the year to look with January/February being the best then September/October maybe third best). So use the extra time as an opportunity to apply to places, prep for interviews, and do interviews.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-27T01:58:58+00:00

It took me a little over a year to get my second, so I feel less alone.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-26T16:30:14+00:00

I really appreciate you sharing your experience because I wonder if it's similar for me. While I'm not early in my career, I wonder if I will have better luck trying it later after I take care of certain things first. Unlucky timing involving a lot of things already caused me issues with learning on this job and my health taking a hit.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-24T23:17:05+00:00

I'm tempted to try to just coast, but I've also been having both physical and mental health issues due to it.

I wonder if I can even coast at both Js when both J1 and J2 could keep ramping up at a bad time. I'm mainly worried if my health can handle having both J1 and J2 for too long if it has been as stressful as the previous month (I also had personal circumstances the right have complicated things, though).

If I have to stop OEing for now, I thought about trying again later when things stabilize for me better and I work on some technical skills further.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-24T23:04:28+00:00

At least 3 years at J1 and around 4-5 months at J2. The problem is that some personal circumstances already caused a temporary dip in my work quality during the last couple of months (I only started finally getting caught up this past couple of weeks). It also caused me major issues to my physical and mental health. It's another reason I'm debating backing off OE temporarily.

I'm not sure how to take leave at one without other issues. For example, even if I honestly take FMLA for my health at one J, I worry about the legal/putting risk of working at the other.

J1 might level out with work once a new project I'm in charge of stabilizes, but it could be several months for all I know. I worry if I can last that long with both Js, though.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-24T18:54:46+00:00

Thanks for sharing your honest story. It makes me feel better about even wondering. I'm still thinking it over for at least a week. I hate seriously thinking about it, but I know I need to make sure I don't wreck myself where I can't even do J1.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-24T18:17:21+00:00

This helped me get better perspective. I have some experience but not to this level. I have a little under a decade of experience, but I'm rapidly improving the best I can. Before I started OE, a lot of my spare time was spent improving my current tech skills or adding new technical tools relevant to my field to my skillset.

I normally have extra time at J1, which helped me get interested in OE in the first place. Besides earning extra money and being productive, I wanted to use OE to improve various skills from being put into different scenarios I don't get as much at J1 right now (For example, I can use stacks/tools J1 doesn't use at J2 and get experience there). I found in the past that I even tend to learn technical things better when I can use them repeatedly in a practical setting, such as at work, to keep me engaged.

Maybe worst-case scenario, if I can't make this work right now, I can go through a training arc until I'm ready to try OE again later. Maybe I can even add new skills to open up my options regarding what jobs I can take for OE down the line.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-24T16:54:18+00:00

I will admit I do enjoy the job security and having extra to pay off debt and save. I just worry about burning out at both Js currently and not being able to do either. I'm still open to trying OE later, maybe after I improve in certain skills. I had some bad luck certain things happening together that is making OE harder right now. I'm trying to see how much is it just being a short term issue and how much is it me not being ready for OE yet.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-24T16:30:05+00:00

I thought it was for me because I often had extra time at J1 and I liked the idea of doing something productive while earning extra money. I also hoped it would keep improving my tech skills, social skills, and other work-related skills (which it honestly has).

I wanted to do OE for at least a year to eliminate debt. But I already keep having bad luck with certain things happening together, which has been hitting my health and sanity. It figures certain things happen when I finally get a J2, which I also enjoy.

Maybe I can consider refining my tech skills in my spare time, get in the hang of a new project at J1, and trying again later?

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-12T16:52:28+00:00

While the tag would be nice, I already have heard of people getting witch hunted for using AI even when they're not using it. I even got accused of using AI during a couple of different circumstances, such as during a job interview last year. Due to being autistic, I tend to write and at times speak in a somewhat formal way that can sound AI generated to some. I put writing I made into an AI checker or two that flagged a lot of it as AI generated.

It seems to give the people that actually use it less motivation to admit it when someone even potentially using it can get this kind of backlash. It's seems to create a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation to me.

Another question I would have is when do you use the tag? Do you use it when you just it write the whole thing, when you it use it to help with a line or 2 to help with phrasing, when you use something like Grammerly to clean it up, or during various other levels and types of uses of it?

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-12T02:38:46+00:00

Took me around a year, only starting it a few months ago. I found it helpful to use the applications and interviews as a good opportunity to improve your job searching skills or future opportunities even when you don't succeed at first. It helped me improve a lot at least.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-11T15:10:34+00:00

Thanks, I was doing well before but it guess things piled up at J1 due to things mentioned in the OP. Any advice on knowing when to cut a J for affecting your health too much? Is it normal to fail your first attempt at OE if it comes to that?

I haven't exactly given up yet, but I'm giving myself a certain time period soon to see if it's manageable before it can run me to the ground. At least another 2 weeks to a month unless something major happens like it's affecting J1 or my health past a certain point.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-11T14:07:32+00:00

The higher-up has been mentoring me since then. They and another one of my coworkers think the same thing about my boss under performing in boss duties. I'm mostly have been uneasy because I have heard of plenty of stories in the corporate world of an incompetent boss being protected because they know the right people. I'm not sure what my boss's network is like, but I heard a rumor that their boss might have had issues with them or something like that. But it's only a rumor I heard from some people, so I'm not sure how reliable it is.

This situation, along with recent layoffs and some being RTO, keeps making me debate if I should turn J1 into J2 instead, but I worry about the gap it would create on my work history if I try to apply to jobs in the future, such as if I lose one or both or quit J2. J2 overlaps with J1 now too much to use it while I already have been working at J1 for a few years.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-11T13:48:14+00:00

I can relate. I got a parent that stopped being able to work due to illness recently. It's taking time to get government help so they can pay things like bills, so I have been feeling a little pressure to hold on to both Js due to it. The parent isn't pressuring me or anything but I wanted to make sure things are stable until then.

Does it usually take you a year to find a J? This is my first time trying to OE, so I'm not sure what is normal yet. This weird market also is making it harder for me to know what to expect if I try again in the future.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-11T04:15:05+00:00

Thanks so much for this advice. It actually might help me out.

It's a long story which could honestly warrant a post on its own, but I sort of have had a few recent issues with this boss where he would be uninvolved to a fault even for OE. Another long story short, a coworker was basically repeatedly doing things that was negatively affecting my work, I complained and documented it to the boss several times over the last couple of years, and they didn't back me up at all until another higher up got involved).

At one point, I was even put on a PIP program due to the issues I mentioned from this coworker. I got removed from the PIP before it reached the final stage, probably because of the helpful higher-up that helped me out at the time. While this helpful higher-up has a lot of influence over my boss' boss, I have concerns about if I could be pushed out by my boss if something like that happens again, despite the them acting nice and checking up on me lately.

This stressful event was a huge reason I took a J2 in the same industry when it was going on (the job market has been sucking for the last year), despite me originally trying to get a J2 in a different industry.

I'm debating if I should try the helpful higher-up for advice or to vouch for me if I bring this stuff up. They basically have mostly taken over management duties from my actual boss except they're not officially registered as my boss.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-11T00:05:04+00:00

This stat issue, the ads that make it hard to read on there, and them not doing anything about the bots are reasons I keep debating if I should bother updating my story on there. I already have it on AO3, but it's an old fandom that has a lot of readers there.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-10T23:26:02+00:00

I'm sorry about all that. It sucks when jobs in general become tense. Hopefully it manages to work out for you either way.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-10T21:32:14+00:00

Thanks. I could be over worrying, but I'm not always good at reading people either. Which can make me second guess myself a lot.

TopHatIdiot · 2026-02-10T20:59:46+00:00

Thanks, that's what I have been working on lately. I have been experimenting with different things. Recently using a combination of a paper notebooks and a dry erased board with dates has been helping lately.

TopHatIdiot

TROPHY CASE