In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:
Listener Brad asks,
I am currently a Senior Engineer with a small software company. I have been developing software for more than 20 years. We were recently acquired by another mid sized company. Since the acquisition, things have been going downhill. It feels like they’re trying to nickel and dime their employees to death.
They moved from a bi-monthly to bi- weekly pay, from accrued PTO to Flex PTO, they sat on merit raises for over 2 months , and have paused all promotions unless you are getting a promotion to management. We have a number of engineers who are deserving, but broaching the subject with HR results in excuses, pushback or silence.
I have about a year and a half to be in a position to retire but I love what I do and plan to continue for many more years in the right environment. I’m really on the fence as to whether I quit for a new role or hope that they somehow become more efficient. I’ve been doing this long enough to know they will probably not change. So would you quit?
Hello Dave and Jamison,
My name is Angelo, and I’m writing to you from Italy. I’ve been enjoying your podcast for quite some time.
I’m reaching out because I’ve been working for four years at a small company with 11 people in the cultural heritage sector. Although the company produces software, there are only 2 programmers (myself included), while the rest are roles like graphic designers, art historians, and archaeologists.
It’s a rather unique company in its field, and for that reason, I’m happy to work there, also because I have many responsibilities related to the company’s performance, probably more than I would have in a multinational corporation.
However, there’s a catch. The fact that there are only two programmers, and in this case, I am the more experienced one, often makes me feel that I don’t have the opportunity to interact with more experienced individuals, and this might hinder my growth as a professional as opposed to being in a team with more programmers.
My question is: what can I do to compensate for the lack of work interactions with other developers and to keep myself updated?
I’ve always read that the best growth happens in a company where you’re surrounded by more experienced people, but in this particular case, I find myself in the opposite situation.
I participate in Telegram groups and often read software development books to stay updated, but it’s also true that the hours outside of work are meant for rest and leisure, so they only go so far. How can I keep pace with those working in larger teams on bigger projects? I don’t intend to change companies at the moment.
Warm regards from Italy, Sinhuè
Episode 354: Good at circuits, bad at git and ghosts of team members past
Episode 353: Easter outage and unethical things
Episode 352: Exploding manager and I hate computers
Episode 351: Senior hoarding and layabout lead dev
Episode 350: Bombing a technical interview and background vetting
Episode 349: Performance review dissonance and being a remote manager
Episode 348: Making too many mistakes and low code career risk
Episode 347: New untrusting manager and crappy project management
Episode 346: Changing jobs with no raise and wrangling a cowboy coder
Episode 345: Head of Engineering vs writing code and Voluntary Severance
Episode 344: Showing impact without hiring and over over over engineering
Episode 343: Tech lead/manager and discouraging seniors
Episode 342: Losing my job to AI and bad review season
Episode 341: Offer rescinded and layoff stuff
Episode 340: Productivity lulls and code review showdown
Episode 339: Coworker double-dipping and building toxic community
Episode 338: I am the golden handcuffs and Staying in management
Episode 337: Helping the principal and Manager conflict
Episode 336: Roadmap roadkill and returning to office
Episode 335: Senior questions and overly optimistic
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