Re: not enough real programmers? (was Re: Byte Magazine: 18 Vintage issues, 1985-1986)

[Victoria Welch <vikki@oz.net>]

Howard S Shubs wrote:
> 
> In article <7okklr$irv$0@216.39.144.179>, Victoria Welch <vikki@oz.net> wrote:
> 
> >  I've had more than my fair share of jobs that "required the extra
> >effort" from you only that took 12+ hours a day commonly.  My last job I
> >walked out of after 150 hours of unpaid overtime in four months and
> >constant harrasment and abuse for more (she'll work the extra time to do it with a hex editor, why spend money I can feed my Ferrari with (really!)).  It wasn't the first one :-(.
> 
> You stayed a lot longer than I would have.  These days, I don't believe in
> overtime unless it's -very- rare, paid or not.  I've got a contractor
> mentality; unpaid work time is a contradiction in terms.

The final straw was after one 30+ hour day (gotta get this out to the
client by tomorrow morning - the client had finally gotten hostile with
the project they had already paid for constantly being half-arsed done
and left on the back burner.)  I had busted arse all night to get it
done (and done right as in finished *correctly*!), I was starting to
seriously drag and I told them I was heading home to get some rest and
was asked "are you leaving already?" - it was a standard question, no
matter how long you had been there in any consecutive period.  When I
came back the next day, I got the cold shoulder and evil eye for not
being a team player and I was talked to about my attitude.

  I've quit doing it after that.  Then I had a *real* "attitude problem"
and was harrased accordingly.  I don't have a problem doing some extra
time *occasionally* ?hit happens and I care *a lot* about the work I put
my name on.  The constant promises that this was a temporary crunch
paled after 4 months and no let up in sight.  

I had one SA job (briefly) that the owner (a workaholic who accomplished
little, but thought he was a techie after being out of doing the actual
work for God knows how long) used to reguarly page the SA staff at 0300
to see who would respond (no problems, just an attitude check) and then
if you didn't it either got you harrased and it certainly figured into
your evaluations and "desireability" to the company.  After about a half
dozen of these and driving in (an hour each way) to deal with "the
problem", I kept carrying the pager on my belt and the battery in my
purse :-).  Turnover there was very high.

Problem with small companies and (frequently) incompetent management
with cash flow problems (because of that incompetence) is that you *do*
end up keeping them alive far longer than they should be - keeping a
paycheck coming in once you get trapped in this kind of situation
becomes a priority :-).  Trying to take off time to interview is a
nightmare (some of them will call your doctor to check).  If they even
suspect, you could be on the street (I was "fired" after submitting my
resignation).  None of this, of course, is even hinted at when you
interview, every damn one of them: "you'd be lucky to work for us since
we take such good care of our employees".  That has become a big red
flag in my job search :-).

Even with more of these than seems rational, I still have a good work
attitude and ethic - I love what I do and honor is important (I should
have been a Klingon <grin>).  I've started asking questions at
interviews and asking to talk with the current staff (something they
rarely let you do without being there).  I don't do this in a hostile,
threatening or derisive manner but it becomes pretty obvious that they
think I am going to be a problem.  I give far more than a good days work
for a days pay and am generally a lot more understanding of business
problems and necessities than most people (experience counts for
something :).

It would seem that unless you sugar coat everything in job searching,
you *will* have problems getting past the HR folks (there are no bad
jobs only bad employees).  It makes it tough to be honest as they
interpet you as a "problem waiting to happen" when such is NOT the case.

So I am unemployed again.  This time I am being really picky about where
I go to work (not hostile, not negatively aggressive - I am learning to
play their game).  It is tough being broker than I have ever been, but I
really want to find a job where I can contribute in my usual style and
get some compensation for it.  Having more time off other than just to
crash for a few hours would be nice also :-). I also want a place I can
stay and grow, with my provable work history, it makes things difficult,
but not impossible :).  In the process I pick up occasional consulting
jobs and study a lot.  I can't afford to go back to school at this time,
although I am looking into grants/scholarships, but probably not much
chance of getting one. 

There are worse things than being broke and unemployed.  One person at
my last job once asked me over lunch (one day when we actually got to
leave the building) "is slavery really dead?" - he has a family and is
trapped there, I have a lot more sympathy for him, last I heard he was
still working 16+ hour days (and frequently weekends) under incredibly
pressure, he is good, he is one incredibly nice person, but unless he
gets ahead (unlikely with what he is being paid) and can just quit,
he'll loose everything if he just quits, the only way he'll ever be able
to interview. He won't lie to them to get a day/afternoon off (although
those folks lie to the employees daily).  Sigh...

Before someone accuses me of being cynical and negative, I'm not, just
tired of taking anything to get the bills paid.  I am good and I am
dedicated and would like a decent working environment.

I am hoping to find a job in embedded systems, I got introduced to these
through people I knew from ham radio who were working in the field. 
I've done programming in a business environment for AGES and producing
another report / entry / query for the bean counters pales deeply
compared to getting a microcontroller project going!  I just finished a
PIC project that I had a wonderful time doing it!  I've found occasional
consulting work doing this (and a lot of offers that don't pay for
themselves) and have enjoyed it most thoroughly!

Unfortunately my resume doesn't reflect a lot of this so getting that
door open is proving to be somewhat difficult, especially in view that I
am pretty much self trained (although I have had some *wonderful*
mentors).  I've been told by people I know doing this that I know more
than enough to get hired, but it hasn't happened yet ("at 50 you are
applying for an *entry level position*?  You should have been in
management years ago!  What is wrong with you?").  Management I can do,
but I have a lot more fun, satisfaction and interest being in the
trenches :-).  Sigh...

Take care, Vikki.
--
Victoria Welch, WV9K, DoD#-13, Net/Sys/WebAdmin SeaStar.org,
vikki.oz.net
"Walking on water and developing software to specification are
easy as long as both are frozen" - Edward V. Berard.
Do not unto others, that which you would not have others do unto you.