HACKER Q&A
📣 lifeplusplus

I think my manager is trying to fire me


Ok so I'm looking for advice. I work at FAANG like company. Problem is I'm a JS dev, but here it's a different language/framework/architecture/build tools. All of which I'm learning, but not proficient by any means. I've been on team for few months. Main reason for contention is that I miss sprints, tickets which I'm assigned by manager. no say. Then because sprints is a dumb idea, some tickets are more involved and don't get done. I've been told about we need to think about future with the company and fit balabla. I've resigned myself to whatever outcome happens and just to do my best. But I'm wondering what should I do..

- leave now

- wait and get fired

- accept job at startup 30% pay cut & no brand

- start a company

- take vacation for few months

honestly I think I'm starting to hate tech... hate typescript, hate docker/kubernettes, hate webpack, hate microservices, hate AWS, hate TDD... basically hate everything unnecessary. It all feels like a cult and feel like tech is filled career people, then what it used to be passionate hackers and learners. Like all people who would normally go to business are now here..


  👤 sigmaprimus Accepted Answer ✓
Not knowing exactly what your situation is, it is difficult to say what You should do. But...

I would suggest You take a sober second look at your manager's comments. Sometimes what appears to be malicious attacks are just clumsy attempts to motivate.

Has anyone else on your team had simmilar issues?

I know it is hard to deal with a pushy manager but sometimes You just have to suck it up and put your nose back into joint.

If You are convinced You will have to leave don't sell yourself short by taking a 30% pay cut. Find a better paying job than your current one, and it is always easier to find a new job while You still have one. That is mainly because it avoids the questions a possible employer has about why You left (especially if they pass You by without even asking).

It seems You are quite frustrated and discouraged, it might be worthwhile reaching out to Your manager and honestly and HUMBLY asking for help resolving the issues You are having rather than the "I hate this shit" scorched earth, bridge burning path.

Good luck in whatever You decide.


👤 earpwald
Ok, so firstly to your question, it sounds like you aren't happy at the company, not just that they may, or may not be unhappy with your fit. Personally in my experience, managers will only push someone out if they are continuously bad at their job and even then they'll spend months trying to find another solution.

I do agree with others here that you need to sit down and really think about what type of company you want to work for and start there.

It does sound to me that this company has process issues...tickets that are too big for a sprint, manager is micro-managing instead of letting the team self-manage etc. I think the team could do with a bit of space and time to figure out what their flow is. In software development there are those who fit well into a procesa driven culture and there are others who prefer more fluid approaches. You seem like the latter.


👤 jim-jim-jim
TDD is a cult. In my experience it's pushed by managers who last touched code in 2008. Just do what literally every other dev does and lie about using it.

A strong type system is one of the main ways to avoid the insanity of TDD, so it's interesting that you hate Typescript too.


👤 approxim8ion
>feel like tech is filled career people, then what it used to be passionate hackers and learners.

I think any career is filled with career people now, as we don't live in economic systems that allow only the passionate to gravitate towards careers, especially high demand ones like tech.

I do think you need some time to regroup though. It might give you some perspective regarding which of the options you presented is most interesting and viable to you.


👤 BoHerfIIIJrEsq
To me it sounds like you'd be happier at a much smaller company. Same as me. I doubt I could work anywhere that had more than 15 or so employees. When a company gets too big, it gets bogged down in procedures and protocols. It gets an HR person. It's not for me.

👤 yuppie_scum
Getting a severance isn’t the worst thing in the world. You can just lie to your future interviewers that you left or were laid off. Nobody checks this shit especially if you have a friend from work willing to speak on your behalf.

👤 bb88
It's clear you're not happy, so you should quit now -- your boss will probably respect your decision.

Don't burn your bridges when you leave.

Take a week or two when you're no longer in a sprint grind to figure out what you want to do next.