I am thinking about the possible options. One option is to continue, (by doing the minimum required) till they lay me off. But I dont know if they can also resort to the informal layoff, by asking me to look for a job. The advantage in this option is that, this gives me the time to explore building something on my own. But it will definitely hurt my self respect. The other option is to start applying outside right away. But I have a lot of concerns. I know the market is hot for 2-10 years profile. Not sure about the senior level jobs. Even if I get selected for interviews, rejection will further demotivate me. I havent given interviews for a long time. I am very good at design, latest technologies etc. But I hate leetcode kind of interviews. The other problem is that, in a new company/job, I wont be able to focus on other things since the expectation will be high. I need to prove again. And eventually one will have the same problem no matter which company. One good thing in this option is that, I can prove a point.
Have you been in this situation?. How do we go about handling it?. Till now, I havent discussed it with my manager. Because, I fear, he might openly tell the truth. I would appreciate, if you someone could help me.
If you're in a bad situation, the best thing to do is to leave. Your first and greatest loyalty should be to yourself, not to "the team". Your time is finite; do not waste it in situations that you cannot control. You will kid yourself that you might be able to make them see sense, or that things will improve, but that is wishful thinking.
Again, your time is finite; do not waste it in situations that you cannot control.
His/her advice will be for everybody to begin a diary of interactions with management and retrieve what each individual can of their history with the employer. This is the time for everybody to copy and/or print your emails and other interactions with management to a place where you can access them after being frog marched out of the office.
Work from home situations make it easier to preserve the data your lawyer wants preserved.
A good labor lawyer representing several senior developers will know if / when it might be advantageous to fire a shot across the bow before terminations - AFTER s/he has complete documentation.
Oh yes, be very sparing in documentation of the processes you babysit.
My last multinational manager had me spend a half day to describe my weekly database update procedure to a well connected lady who had never seen a SQL statement before. That system slowly sank into the sunset as several more years and megabucks were expended on head office's chosen replacement.
Short term, I think you have an another opportunity: to negotiate an exit with your manager.
Sounds like your in the age and comp range where the company has to be careful about how you’re removed. And you might be able to leverage that to negotiate an exit that satisfies everyone.
Setup a face to face with your boss and lay out the facts professionally. Then, ask for six months salary (or whatever you want) in exchange for resigning and releasing the company.
Obviously your specific requests will be up to what you want.
If you’re not a confrontational person by nature, consider this a wonderful real life learning opportunity to navigate and develop that skill. And hopefully get something that you want — even if it’s just a softer landing between roles.
Prioritize your personal needs. The decisions you make depends on where you are seeking work - both geography and technology. If you have sufficient savings to handle a long job search, then you'd be best to resign with your head held high. The emotional toll of your present situation is just not worth it. If you can't afford to resign now, then start looking for a new position. It's generally easier to land a new job when you have one.
You need to get out of Dodge and find one of the second. Believe me, they are out there and fighting for senior talent, I talk to them all the time about it.
My approach would be to start preparing to move on, this kind of change is scary, but it usually works out.
Start practicing your interview skills by going to interviews.
Good luck!
None of the alternatives you are considering focuses on moving on.
Consider your current network of former colleagues and people you have met at conferences, etc. (Or social networks/slacks/HN, if that's more your thing.) If you don't have any place to start, look on LinkedIn (or your local alternative if LI isn't big where you are).
I'd start to refresh/revive those networks. That's the best way to find a job, in my experience (I am in the USA, not in Silicon Valley, fwiw).
If you have kept them up, then start to talk to folks about what they are seeing for people with your skillset or bigger tech trends.
If you have not talked to these folks, reach out and ask them for coffee (virtual or not). Ask them about their current challenges and how they are doing. People (myself included) love to talk about themselves. At this stage DO NOT ask them for work or about a job. You're reviving these networks and nothing will harm that like seeming desperate (which you are not!).
After a couple of months of checking in, you will have a better idea of the job market available to you without necessarily going through the normal job application process.
At this point, I'd start to let folks know you are looking to make a change. Find 3-10 companies where:
* you know someone (or know someone who knows someone)
* you are interested in some aspect of the company (tech, domain, team, approach to the problem)
* you have reviewed their jobs page or otherwise determined they are hiring for your skillset/experience
Keep track of all of these (I like a simple spreadsheet, I'm sure there are other solutions). While finding a new job may be #1 on your priority list, it moves up and down hiring manager's priorities, so don't feel bad about pinging folks regularly. As companies move off the list (not a fit, or for whatever other reason) add new companies to the list.
Also, take the time to do research to find out what you should be paid. Lots of good articles here: https://fearlesssalarynegotiation.com/
This is going to be kinda painful, so prepare for that (as you mentioned, rejection will occur, as will bad interviews and tasks that take up your free time).
But once you are through, you'll have found a job where you are valued and a few months after that you'll wonder why you waited so long.
In my mind, the time to explore building something of one's own is when one is working at a company. There might be limits due to IP assignment agreements, non-competes, time and energy, but that is the time to explore. Preferably it is going along with some success before leaving. I don't think the time to begin exploring is when one has no paycheck coming in.
Also, if your performance rating is lower than expected, you can explore a little bit, but now is probably the time to prepare for interviews.
> The other option is to start applying outside right away. But I have a lot of concerns. I know the market is hot for 2-10 years profile. Not sure about the senior level jobs. Even if I get selected for interviews, rejection will further demotivate me. I havent given interviews for a long time. I am very good at design, latest technologies etc. But I hate leetcode kind of interviews. The other problem is that, in a new company/job, I wont be able to focus on other things since the expectation will be high. I need to prove again. And eventually one will have the same problem no matter which company.
You should always be somewhat prepared to lose your job, so if you feel rusty at interviewing, you should be preparing for interviewing and then start going on interviews.
In terms of getting rejected at/for interviews being demotivating, there is a balancing act for you. On one hand you are rusty at interviews and probably need to go on some, on the other hand, you're right, if things are going bad at work, too many interview rejections probably will be demotivating. So brush up on what you need to before interviews (you mentioned leetcode).
I went on a number of interviews two years ago, and talk to other programmers who are interviewing, and have a fairly decent idea what is asked on interviews. Currently I feel fairly safe where I am, so if I planned on leaving I would spend enough time preparing to interview so that I would get a high percentage of offers at the seniority/salary level I am in now (or higher, but that would take more time to prepare). That would mean having ready answers for typical questions (tell me about an accomplishment you're proud of, tell me about a hard situation you encountered etc.), as well as leetcode, and also being up to date on the latest and greatest stuff in my main stack and framework. I would also interview at large companies first and then smaller companies, as larger companies take more time to make an offer and also the offer tends to last.
The clock may be ticking for you, so you don't have the luxury of as much preparation time as you want, and also you might be rustier on interviews and what might be asked (I was initially surprised by some question types on my last interview go-around I never heard before). You probably want to get one or two interviews done in the near future, the problem is if you get an offer it won't be a competitive offer. Or if it is a FAANG or something you want to have on your list, you knock it off your list before adequate prep. But you should probably start interviewing fairly soon. Even if you get an offer, you can still stay at your job.
Because it could be the situation that you don't prep adequately, go on a dozen leetcode interviews and get rejected by all of them, which crosses them off the list and is demotivating. So it's all a balance. You should probably interview somewhere fairly soon, after a little prep.
Another thing - a good, well-funded company might hire for a senior role, and get six applicants that get an in-person interview. You might be the second best applicant, and would be considered "good", but someone else might just be better (or better at leetcode and interviewing) and gets the position. From your perspective it is pass/fail, offer or no offer - from their perspective they might get two or three good candidates which you are part of but one is just a better fit and it goes to them. If you've interviewed a lot of people on the other side of the table you'll understand this. Sometimes you'll luck out because the best candidate takes an offer at a FAANG instead so then they give you the offer. But it's something to keep in mind - in your mind it is pass/fail, offer or no offer. To them you might be the second best of all the candidates but it is offered to someone else. I've been watching Youtube interviews about the making of movies, and at the end of the day the choices for the director are between one great and now famous actor and another. Don't get too demotivated by a no (of course 6-7 no's in a row would be demotivating, and would be an indication you need to prep more).