Blind, my TC is not much to talk about but here’s a “humble brag”; compassion for manager who fired me and ability to move on without letting his decision impact my self esteem. (Pic at end of post, Blind not allowing me to insert pic middle of post) ———— My only regret, if I may call it that, is that we didn’t get an opportunity to talk things through. I knew my contract was ending in June - vendor consolidation was going on and they were managing all other vendors, except the shortlisted one, out. I just didn’t expect the termination to be so abrupt, before June end. I am trying to think what could have gone wrong. While I have learned to pick my battles, I do express disagreement when I believe it is required. A) Recently I suggested that the practice of giving updates on Radar, Quip, email, HipChat, verbally in meetings and drive-by’s was not sustainable; We were short staffed with vendors asked to leave, some team members moving to other teams and an FTE who gave 2 months notice but was asked to leave in 2 weeks. B) I also expressed that communication could be better, particularly in times of transition; Teradata access was being revoked unless we set up access differently (This heads-up was only sent to FTE’s and was not communicated to others. Eventually it required creating a ticket with IS&T and more than a week to get sorted out). Also, Slack was being onboarded and our team became one of the last to get onboarded causing delays in communication with other teams. We were the last because our team was not made aware of the process, although our manager knew. I like to err on the side of over-communication, particularly in times of transition, even flagging some “potential” problems that do not end up arising. C) I expressed that there was opportunity to prioritize projects better. We needed to build our brand, we had limited staff and time, do we have compelling reasons to spend time on this project at the cost of this project. I was billing 40 hours but putting in much more because I wanted to ensure that we did not lose sight of the key deliverable. D) We were short staffed but I was not seeing any talk about hiring. I was concerned. He was new to the tool and did he realize the tool was so nuanced that it doesn’t matter if you you are a great analyst, it would still take 3-6 months to get up to speed with the tool. (Turned out he had hired 2 FTE from his previous companies to join later in May - I wish he had shown the small courtesy of letting me know since I was worried about how we were going to manage things) In all cases I communicated respectfully, except 1 where I let my irritation show to the EPM in a late afternoon meeting - I apologized to the EPM first thing the next morning. He is a recent manager, joined us 3-4 months ago. At first he seemed to be democratic -even my last manager who expected we arrive at a certain time, be seated at the desk unless there were meetings etc welcomed feedback and alternative viewpoints. However things changed soon after. He became very poker faced. When I asked him for feedback, he said at manager’s training he was advised not to give feedback to contractors. Prior to this training, he said he would be happy to refer me to other teams. Ironically, I said, not right away since I had time till June end; we had not worked together for long and any referral would be more like “we are having to phase out this contractor, would you be able to take her in” instead of “hey! I have this bright energetic team member, would you have suitable openings for her”. I requested that he give me opportunities to “surprise and delight” and if I succeeded then the reference would be stronger. He said, sure, but that he was also ready to refer right away. After the training, he said he could not refer me per guidance from training. I was surprised he would go back on his word but it did not affect my motivation. I had a strong sense of ownership and this wasn’t going to affect it. Was it the training or something else I had said or done? But then, only 2 weeks ago, after the training, he sent a glowing note to my employer. (Pic below) I know he lost a close family member couple weeks ago. Had that loss coupled with my disagreement with certain processes/decisions made him insecure? Did he think I may not work well with the new hires? I am a bigger person that, did he not see that...Perhaps he thought given I was in the team for 2 years and made that comment about putting in more than 40 hours but billing only 40 hours, I might sue? I would never do that to our team, is it not easy to see my intentions were good... I was expecting to roll off on June 29. To fire someone abruptly, who was a fairly good worker by his own written note, knowing she had visa problems...without any handover...did I deserve that? I don’t think so, and I just hope he is doing ok, to take this seemingly random decision. He is a good person, maybe overwhelmed/stressed and I hope he is able to steer the team in a solid direction. I gave my best to a team that was fractured by re-orgs and 4 managers in 2 years including spells of not having a manager. That helps with the closure. I can move past this!
It's hard not to - but try not taking things personally. There are so many factors that go in decision making that externally it's hard to guess what went on. In a world where FTE positions themselves do not come with guarantees, contracting positions are even less stable. There are clear rules from HR around contractors - may be they were made aware of them only recently and started enforcing them (like not providing feedback).. it's a big company that needs to cover it's bases, so will be driven by rules. While not everything might fit well for individual circumstances at times it's the best that they could do. I don't think anything here was personal - just want you to see it in the same light and move on to your next opportunity. There are plenty of openings every where. Upload your resume somewhere and pm me link - will be happy to float the resume around in places that I know of
Thank you for the note. Yes, I don’t think it was personal, but do wish things were more humane. I am sure there were compelling reasons that I do not see at this time. I just hope the team does well - I am one of two people in the team (the other person is also a contractor) that can do this work. There was no handover from me, and I wonder how things will go. No one is indispensable and I hope the team functions smoothly.
Which team were you at apple, IST austin?
Moral of this story is I should reject all contract roles a recruiter pitches my way.
I’m not sure about that. I’ve had some very rewarding experiences as well.
If you have the option of FTE role you should pursue that by all means. Contracting roles buy definition are meant for temporary labor. Only in a very few cases is about specialized labor. As long as you know what you are getting into and that is your best option at the moment, there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with contracting
Update: (if anyone is still following this thread!:)) There’s been good and not-sure-if-it’s-bad yet news. Good - my employer (H1b sponsor) is giving me 3 weeks to find an assignment. Good - my cousin and brother-in-law picked me up and took me to their home. Their dog is keeping me busy :) My cousin keeps asking me what she can cook for me. My BIL keeps asking if he can buy movie tickets :) Good - a recruiter has been calling me for updated resume. I am trying to find a Word version so I can make edits - she wants it in Word only! But if I convert to Word, I lose all formatting. Need to figure this out. Not-sure-if-it’s-bad yet: Got a call on Mon to say the women’s health check I was having on Fri (when I received the call that it would be my last day at work) needs to be repeated. Yesterday we did the test again and turns out they now need a biopsy. Found a place that could do the biopsy same day and now waiting for results. Going back to India is not a bad thing, just that my husband is here and I will lose any chance of reconciling if I have to go back.
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