I look at my past coworkers -- it seems it is hopping among companies, and try to get the most money out of it... and one company attack another one, like a pack of wolves against another pack of wolves, or against another dinosaur. It is really wild and cruel, and I don't feel the intellectual "let's make great things and change the world for the better". It is mainly greed and unfriendly action towards others. #swe #tech #career #life
You sound like you lived in Bay Area too long. There is life beyond chasing TC.
Yes it's called retiring at 35.
So a pack of wolves attacks a dinosaur?
a pack of wolves can attack an elephant in documentaries... there are small or young dinosaurs too, by the way, if there are 200 wolves, I don't think a 500 pound dinosaur can handle it too well
Have a few things to say here. Not endorsing them, just explaining possible lines of thoughts. Most people hop companies because it is a known fact that switching increases TC. I'm not saying TC should be the only reason to work for something. But when a new 'wolf' comes to my pack with similar experience to mine, and is paid more just because they're coming from a different forest, it hurts. My pack would treat me better only because I have a competing offer from other packs for my hunting skills, this hurts. So companies themselves are promoting this behaviour. Next, the 'let's change the world for the better sentiment' cannot be expected in every role. Also, in roles where it is expected, people normally move on to similar roles where they are still changing the world just for more money. It's not right or wrong. It's human. About this making us into unfriendly competitive beings, I agree. But here too, you can be friends with your company, but you never know when your company will stop being friends with you.
in my past experience, a company stop being friends with you the minute you are useless to them. Or, were they ever "friends" with you, or are they just making use of you so they have to appear cooperative. You said 'let's change the world for the better sentiment' cannot be expected in every role."... it is like if Peter did bad things in school against the rule or law, somebody say, "well, proper behavior cannot be expect out of every single person". Use the one extreme is not possible to disprove something... is a thing I see sometimes in the corp culture. True, what you said, "It's not right or wrong. It's human." Or some may call it, "it is only animal".
โLetโs change the world for the better.โ Is mostly a brainwash strategy employed by companies to keep employees willingly underpaid. No, idiots - Iโll maximize my TC and Net worth first then decide how to make the world better with it the way I like. Not by complying with your brainwash.
Mercenaries vs missionaries.
that actually described it quite well... hm... I just wonder why most companies I went into, they just need mercenaries, and if you are missionaries, they punish you and kick you out. I suppose it is because I am a programmer and they very well just hire me as mercenaries? Only that, if I want to work at a company as missionaries, they probably won't hire me... and those are more like management roles, not programmer roles. https://svpg.com/missionaries-vs-mercenaries/ > One of my all-time favorite quotes in our industry comes by way of the legendary VC, John Doerr, where he argues that โwe need teams of missionaries, not teams of mercenaries.โ
You will get missionaries if you give your employees OWNERSHIP and EQUITY in their project/sub-product. Not by keeping them on payroll - that will breed mercenaries. Imagine if you had 30% stake in your product - you would build and make it super successful- 10x, 100x and beyond. And youโd still not sell your equity because you believe in its future growth and treat it like your baby.
You would have to give me really great TC to get me on the "let's make great things and change the world for the better" bandwagon.
yeah... you know... I supposed when it was Steve Jobs's era... when a good two bedroom apartment rent was $500 per month... and a meal at restaurant is $2.50... then it is just jeans and bicycle... and it was possible to "change the world for the better"... only that he got kicked out by the person he hired... and then the company went downward and downward, and only after he came back, we saw iPod, iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air... all the things that were pretty mind blowing...
Cool story. Now how can I get Stevs Jobs TC?
You feel this because you're a wolf child, who is not able to hunt FAANG offers, and hence stuck at Cisco.
I worked at the top 3 software companies before and semi-retired. Cisco is only something I picked up to do some programming really. While you are calculating TC, I am also thinking of living my life and valuing my life rather than thinking about TC every day.
Dire wolves
are you not aware that we live in a capitalist society? youโre howling at the wrong moon
still, capitalistic have different degrees. From mild to extreme. We don't have think capitalistic and think it has to be extreme capitalistic or insanely capitalistic.
Every Canadian I know who has gone to the USA has basically just stayed at that one company. Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon and just climbed the ladder. Canadians are a boring bunch. Maybe Indians are hungrier.
the employers control the market in Canada, switching jobs doesn't yield significant increases in pay, otherwise people will do it. It is difficult to argue that you are being underpaid when management points to the competing salaries, which are often on par with what they offer
Wolves are known to switch companies frequently? You learn something new everyday...
you don't get the metaphor... oh well, what can i say