Guys with OCD/Anxiety disorders/Depression, how is the work pressure at big tech?
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XdEC63
Apr 28
25 Comments
I suffer from moderate to severe OCD and I sometimes wonder if I'm in the right field. Guys having similar conditions, how are you managing the pressure at FAANG and other big tech? What steps do you take to keep going ?
Yoe: 3
comments
I have been particularly more anxious while giving interviews as they can kill my performance but so far I have managed to sail through.
What challenges do you face in your day to day work?
I ask because there is a big difference between someone who likes her code formatted in a certain way (and says she might have OCD) and someone who can't leave the house because her actual OCD makes her unable to think about anything but the possibility that the oven is on. "Anxiety" is a second serious problem that some use as a badge of honor by lowering the threshold on symptoms to the point where most people meet the criteria.
All human beings have moments where they feel worried, unmotivated, socially uncomfortable, etc. If you can get past these feelings to do a job, that is good. If you can't, consider talking to a professional to see what might help you. But don't avoid trying to get a job you want because you sometimes feel something that internet self help gurus claim is an illness.
I have found that most of the pressure in programming jobs (at stripe snd a FAANG) is self-inflicted. If you are not pushing to get promoted, and not on-call for something revenue-critical, then you will not be under much pressure.
If you are flexible about what team you are on, you can probably find a low stress team. But it may be hard to tell what team you land on as you join, so the first year on that team may be stressful.
Avoid joining a small office of a company that insists people work in the same place: you may find that there are no teams to transfer to in that tiny office.
When speaking to a manager about a role, ask about the on-call burden. How often are people on-call, how often are they paged, and how quickly do they need to respond? If the answer shows pride in 100% uptime at any cost, there will be stress.
When you get an offer, ask for names of people on the team who are not managers who you can chat with. Call them. Ask them directly about the last crunch time they did. Say that you believe people do their best technical work when they are working hard but not crashing deadlines, and you want to make sure you are joining a team with a scheduling process that lets people do their best work. It is possible that the team likes panic, and the offer will be withdrawn because you said that. If so, you dodged a bullet!
When I feel stressed at work, I remind myself that the worst they can do is fire me, and I can easily find a job as a programmer. Keep your skills sharp (both being able to do work and being able to pass interviews), and you will be fine even if you have to change jobs many times due to stress (or any other reason).