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Saying no to your boss is a nice policy, but most of the destructive aspects of modern tech jobs are not optional things. 'Saying no' to those things means not

• jazzyk 11y ago
  It depends.I am a consultant and have worked for many different companies on many different projects. In most cases, people say "yes" without even being asked by their bosses - out of (imaginary) fear of losing their jobs. We are fortunate to work in an industry where, even in a stagnant economy, finding another job is not a huge problem, should it come to this in rare cases (although looking for work is never fun, I know). Please man up and don't do it to yourselves and to other people. That said, outside of paid work, I often work/read up on stuff which benefits ME, whether it is professional or personal development.
• Retric 11y ago
  A lot of government contracting jobs exist for programmers that are really 9-5 with ~zero overtime. Granted, they pay less than SV salary's people talk about on HN, but it's still plenty of money compared to most people in the US.
  • amyjess 11y ago
    I work at a defense contractor; I can confirm this. 9-5 and no overtime. Sure, I have to keep timesheets, but whatever. Actually, my salary is on par with the standard salaries for my area. No, it's not SV level, but salaries in Dallas are much lower than SV across the board. Cost of living is so much cheaper, though, that I'd rather work at a defense contractor in Dallas than at a unicorn in SV. I can handily afford a 1500 sq. ft. townhouse on $65k/year, here... (I could afford it on less actually... I was making $42k when I first moved in). I don't think anybody in California can say that.