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Thanks for the detailed writeup. Anything I can do to excel here? I have spent 4 years with the company and am now in a senior architect role. Wouldn't want thi

Thanks for the detailed writeup. Anything I can do to excel here? I have spent 4 years with the company and am now in a senior architect role. Wouldn't want this to go to waste. Have never received bad rating, have good relationships with managers and people generally accept me as a doer and go-to guy.

apohn 10y ago
If could talk to myself pre-acquisition, this is what I’d say. First of all, think about where you want your life and career to go. Think about the skillset you have and what you need to develop your career and life. Think seriously about what would make you stay and the circumstances that would make you find another job. Keep your ears/mind open and sense where things are going. There may be some surprises as far as layoffs and changes, but a lot of these will be sensed or known. If you feel like your group is eventually going to be laid off (e.g. you or your group is underutilized and it stays like this for months), don’t ignore it. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. This is why I say the most important thing is to think about your life/career and what you will tolerate. All talk from the company like “We’ll talk about salary or promotion in an annual review” can be stalling tactics. I was very unhappy in the team I was in so I spoke to 2 separate managers about shifting into their teams. Nothing happened, and after 6 months I realized nobody was going to help me improve my situation so I left. If you feel your team or the product you work on will be cut, tell somebody to move you to a different team in X months (e.g. 3 months) or you will seriously look for another position. Make sure they know you are serious. I also say this from an idea standpoint. It isn't only about salary or promotions. It's also about what you want to work on. Don't let yourself be forced to work only on boring stuff that generates money for the company but does nothing for you. If your work becomes boring, ask to work on something else. Finally, realize your value. The way you described yourself was exactly how I described myself. I’ll add that I was seen as the company expert in something that was in demand (leading to me being very overworked). But when I asked for help, all I got back was budget issues, not the right time, politically difficult to move you into a different team, etc. I realized was my value was a one way street. If I generated success for the company that was okay – but I deserved nothing in return. Think about your 4 years of good work. I had a lot of doubts about myself and didn’t want to let go of my time years of investment in the company and relationships. It took me a long time to realize I just needed to move on and my experience was very valuable to other companies. Please keep in mind I’m not trying to encourage you to leave. I’m just asking you to have a healthy view or yourself and to take care of yourself. I’ve seen so many people in tech who are amazing but they think they are near average. So they tolerate all sorts of horrid treatment and they fear change/risk because of this. Have a healthy view of yourself and a realistic view of what is going on in your company. Figure out your vision and then see if you can make that happen in your current company. If you cannot, move to a place where you can make it happen. It may be painful to think this way, but it is necessary.
apohn 10y ago
I forgot this. If you are serious about staying with the company, move into or work with a group that is visible and known to the higher ups. Usually this happens when the manger is very good at managing upwards. In my last company many good people who got fired were in groups that did great work, but did not have a strong manager. Strong managers advocate for the group and show off what the group does. They make the group visible in the company and bring interesting work to the group. If you feel like you are just an ant in a group that nobody knows about, it's easy for somebody else (probably somebody who have never even heard about) to draw a line through your name in an excel sheet defining who to keep and who to cut.

apohn 10y ago

If could talk to myself pre-acquisition, this is what I’d say. First of all, think about where you want your life and career to go. Think about the skillset you have and what you need to develop your career and life. Think seriously about what would make you stay and the circumstances that would make you find another job. Keep your ears/mind open and sense where things are going. There may be some surprises as far as layoffs and changes, but a lot of these will be sensed or known. If you feel like your group is eventually going to be laid off (e.g. you or your group is underutilized and it stays like this for months), don’t ignore it. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. This is why I say the most important thing is to think about your life/career and what you will tolerate. All talk from the company like “We’ll talk about salary or promotion in an annual review” can be stalling tactics. I was very unhappy in the team I was in so I spoke to 2 separate managers about shifting into their teams. Nothing happened, and after 6 months I realized nobody was going to help me improve my situation so I left. If you feel your team or the product you work on will be cut, tell somebody to move you to a different team in X months (e.g. 3 months) or you will seriously look for another position. Make sure they know you are serious. I also say this from an idea standpoint. It isn't only about salary or promotions. It's also about what you want to work on. Don't let yourself be forced to work only on boring stuff that generates money for the company but does nothing for you. If your work becomes boring, ask to work on something else. Finally, realize your value. The way you described yourself was exactly how I described myself. I’ll add that I was seen as the company expert in something that was in demand (leading to me being very overworked). But when I asked for help, all I got back was budget issues, not the right time, politically difficult to move you into a different team, etc. I realized was my value was a one way street. If I generated success for the company that was okay – but I deserved nothing in return. Think about your 4 years of good work. I had a lot of doubts about myself and didn’t want to let go of my time years of investment in the company and relationships. It took me a long time to realize I just needed to move on and my experience was very valuable to other companies. Please keep in mind I’m not trying to encourage you to leave. I’m just asking you to have a healthy view or yourself and to take care of yourself. I’ve seen so many people in tech who are amazing but they think they are near average. So they tolerate all sorts of horrid treatment and they fear change/risk because of this. Have a healthy view of yourself and a realistic view of what is going on in your company. Figure out your vision and then see if you can make that happen in your current company. If you cannot, move to a place where you can make it happen. It may be painful to think this way, but it is necessary.

apohn 10y ago

I forgot this. If you are serious about staying with the company, move into or work with a group that is visible and known to the higher ups. Usually this happens when the manger is very good at managing upwards. In my last company many good people who got fired were in groups that did great work, but did not have a strong manager. Strong managers advocate for the group and show off what the group does. They make the group visible in the company and bring interesting work to the group. If you feel like you are just an ant in a group that nobody knows about, it's easy for somebody else (probably somebody who have never even heard about) to draw a line through your name in an excel sheet defining who to keep and who to cut.