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Personal anecdote: I was contacted by a facebook recruiter a few years ago. I started the process and also started thinking about if I would like working ther

Personal anecdote: I was contacted by a facebook recruiter a few years ago. I started the process and also started thinking about if I would like working there. I realized that I disagree strongly with the product, its effects on society, culture and politics. But more importantly I realized I hadn't used the product in like 3 years. I just said no thanks before even finishing the "take home" exercise. At the time I was not a college grad, I was a team lead at a startup. This was before all of the recent news (2016?). It turns out I was right to make that decision. I think there is strong incentive for engineers who commit to working on projects which they would actually use themselves. I am not overly ethical as a person (although I do have opinions I try to stick to), but I am very happy to have the opportunity to work at companies with products I actually use.

SCHiM 8y ago
That's a weird thing to say about oneself. Do you really consider yourself to be "less ethical" or have you internalized "mainstream" ethics as "good", and found that that's not what _you_ think is ethical/good behavior?
- elicash 8y ago
  I took it as OP being modest and not wanting to sound holier-than-thou.
  - wesleytodd 8y ago
    This mostly. But also I don't self identify with a strongly held ethic. I identify more with a balanced approach where sometimes ethics are a guide, and other times the outcome is as or more important, just depends on the situation. In the case above, both my ethics and the outcome pointed me in the same direction. In others the might conflict and I do a cost benefit analysis.
spike021 8y ago
>But more importantly I realized I hadn't used the product in like 3 years. How does this matter? Most people don't personally use the products they work on. If someone works on software in flight computers (I don't know the proper term), in most cases I doubt they're pilots actively using said software. I certainly don't personally use the products I work on for my job. A job is a job. Sure some people find work "doing what they love" or doing things they enjoy/can benefit from personally, but not everybody, and that's certainly not a standard.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  Flight computers are niche software, while Facebook is meant to be accessible to everyone. If you look at similar products, such as operating systems or browsers, you’ll find many engineers actually do use what they what they work on.
- umanwizard 8y ago
  > flight computers (I don't know the proper term) avionics?
  - spike021 8y ago
    Ah, yep I'd say that word fits the concept I was thinking of. Thanks!
- wesleytodd 8y ago
  I didn't intend to imply it was standard. In fact I meant that it was not standard and that is why I was lucky.
- gaius 8y ago
  How does this matter? Most people don't personally use the products they work on. I think Phillip Morris probably would be surprised if a candidate quit 3 years ago but still wanted to work there...

SCHiM 8y ago

That's a weird thing to say about oneself. Do you really consider yourself to be "less ethical" or have you internalized "mainstream" ethics as "good", and found that that's not what _you_ think is ethical/good behavior?

elicash 8y ago
I took it as OP being modest and not wanting to sound holier-than-thou.
- wesleytodd 8y ago
  This mostly. But also I don't self identify with a strongly held ethic. I identify more with a balanced approach where sometimes ethics are a guide, and other times the outcome is as or more important, just depends on the situation. In the case above, both my ethics and the outcome pointed me in the same direction. In others the might conflict and I do a cost benefit analysis.

spike021 8y ago

>But more importantly I realized I hadn't used the product in like 3 years. How does this matter? Most people don't personally use the products they work on. If someone works on software in flight computers (I don't know the proper term), in most cases I doubt they're pilots actively using said software. I certainly don't personally use the products I work on for my job. A job is a job. Sure some people find work "doing what they love" or doing things they enjoy/can benefit from personally, but not everybody, and that's certainly not a standard.

saagarjha 8y ago
Flight computers are niche software, while Facebook is meant to be accessible to everyone. If you look at similar products, such as operating systems or browsers, you’ll find many engineers actually do use what they what they work on.
umanwizard 8y ago
> flight computers (I don't know the proper term) avionics?
- spike021 8y ago
  Ah, yep I'd say that word fits the concept I was thinking of. Thanks!
wesleytodd 8y ago
I didn't intend to imply it was standard. In fact I meant that it was not standard and that is why I was lucky.
gaius 8y ago
How does this matter? Most people don't personally use the products they work on. I think Phillip Morris probably would be surprised if a candidate quit 3 years ago but still wanted to work there...