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The author is... well, I don't think interviews are going to go the way he or she thinks. To wit, reading part 1, the first paragraph boils down to "my manager

by x0x0 6y ago

The author is... well, I don't think interviews are going to go the way he or she thinks. To wit, reading part 1, the first paragraph boils down to "my manager was on vacation for my start date. I was provided with an onboarding buddy, who warned me that Apple is trigger happy firing folks." Para 2: manager made a likely inappropriate joke about last name. para 3: not really relevant? para 4: project was raw. para 5: onboarding buddy was not super helpful with onboarding. It may well have been the case that onboarding buddy was not an expert on the project, or that OP was hired because of his or her specific expertise on this project. etc. For better or worse, I don't think going public with this story is going to be viewed as anything but a he said / she said mess. None of which means I think Apple treated him or her well, or that the team wasn't a mess, or anything else. It may well, however, come up when googling the author's name for quite a long time. That's an additional factor to think through. It may be the best outcome for the author is to leave this behind, seek some therapy to help move on, and get a job at a company that doesn't treat him or her like this.

worker767424 6y ago
Agreed. This is really only interesting to journalists if they're building a story like the NYT/Amazon one a few years back. > googling the author's name for quite a long time Yup. Especially for someone with one year of experience and needing a visa, this isn't a good look.
romanovcode 6y ago
I actually don't get what's the problem here. I manage a team and one time I booked a vacation and then we hired a guy. He quit (he was the only person to ever quit that was working under me, company is treating employees good) and said in the review that this was horrible from my side. Am I not suppose to take a vacation ever?
- jiggawatts 6y ago
  You can take vacations whenever you want, but you can't hire new staff and just let them twist in the wind concurrently with you taking time off. Holidays are planned ahead. Don't hire at the same time. Easy.
  - yanderekko 6y ago
    On the great hierarchy of potential conflicts that can be caused by taking your vacation on day X instead of Y, missing a new direct report's start date by a couple days is a very minor concern. Particularly at a larger company where a new hire will have to go through a bunch of onboarding busywork and has a buddy. I can understand why this would be bad optics to someone who's insecure and junior, but it really shouldn't be a big deal.
    - derangedHorse 6y ago
      It’s not about being insecure and junior, it’s about being a good manager and putting the right tools in place to help your employees succeed. No one — junior, senior, insecure, or secure — wants their time wasted doing nothing. It’s one thing to go on vacation, but it’s another to not put the proper support system in place for the new employee as to not keep them in the dark. That’s just one of the things that differentiate bad/average managers from the best. Unfortunately this industry is just too polluted with managers like the one referenced in the blog post who end up contributing to bozo explosion
  - x0x0 6y ago
    Reality: hiring takes an unknown amount of time. Candidates often prioritize prompt hiring, to do things like start health insurance, paychecks, etc. On growing teams with open reqs, this is equivalent to never being allowed to take a vacation.
  - romanovcode 6y ago
    > Holidays are planned ahead. Don't hire at the same time. Easy. This is not realistic and quite frankly bad suggestion. "Yeah, we would hire you next week, but since manager is on vacation we can hire you only in three weeks." Said no-one ever. And what's the problem in taking those first two weeks to just slowly get to know the code and get to know your workmates? If I had a situation like that I would be thankful that I don't get shoved into work immediately and can take my time.
- corty 6y ago
  I've seen this attitude quite often in juniors: The manager is always supposed to be available. Not immediately answering your email so you need to follow up with a phone call? Thanks, you just interrupted my talk with my boss and his boss about our department budget, and your colleague next door could also have solved your urgent problem. More often the reverse complaint is uttered, and because of the power differential I think that direction is far prevalent. But ideally, both sides should learn to see each other as human beings with limited lifetime, limited availability and patience and a life outside of work. As a manager, this is a little easier to accomplish: just scold your subordinates for answering emails off hours and remind them to take their vacations seriously. They'll learn quickly to do the same for you. Everybody wins.

by x0x0 6y ago

worker767424 6y ago

Agreed. This is really only interesting to journalists if they're building a story like the NYT/Amazon one a few years back. > googling the author's name for quite a long time Yup. Especially for someone with one year of experience and needing a visa, this isn't a good look.

romanovcode 6y ago

I actually don't get what's the problem here. I manage a team and one time I booked a vacation and then we hired a guy. He quit (he was the only person to ever quit that was working under me, company is treating employees good) and said in the review that this was horrible from my side. Am I not suppose to take a vacation ever?

jiggawatts 6y ago
You can take vacations whenever you want, but you can't hire new staff and just let them twist in the wind concurrently with you taking time off. Holidays are planned ahead. Don't hire at the same time. Easy.
- yanderekko 6y ago
  On the great hierarchy of potential conflicts that can be caused by taking your vacation on day X instead of Y, missing a new direct report's start date by a couple days is a very minor concern. Particularly at a larger company where a new hire will have to go through a bunch of onboarding busywork and has a buddy. I can understand why this would be bad optics to someone who's insecure and junior, but it really shouldn't be a big deal.
  - derangedHorse 6y ago
    It’s not about being insecure and junior, it’s about being a good manager and putting the right tools in place to help your employees succeed. No one — junior, senior, insecure, or secure — wants their time wasted doing nothing. It’s one thing to go on vacation, but it’s another to not put the proper support system in place for the new employee as to not keep them in the dark. That’s just one of the things that differentiate bad/average managers from the best. Unfortunately this industry is just too polluted with managers like the one referenced in the blog post who end up contributing to bozo explosion
- x0x0 6y ago
  Reality: hiring takes an unknown amount of time. Candidates often prioritize prompt hiring, to do things like start health insurance, paychecks, etc. On growing teams with open reqs, this is equivalent to never being allowed to take a vacation.
- romanovcode 6y ago
  > Holidays are planned ahead. Don't hire at the same time. Easy. This is not realistic and quite frankly bad suggestion. "Yeah, we would hire you next week, but since manager is on vacation we can hire you only in three weeks." Said no-one ever. And what's the problem in taking those first two weeks to just slowly get to know the code and get to know your workmates? If I had a situation like that I would be thankful that I don't get shoved into work immediately and can take my time.
corty 6y ago
I've seen this attitude quite often in juniors: The manager is always supposed to be available. Not immediately answering your email so you need to follow up with a phone call? Thanks, you just interrupted my talk with my boss and his boss about our department budget, and your colleague next door could also have solved your urgent problem. More often the reverse complaint is uttered, and because of the power differential I think that direction is far prevalent. But ideally, both sides should learn to see each other as human beings with limited lifetime, limited availability and patience and a life outside of work. As a manager, this is a little easier to accomplish: just scold your subordinates for answering emails off hours and remind them to take their vacations seriously. They'll learn quickly to do the same for you. Everybody wins.