Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking
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Yesterday I was told "to not to bother coming in tomorrow", I was ready to walk last Tuesday as it simply wasn't working.
Some background:
I was interviewed for a Team Lead position doing Sitecore and ASP.NET. I came into a job that neither had me doing HTML integration which is basically means "copy and paste HTML into the right views and hook up the controllers".
So I phone up the recruiter who got me the job as he was basically my HR.
My manager agreed that the job wasn't right and agreed the job I interviewed for wasn't the job I was doing. I said to the recruiter I was happy to do the job as I was getting paid but I would be unlikely to want to extend.
Then the events of "Safe Space Happened".
I decided in the end it was better to play along than to fight it, so I decided just to work as best as possible in the system. I was earning money after all and I was starting to bond with my co-workers.
Yesterdays Events:
I thought this was work to "break me in" to the role. So I put up with it. Then it became clear that would be all that I was doing.
They offered me a new position in another team to do Angular JS 2.0 and Sitecore. I agreed and thanked him for being so understanding of my position. I was honestly thinking they would tell me to put up and shut up (I was prepared to do this as I was getting paid anyway).
So my manager emailed everyone in the Team saying I would be moving to this new position, he also emailed the recruiter. I had the project manager come over and said "can we have grab a coffee and talk about the project", we chatted for about 15 minutes. We seemed to get on quite well and she said she was happy to have me aboard the new project.
I was then told soon after "at the start of the next sprint, you will be working for the new team". I thought the situation was handled really well by the company and was quite pleasantly surprised by them accommodating me and was quite keen to make the best of it even thought it wasn't perfect.
Then at 4.30 pm yesterday. I had the very senior manager say "can I have a chat with you".
We went to a meeting room and I told that I wouldn't need to come in tomorrow. I thought they were going to tell me to go to the new team which was at another location the next day ... he said "no we are terminating your contract".
WTF!
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Just found out that 5 co-workers (that were contractors) have now handed in their notice.
I didn't know I could cause a revolt that quickly.
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@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
Just found out that 5 co-workers (that were contractors) have now handed in their notice.
I didn't know I could cause a revolt that quickly.
You were obviously...
*dons sunglasses*
... quite revolting.
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@Rhywden nicely done.
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@Rhywden said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
Just found out that 5 co-workers (that were contractors) have now handed in their notice.
I didn't know I could cause a revolt that quickly.
You were obviously...
*dons sunglasses*
... quite revolting.
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so... why were you terminated? and why did the other contractors quit?
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@fwd I don't know why I was told to fuck off, after being told that I would be moved to another team that needed my skills. Thus the WTF.
The other guys quit because it was the "icing on the cake" when the cake is made of dogshit (they were already working from 8am -7pm).
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@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
I don't know why I was told to fuck off, after being told that I would be moved to another team that needed my skills.
Well, if they're going to be daft enough to treat you like that, and it sounds like it is a pattern consistent with other behaviour too, you don't want to work there. Bosses like that aren't worth the hassle, and there'll be plenty of other gigs about. It's not like it's a down economy for people who can code worth a damn…
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@dkf It is getting harder because Accenture and other companies are flooding the UK market with contractors from India.
Fair enough to the chaps from India, they have got a gold ticket in terms of relative wages. The guys I worked with were very good, both of them were very smart chaps, but they are very process driven. I have a feeling that they don't ever ask why because they don't want to risk being made to go back before they made their money. Which IMHO totally understandable.
So while they are good devs they tend to hack stuff a bit rather than think about stuff because they are scared about going back.
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@lucas1 From what I've heard, it's also about schooling: they teach programming over there a lot like how Feynman complained Brazil did physics.
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@Magus: The two guys I was working with were very smart. But they were "Do we have permission" and me being a bit of a bear man just said "Do it, worry later". Maybe I shouldn't have.
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@lucas1 No, I would too. It's a matter of schools conditioning people to not take initiative and to instead do things by rote. I know that here in the US, and even over in NZ, those were never presented as the right way to do things, but apparently many countries do.
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@Magus This isn't the issue here. They wanted yes men that is it. No men are bad and should be replaced.
I sell my skills as a full stack dev, maybe I should sell them as something else. Fuck knows.
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@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
They wanted yes men that is it.
Well, management will be very happy for a while, and will then end up wondering why they're not actually getting stuff shipped. You can't just say yes to everything or you end up swamped with stupid stuff. OTOH, it's best if when you say no to something, you can also say why not and what should be done instead towards the overall goal. Which sounds easy when I write it out and really isn't when you're up against a demanding boss or customer.
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@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
he said "no we are terminating your contract".
Did he say why?
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@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
The guys I worked with were very good, both of them were very smart chaps, but they are very process driven. I have a feeling that they don't ever ask why because they don't want to risk being made to go back before they made their money.
While I agree with your observation, I don't think fear is the reason. I've observed the same characteristics — more so, even — with coworkers located in India.
@Magus said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
It's a matter of schools conditioning people to not take initiative and to instead do things by rote.
In my experience, this seems to be a much more likely explanation.
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@Magus said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
@lucas1 From what I've heard, it's also about schooling: they teach programming over there a lot like how Feynman complained Brazil did physics.
You read that, too?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surely_You're_Joking,_Mr._Feynman!
Filed under: OneBox fail
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@error ofc, It's a good book!
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@FrostCat Apparently I wasn't positive enough. I probably wan't grinning like an idiot enough.
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@lucas1 that's not bizarre, that's a valid reason. I suppose the senior manager didn't bother to inform your manager they decided to sack you, but given your story about estimates, that seems to be the only WTF involved.
I was contracting for a company a while back. It was a mess, with details somewhere in the Lounge, so I'd often joke a bit about what seemed obviously bizarre to me, or get pissed about the business requirements changing on the whim.
All it won me was no contract extension, and a few stern, if education words from my boss once he got their side of the story. The lesson basically amounted to "I know it was a mess, you know it was a mess, but you won't always work with a team of competent developers who get your point. Sometimes you'll have people cemented in their convictions about how things should be, and you'll have to play along, or you'll achieve nothing and piss everyone off".
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@Maciejasjmj
I don't think that was the real reason at all, or at least wasn't the whole story. I was there quite a few evening last week til 8 because we were behind. I got in well with everyone and after the warning last week I kept my mouth shut.I am not too bothered anyhow. I was staying away from home during the week, just pisses me off I was going to be extended on my previous contract which was going fine.
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@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
Apparently I wasn't positive enough.
For your next job you might want to memorize a list of anodyne jokes, stuff like that.
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@Maciejasjmj said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
you'll have to play along, or you'll achieve nothing and piss everyone off
Yup.
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@Maciejasjmj said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
you'll have to play along, or you'll achieve nothing and piss everyone off
Paraphrased from a former coworker consultant: Give the client your best professional advice, do your best to persuade them to take your advice, but if you can't persuade them, do what they want.
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@FrostCat said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
For your next job you might want to memorize a list of anodyne jokes
If he wants to appear positive, maybe he should consider anode jokes.
Filed under: probably not this one, though
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@dkf This is what is crazy, if I objected I did say why. I wasn't being unreasonable for the sake of it.
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No, because you come across as such a reasonable and considerate person.
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@Maciejasjmj said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
@FrostCat said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
For your next job you might want to memorize a list of anodyne jokes
If he wants to appear positive, maybe he should consider anode jokes.
Filed under: probably not this one, though
Strictly speaking, cathodes may be positive, too.
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@tufty I went nuclear on you because you kept on calling me a stupid cunt. Sorry that kinda tends to piss me off and I don't mind be an arsehole to people that I have no other relationship with other than we frequent the same forum.
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@lucas1 I think I called you a fucking idiot, not a stupid cunt. Whining manbaby, at one point, as well. All the "cunt"ery, though, came from your own sweet lips, as I recall it. And it wasn't just me on the receiving end, either - it was basically everyone disagreeing with your point of view.
Hence my comment about how reasonable you seem to be. Oddly, I hadn't originally realised who the thread was about until you started trying to justify yourself. At which point it was all "ah, that figures".
Because, complain all you might about how I'm making character judgements based on behaviour "only on a forum", something I've found is that it's really quite hard to play a persona online long term; the "real you" tends to leak through no matter how hard you try.
I might be wrong of course. But so far, as the magic 8-ball might say, "My sources say no".
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Hence my comment about how reasonable you seem to be. Oddly, I hadn't originally realised who the thread was about until you started trying to justify yourself. At which point it was all "ah, that figures".
Yes this thread is where I told the story of how I saw my last day unravelled. It was a bit shit, yes I could have done stuff differently, I did change my attitude and it didn't make a damn bit of difference. It hardly surprising some of this is me justifying myself.
TBH looks like you want to have another argument. I can't be bothered with it.
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@lucas1 said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
TBH looks like you want to have another argument. I can't be bothered with it.
Arguing for the sake of arguing is the ian way.
Filed under: INB4 Monty Python skit
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@error said in Contracts Part III : The most bizarre sacking:
Arguing for the sake of arguing is the ian way.
That's fightin' talk.
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Update:
Spoke to a recruiter (random call) that works with the architect and they know that it has become a total shit show.
Unfortunately it feeds my ego.
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@lucas1 Extra update.
Current contract working fine ... despite @tufty predictions. because he is still butt hurt about brexit ... and being a sore loser.
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@lucas1 And yet you don't know what language you're using, apart from it not being what you thought the contract was for, and
@lucas1 said in Contracts Part V : The Delphi way:
TBH I am off tomorrow.
Sounds great! Well done you!
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@tufty I love it.