Is it ok to refuse to work on a project? | Hacker News Reader

Is it ok to refuse to work on a project?

8 pointssafronovDen11 comments

I've been working working for a company for about 3 months. I've been hired to work on backend, but that project is on hold. Lately been doing more and more front end work. Currently I'm told to work on front end implementation for a project that I absolutely not excited about. I asked for something else, but was told all other projects are on hold. I really don't want to be working on this one. Feel pretty stressed and sad. Thinking about quitting.

Have you ever been in situation like this?

Am I just being lazy?

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3 months in, sorry you gotta dig in and step up or step out. Your first year should shine. You should be impressively getting it done. After that first year if you did a good job then you have earned some pushback points. 3 months in - I’d say you are still way too new unless you have prior experience with the team you are with. It’s fair to not like the project but you should have a clear understanding of how it will positively impact the business. Ask your manager to help you by reinforcing what that impact will be and yeah if they have a crap answer we’ll the job market is hot so go shopping but keep in mind short hops on a resume do look bad.

So you need to consider this a very large equation, and it involves your value to the company compared to their value to you.

So let's look at the right side: their value to you. Do you need the money? Do you have a family to support? Can you find another job quickly in {your city here}, or are you senior and need more time? If you quit, can you coast on savings and credit until you find something else? Do you think it's easier to find a job in your market while employed or unemployed? If you search while working, can you pull it off without tipping off your coworkers?

These things will determine how quickly you can bail and find new work if you decide you don't want this job.

Now let's look at left side. If you say no, can the company replace you quickly? Can the job be handed to the guy in the next cube, marking you as redundant? Do you have some special business knowledge and/or talent that can't be replaced quickly?

(An aside: Remember, ABOVE ALL, that everyone is replaceable given enough money and time so you should be continuously aware of what value your company places on you. That is a career skill you need forever, so learn it quickly. Know when it's time to jump and when it's time to negotiate for better treatment.)

Now compute the two sides out (it's never a perfect equality) and play the scenario in your head. You can certainly say no and the company can fire you on the spot or perhaps slowly work on replacing you without telling you. This is the absolute worst case for you. Being fired makes life a lot harder going forward and takes a long time to recover from.

Perhaps the company is more sympathetic and will reconsider their order and find something different for you to work on.

But don't count on it. Go with the worst-case scenario and think it through. We've all had assignments we don't want to do, it comes with the business. Don't think if you move to a new company it won't happen again. Sometimes you need to excel on sucky gruntwork projects to get trusted with the shiny nice and fun ones, especially if you are young and/or new to the company. Perhaps having extensive experience on the frontend will supremely qualify you for the backend work later.

We used to call this "paying your dues".

Good luck.

How much of your negative feelings stem from the fact that it is a front end project rather than backend?

I feel there is an unfair stigma against front-end development in most engineering organizations. Without front-ends most backend systems would serve no purpose at all if the end user is a non-engineer customer/client/user. The frontend experience makes or breaks most endeavors. It’s of immense business value to have clean, maintainable bug-free front end code.

I frequently see projects of great value stall due to the bottleneck of having too few willing frontend developers to take the project across the finish line and turn a backend system into a usable product.

Are they asking you to work on that project permanently for would it be <6 months. If it's short term I would just agree to work on it while letting your manager/whoever know it's not your preference. That way they know you're doing them a favor, and if they try to shaft you again you have a much better argument to refuse: "This is not what I was hired for, and I already worked on my non-preferred project once before." If they shaft you a second time I think it pretty much shows they don't respect or care about you and you can feel fine quitting.

Especially at a new job you don't want to show that you're a team player, willing to fill in where needed, etc.

life is short. you better spend your time on something important. find a better job then quit.

in the mean time learn whatever you can about the new project. you might actually like it.

You're not being lazy, you applied to and were hired into a position for back-end development which would indicate that the company had substantial needs for that type of expertise. Poor planning on their part and this could derail your career if you are not careful.

I have been in this situation before, although reversed (hired for front-end and design, tasked with back-end maintenance), and I eventually left the company due to their multiple repeated shell games. The experience has made me much more selective in regards to employment opportunities.

IMHO you should consider that you have been hired into a different job than you applied for, and you should leave the company as quickly as is convenient for you. If that means showing up and getting paid for six months while you find another opportunity then so be it. Luckily since you have only been there three months then your interviewing skills should still be fresh.

You could use this as an opportunity to show you are capable to handle anything that is thrown at you. This is a highly valuable skill, way more valuable than your current tech stack. For you personally and the company hiring you.

After you have proven your value then talk to your boss. If things don't change, move on. Surely you'll find something better.

Sometimes, you'll end up in a situation where the money does not matter and that work may not teach you something - and it may solely make money for the company.

At that point, you may as well refuse to do that work. Because if you take it, you'll do it without any interest. And it will suck.

You need to talk to your manager about this. In depth. Explain how it’s affecting your morale. You also need to brush up your resume.

If someone on my team refused an assignment without a damn good reason, I would see that as a major attitude problem.

Find a new job, or suck it up and expand your skill-set. If you have less than 15 years of experience, probably not a bad idea to add new skills, just sayin'

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