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Comment by ghostbrainalpha | Hacker News Reader

Working for the mob can be a good deal.

Basically no oversight into what you are doing because they don't have the technical knowledge to judge your work. Overpay (if sometimes irregular), and easy hours.

As long as you don't "know" they are doing anything illegal with your work, and no one can prove that you know what they are doing. It can work out.

The worst part about it is they try to make up for their lack of technical knowledge as a manager by becoming close with you in a personal way.

Source: I worked for someone convicted of multiple crimes (racketeering, assault, intimidation of a juror), but on his legitimate business.

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> As long as you don't "know" they are doing anything illegal with your work, and no one can prove that you know what they are doing. It can work out.

...and no personal ethical dilemmas with said arrangement.

> The worst part about it is they try to make up for their lack of technical knowledge as a manager by becoming close with you in a personal way.

FWIW, this happens outside the mob too.

Working for the mob is a tenuous deal. Because you probably don't know unless you are involved in illegal things. BUT like many business owners they are kind of desperate because they can't hire good talent easily.

So it could be an option (for some people, and maybe not even good), but really unless you can deal with stress and people well it won't go well. I was able to learn to deal with both pretty quickly. And I credit some of that early experience to being able to just dive into projects I know nothing about.

But it can all go sideways pretty quick. I have a feeling that is more common. Plus you don't want to be involved in an investigation.

I've heard surprisingly good things in general about working for shady organizations. Usually they treat you splendidly and go out of their way to make sure you're happy with your work. However, the techy dude who actually built the system that lets a bunch of folks rip off ATMs quite often ends up being the fall guy and losing all of their accumulated wealth. It is a gamble that can and usually does pay off but one where the expected gain is still much lower than just working in a legitimate field.

When did the lack of technical knowledge ever stopped managers from oversighting the work? I for some reason don't think that "the mob" has any more lenience than the military, for example — and its pretty much the universal rule that the military believes in "tenacity prevails over everything, it prevails even over the reason" like no one else.

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