It doesn't have to be stressful or full-commitment. I'm cool with $50k ARR.
32 karma · joined February 19, 2020
I think it's three pieces that need to come together. The source, the system it's running on, and the user. You don't necessarily need all 3
1. If you only have the user and the source but not the system then you're screwed. I could print out the entire FreeBSD source and docs, go back in time to 1820 and it would be pretty much useless since I need a C compiler and a million transistors, power supply and a bunch of other stuff. Obviously this is an extreme example, since most of the time you'd just have a slightly incomplete system (e.g. crappy build scripts but you know they built it on a unix system 2 years ago) so it's usually workable
2. If it's the user and the system then that's basically proprietary software. You can reverse engineer the source. Tedious but doable
3. If it's the source and the system, then you might be able to get a new user study both and understand everything again. Depends on the complexity of the source/system and the docs.
I think of it as an organism, like it can be damaged and heal itself. There is redundancy between these 3 axes. Depending the circumstances, you can heal it or it might be permanently damaged
Now that I see this comment thread, I really need to stop visiting that site. It was clearly dead by 2016 and it's only getting worse now. Even subs like /r/ExperiencedDevs and /r/CSCareerQuestions are terrible.
Yeah I only have a sample size of two, but I insinuated I was fired at both, and neither wanted to move forward. Perhaps I should have been blunt about it instead of hinting at it. Or maybe it was unrelated. Hard to tell. There might be a way to talk about it tactfully. For me, it's just easier to not mention it, since it can open a can of worms to talk about negative stuff, cuz I kind of hated my manager and that was what ultimately pushed me to get myself fired.
Regarding hernated disc, yeah it's pretty manageable for me now. I actually found a really good massage therapist that is helping me recover. Unfortunately there's a bit of a hiccup with this Coronavirus thing but it's not the borderline life-ruining thing it used to be
- I intentionally got myself fired so I could get an extra $25k in salary/severance/unemployment.
- It was my first job out of college.
- I have positive references I can give. (my manager sucked, other people were cool)
- Medical issue is physical and not mental. (herniated disc / sciatica).
Here is my advice:
- Practice interviewing at a bunch of no-name companies you don't care about. I practiced at a dozen or so startups, got rejected by half of them and learned the red flags. Now I'm at the onsite stage at Google / Facebook, both asked about previous employment history, which I talked about, and everything worked out ok because I practiced.
- DO NOT MENTION, OR INSINUATE, YOU WERE FIRED. And don't lie. If you imply that you were fired, nobody will give you a chance. This sounds like a death sentence, but thankfully interviewers don't probe into it too much if you tell the right story in the right way. Find a good narrative and build on it like you would an essay. Practice this. Over and over and over and over again. It's hard to get right, but once you do, it becomes a non-issue.
- I try to avoid saying negative stuff about my last job. It's about 50/50, some hiring managers see it as a red flag and others sympathize. It's best to come up with and practice a few neutral stories to tell them
- Nobody cares about a 6-month employment gap. I know plenty of people that take more than a year off. If anyone asks just say you were focusing on your health, family, hobbies, whatever.
- See as many practitioners as you possibly can about your medical issue. Good ones are hard to find. It took me 20 tries (and $5k down the toilet) before I found someone who could treat me.
- I should have put this behind me way sooner. Moving to a different city helped me a ton. I'd recommend getting an Airbnb in Lake Tahoe or Hawaii if you can afford it.
Good luck.
BTW, I don't know if asking the internet for advice on this subject is a good idea. I imagine it's gonna be mostly speculation. I'd seek out other people that have firsthand experience (i.e. they went blind) and ask what they did and how they're doing...
Google on the other hand, the recruiting pipeline is more spread out. Whether or not to hire is done at the organizational level (i.e. Cloud, Ads, Search, Core, etc), and that depends on whether or not there are openings in any teams. You are matched with a team before you are even hired.
So, like, obviously, if you have the cash to burn, now is the right time to hire employees. You can get good talent pretty cheap right now. So it's in Google's best interest to ramp up hiring. Unfortunately Google's recruiting pipeline does not support hiring a bunch of people and figuring out what team to be on later.
So yeah, basically, Google has shitty hiring practices. It has nothing to do with them "losing money", they have so much cash in the bank which will easily last till this is over.
I honestly have no clue. I'm slotted as L4/E4 at both companies. I'm single and am in NYC paying $50/day at an Airbnb but can cancel that and move back in with my parents whenever
So yeah I'm not really concerned with falling flat on my face, it just feels like a waste of time with quarantine and all. Doesn't feel like a vacation anymore
At least that's my understanding.