Ask HN: I hate my new job, Need some advice

42 点作者 payamb将近 10 年前

I'm a PHP developer with about 3-4 years experience , living and working in UK, About 2 months ago i had to move to Manchester, because of a personal situation, so i had to leave my job ( which i regret now ), I was the lead developer of a high exposure web application and i enjoyed what i was doing over there , architecture design, coding, testing, monitoring ..., I was really motivated, keep myself updated everyday, learning new things everyweek and use them in projects right away. Anyway when i moved to Manchester i had many job offers ( hard to find developers in UK i guess ) but i accepted a digital agency offer ( without actually knowing what i have to do everyday ) , Salary is about average ( £26k ) but i don't like my job at all, creating pointless websites for clients, jumping from Magento to Wordpress to Drupal and now, I'm not only developer, I have to do some designing ( which isn't my thing ) and integrate them into CMSes. I'm doing the junior developer's job now and its hurting me, I feel pain everyday i want to go to work, and i just want to kill time to finish the day and count the days waiting for weekend to come ... I know I should have done more research before joining this company, its my own fault to put myself in misery, I feel bad for this guys , They have probably spent a few grand for recruitment agencies fees to hire me and if I want to leave them and it takes them another month or two to find a replacement for me. I have good amount of job offers , But I don't know what do to now, I hate my job and I feel bad to leave them, What would you do if you were in my place ?

33 条评论

ColinWright将近 10 年前

Think hard: Can you take control of your work and mutate it into something you care about and gives you a degree of satisfaction?If not, take another job and leave now. Don't hang on, be willing to help find your replacement, be honest and up front.If there is a chance that you can take control and change the job then go to your boss and say what you think should happen to make the company stronger, better, and offer to help them do that.If they don't enter a conversation with you about it: leave.If nothing seems to be happening within days: leave. Accept no excuse.But if things improve, you've made your job better and helped the company.But don't feel bad about leaving. You've done some work, you've been paid for that work at the agreed rate, and so you owe them nothing.Be prepared to try to take control of your own work, and your own future. You are of value - the job offers make that clear - and if your current company doesn't agree, then agree to part.

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J-dawg将近 10 年前

This may be counter to a lot of the comments here, but please, please, please don't hand in your notice until you have another job offer. I did this a few years ago, and ended up doing crappy temp jobs for months. My savings ran out, I lost all confidence in myself and became visibly nervous in interviews. This created a positive feedback loop as I became more and more desperate. It took me years to fully recover from the experience. I should add that I was not a developer at the time (I came to programming somewhat late), but I think this advice applies to any job.I never fully appreciated the suspicion you're treated with if you're not currently employed. I don't know if this is a cultural thing (I'm also in the UK). It raises a whole lot of extra questions that you really don't want to have to answer. I've read that some employers even use it as a filtering criterion.So by all means listen to the other responders and make a definite decision to leave, apply to every job you can. Book some annual leave to attend interviews. But please don't resign until you've accepted another job offer.

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edwhitesell将近 10 年前

Life's too short. Find something you enjoy and leave. At least in the US, if you weren't performing or if you were bringing the team down, that alone could be enough for the company to let you go. Sometimes loyalty doesn't get you very far.Basically, if you're not happy, find something that makes you happy. Otherwise, your days may be numbered anyway, but not at your choosing.

nthj将近 10 年前

Worked in a similar situation for a while. I feel your pain. You have three choices, I followed this progression:1. Stick it out. You'll become stupid. Remember those hard problems? The ones where you woke up early in the morning, excited to solve? Yeah, those. After a while, you won't be able to solve them anymore. You're out of practice. You can get the skill back, like any other skill, but it's a scary feeling. And it makes the drudgery even worse.2. Realize this is a business like any other and there are ways to use code to leverage for more cash. I was lucky to be working with only one CMS engine we were using for a bunch of clients, so optimizing was easier. This seems like it may be an even less viable option for you than it was for me. And it didn't work all that well for me, although it was fun for a little while.3. Get out. This is where you'll end up eventually. But 2 months on a resume looks a lot better than 10, and that's 8 months you'll never get back. And the agency should have negotiated with the recruiting firm that they get your fee back if you leave within 3-6 months, and if they didn't, well, that's on them for being foolish. Your responsibility is to you. When I finally decided this, my life got a lot better, really quick. Good luck. My email's in my profile if you want to talk offline. :)

nilkn将近 10 年前

I'm surprised that developers are hard to find and yet the salary offered is £26k (~$40k USD). I guess I'm missing a lot of cost of living context, though. $40k is still paycheck-to-paycheck territory in most major US cities unless you really cut down on all expenses.

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ujd739将近 10 年前

I relate deeply with you. I am a junior dev with master degree and accepted my first job in a big company without discussing my duties or activities. I asked several times what will be my everyday job and never received a clear answer. I end up doing maintenance on +10 years old application, trying to understand the architectural vision of the people in the begin-mid 2000's. It's hurt me everyday.Long story short: never accept a job without knowing your daily activities/responsibilities. Never trust the website of a company or the job ad. Ask questions and ask to meet the people you will work with (or at leat a team leader).I plan to quit this job and I am sending applications. What do you think about leaving before having another job and how to keep busy between two jobs and explain your decision during future interviews?

nbap将近 10 年前

I've been in a situation like yours once. I was really upset and didn't know what to do. By that time I was reading a Derek Sivers's book Anything you Want and I was feeling so much connected with the author that I've decided to send him an e-mail telling my story and asking for some advice/guidance. For my surprise, he replied my e-mail on the next day. I think his answer fits to your question, and by the way, it was exactly what I did and it couldn't have been better.Mr. Sivers's answer: "Quit now. If your heart's not in it, get out. Be honest with [...]. You're not helping them or your self by doing something you're not excited about. :-)"Don't be afraid to quit.

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thorin将近 10 年前

Next time try and find out what the job entails before taking it! I guess you are permanent, in which case the recruitment company won't get their full cash until you've been there a few months and you will still be on probation so you could leave easily.Surely a few months of bad work isn't the end of the world and you are learning more about what you actually want to be doing. Salary isn't amazing, so you could certainly do better. If you really care about your employer you could talk to them about your woes, but do they have anything more interesting to offer?Best start looking for a contract job now and you can find out whether you like the work first without committing to a longer stay.

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axisK将近 10 年前

In the short term you'll probably end up feeling guilty about it but it's much better to work somewhere where you don't hate the environment.Before I started my current job, I already had an accepted offer from another company (Company A). While I had some regrets about accepting the first offer too quickly I put it down to the second company (Company B) reacting slower and that they should probably have moved a bit quicker if filling the position was really a priority (they're interview process took much longer because the CTO was on holiday during the process).Eventually I did start working at Company A but realized within the first day that my co-workers had almost no passion and some of them had very questionable work ethic. After two weeks I contacted Company B and asked if they would still be interested in me working there and had the difficult conversation with my manager. At some point one of the directors had me explain to a client that I was leaving by my own choice - to this day I'm not even sure what this accomplished.I ended up being much happier at my current company and didn't have to work in an environment that I hated.Close friends even commented on noticing a change in my demeanour within the first few days of starting at Company B.Overall while I would do it again but I think it's also taught me to be careful when accepting a position as well as that it's much easier to rescind an accepted offer before you've started adding value to a company than resigning afterwards.

alinajaf将近 10 年前

FYI: £26k is not average for 3 years experience. I know kids straight out of coding bootcamps that started on £10k more than that.

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morganvachon将近 10 年前

I'm where you are right now; I like my boss but I don't like the job, and instead of using my talents they are keeping me chained to a sales desk where I cringe every time a sales call comes in. I do my job and do it well, but I could be a much greater asset if they would use me for what they hired me for. So, I'm looking for another job and my boss knows it. Now, he's having me train other existing employees to do my IT and repair duties as they have time, and is planning on hiring another salesperson.It's my personal opinion that the owner is being cheap; we recently lost our lead sales rep and that's why I got chucked into that role. The rep who left was making three times what I am (he had been with the company for 20+ years) but instead of hiring a replacement at base pay or raising my pay to a level where I could accept the extra duties, he is cheaping out. Now, he's losing me because of it and he admits that he regrets it.So, I say if they refuse to use your real talents and pay you what you're worth, it's definitely time to move on.

hcho将近 10 年前

Well, that's agencies for you. Most of them are terrible places to work and it won't get any better.Don't worry about recruitment fees. They don't get paid before you complete your probation period.

UK-AL将近 10 年前

Digital agency jobs are the worst. Its often quantity rather than quality. Pumping out the cookie-cutter projects, often managed by marketers and graphic designers rather than senior devs.

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jvandyke将近 10 年前

My 2p, quit asap. Start interviewing for the other jobs and enjoy your downtime in between jobs. It's not going to get better for you and now you know what working at an agency is like. Appreciate the lesson and move on.As far as what your current company feels, consider this. Are you producing at the level you know you could? If not, is it really better for them if you stick around? I just heard an example of this from the Design Details podcast where Kim Bost left Etsy to go to a smaller company in arguably a more socially important field. She wasn't enjoying herself not was she capable of doing her best work so she left after 4 months on good terms. It's better for both sides to quit early.

shinta将近 10 年前

My advice, leave your job, if you say there is high demand, you have one more excuse. One thing I've learned about working as a coder for more that 12 years is, if you don't like your job, you MUST quit, you spend more time at your job than you spend at your house, you can't be in a place where you feel sad most of the time, because you will feel sad most of the day. Quit and go try to work for a startup, they don't do high traffic/popularity work on agencies. Or do remote.

zhte415将近 10 年前

£26k is not a great salary. I'm not talking about Silicon Valley or even US scales, but that isn't good for saving money to buy a house in the UK. Make sure your next offer is competitive, and be creative in making it so, i.e. "This is my base for this work, for other ... in and above this role, that I've been consistent in, I'd like to expect an adjustment" and base this adjustment on the money value you achieve, or proxy it.

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petepete将近 10 年前

There are plenty of jobs in/around Manchester, you shouldn't have a problem finding something you at least enjoy. Concentrate on that first, working out your next career step is much easier if you're in a job you don't hate.It's worth meeting up with other like-minded people, there are plenty of tech talks at madlab[0] that will be full of people who are hiring or know who is hiring.Additionally, check out some of better-known agencies for vacancies[1,2,3,4][0] <a href="http://madlab.org.uk/" rel="nofollow">http://madlab.org.uk/</a>[1] <a href="https://www.fabric.co.uk/about/recruitment/" rel="nofollow">https://www.fabric.co.uk/about/recruitment/</a>[2] <a href="http://www.worshipdigital.co.uk/web-developer-manchester/" rel="nofollow">http://www.worshipdigital.co.uk/web-developer-manchester/</a>[3] <a href="http://www.magmadigital.co.uk/contact/career-opportunities/php-developers-php-5-object-oriented/" rel="nofollow">http://www.magmadigital.co.uk/contact/career-opportunities/p...</a>[4] <a href="http://www.studioskylab.com/careers/wordpress-web-application-developer.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.studioskylab.com/careers/wordpress-web-applicatio...</a>Disclaimer; I know nothing about the PHP landscape, so you may already be at one of the above, or they may be terrible employers. Take care and make sure you don't take a backward step.

payamb将近 10 年前

Thanks HN People, You certainly made me feel better. I'm going to hand my notice today ! Now I know what kinda of work should i look for next time ! Cheers !

spdionis将近 10 年前

This is the biggest danger of working in PHP actually. A lot of people do very cool things with PHP (despite the haters) but more people do the exact exceedingly amazingly boring work you describe. When interviewing for a PHP position you have to be very careful about what you're getting into.EDIT: Not saying that there is no boring work in other languages, but in PHP it's more common.

smtddr将近 10 年前

Just quit. It's not worth it. Sure, you may feel bad for the company but just know it's not like they'll go bankrupt if you leave(right?). I had to do that once, it was painful and I never had to do that before. Though I did try to work things out at first, after a month on the job it was clear it wasn't going to pan out. I even found out that someone else quit after 5 days for the same reason not long ago. I couldn't even do the 2-week notice thing, I just called my manager into a private office one Friday evening after everyone else left and just said, "I'm out. This isn't at all what I thought it was going to be". I put in my email to the manager that the whole thing was totally my fault[1]Looking back, it was definitely a case of me ignoring the warning signs and being too hopeful.1. At the time, I didn't see it that way... but I just don't like putting people in bad situations. I was leaving for a better gig, why not help the person taking the fall have a softer landing?

theaccordance将近 10 年前

Don't worry about the company, they need a motivated and happy worker and from what you've written, you're not that. They also may not be on the hook for the fee if you leave within a certain amount of time.Plan your exit, whether that's now or once you land another job, and don't look back.

austenallred将近 10 年前

It looks like you really hate this job. "I feel pain everyday I want to go to work" is not a healthy way to feel. It seems to me that the only correct answer is to take another job.There's no worse hell than spending 1/3 of your life doing something you hate, and spending 1/3 of it dreading that soon you have to go back soon. (The other 1/3 is sleeping). It just wasn't a good fit, that comes with the territory of hiring. They'll understand.It's really honorable of you to consider the company's time/money/feelings, but sticking around will just be delaying the inevitable and making yourself (more) miserable.

jusio将近 10 年前

TLDR version: find another job.If you hate your job, you better leave it. No matter how professional you are, it will show up on your quality of work, you will start slacking off eventually, and it will make you worse programmer than you are now. The fault is entirely on the company who hired you. They've seen your CV, they knew what kind of work you were going to do. I doubt they've even asked about this stuff. So it isn't your fault, and staying at this job will only hurt you. So you should find another job (but be more careful in choosing your next company).

Jack000将近 10 年前

I think the "fail early" advice is applicable here.I left my (quite rewarding) job of 3 years to travel and it was a very difficult decision. In retrospect I should have left much earlier, but instead I waited until I owned several big projects. I quit a few months after receiving their "employee of the quarter" award, still feeling pretty guilty about that one.If it's obvious that the situation isn't sustainable and that you'll have to leave sooner or later, sooner is preferable from all sides.

Milner08将近 10 年前

£26K seems pretty low, there are many graduate entry jobs with a higher wage than that. I do agree with the top comment though, If you can make a change, if you can improve the job your doing at the moment then you may find its better than another job you could end up with. I'm not really speaking from experience, but talk to you managers and see what they can do for you. Im sure they wouldn't want you to quit, and if they aren't fussed then you know its not the job for you.

Udo将近 10 年前

It looks like you're on the verge of quitting anyway, so why not march into your supervisor's office and tell them exactly what you just told us?Ask them if there is a position within the company that's better suited for you, or propose to create one that benefits both you and the company. If none of this is in the cards, at least you tried to work it out with them instead of just sending them a notice and going away. At this point you don't have a lot to lose, do you?

brudgers将近 10 年前

The question that comes to mind is, is it more the job or Manchester? By which I mean that if moving to Manchester is a source of unhappiness, then switching jobs may mitigate the issue a bit, but won't solve the whole problem. Of course, Manchester may be fine, but I only bring it up because it is at the head of your post, and it is presented as something about which you did not have a choice and things about which we have no choice can be sources of unhappiness.Good luck.

alain94040将近 10 年前

Nothing to worry about: find a great new job and move on. You don't owe your current employer anything. You clearly don't like your current job, so change it.You'll feel so much better afterwards.Recruitment fees are none of your concern. And frankly, working for a digital agency, what did you expect? Pro tip: for your next job, ask for more money. The higher your salary, the better you are treated.

beat将近 10 年前

Don't feel bad for them. Their recruiting process failed, or their internal processes have failed, if they brought someone in and can't make them happy. They're a business. Mistakes happen. It won't put them out of business to lose you - especially if you give them a comfortable notice.

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gorbachev将近 10 年前

Do not stay in that job any longer than you have to.It's not good for you (you're missing out on better opportunities and developing your skills), and it's not good for the company (you're not motivated and your work effort is not 100%).

petervandijck将近 10 年前

Get a job that's not an agency but has an in-house product (you seem to enjoy that much more), then leave.Give them a few weeks' notice, you don't owe them anything else really.

jacknews将近 10 年前

£26k is the UK average salary for an experienced developer, in 2015 (not 1995)? Don't think I'll be moving back anytime soon then...

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sdalfakj将近 10 年前

Gimme gimme