My manager thinks being on camera makes me more attentive and I contribute more to the call. 🤡

I recently started a new job. I would like to share some of the experiences I have had with my manager. I am wondering if these are red flags or if I am maybe being paranoid or thinking too much. It was quite difficult for me to get into this company and this job. The company is quite great and I was quite excited but some of the experiences I have had with my immediate manager have made me a bit apprehensive. I would like to share them and hear opinions about it. Here are some things which have happened which I have not liked so far - 1. I speak to a Senior Engineer one day and next day my manager asks me if anyone asked me to speak to him. 2. I shared an insight about a new tool which we can use on a deployment pipeline on the overall pod (under my skip manager). My manager immediately called me and started asking my status update and replied 'Discussing 1-1' in the group to prevent anyone getting visibility of the idea. 3. My manager pings me whenever I go offline and recently he asked me in a passive aggressive way, 'Please monitor your Teams status. It was away for most of today.' I now feel kind of paranoid to never get up as I feel my Teams status is being monitored.

I am having hybrid mode 2 days office and 3 days WFH and office is far (20kms from home) so regular commute is tough. But my productivity at home goes down drastically as it's just me at home and lot of slacking happens. Any tips to increase productivity while working from home

I recently got placed in a good product based company and was assigned in Data Engineering team 1-2 weeks ago as an intern. I always wanted to be a Software Development Engineer and I really like to develop applications, websites etc and I also really enjoy it. I even purchased an expensive system design book to learn and implement how they build scalable apps etc because I find it very interesting. I never persued the data domain because I don't like stats and all the maths. Avoided AI/ML in college. Sure, I can work and learn about it in my free time, but I don't prefer it as a job right now. I couldn't develop my interest in data engineering after researching about it online for hours. Yes, the stack is cool and different, they build pipelines and all but it looks boring to me. I also read few comments saying that freshers are rarely hired for this role and one should work as an sde for few years before switching to this domain, and also they are paid ≤ SDEs depending on the company. What should I do now? Please guide me seniors🙏 Am I stuck in this forever or can I switch to SDE anytime I want? I am open to trying this role but then I am also scared that it'd may be too late or too hard to switch to SDE by then..? P.s. This is my first job, never worked in a company before so I don't know how things work.

Question came up because it’s Independence Day 🇮🇳 A lot of us have had the privilege to be able to go abroad, but ended up choosing not to. For me, it was just believing there’s enough growth here in the coming few decades + friends/family Looking to hear if the reduced brain drain is actually true, and what makes people stay.

Recently started at my new job, and have my first ‘catch up’ with my manager’s manager. I know this is little to no context, but any general questions I should ask during this 1:1? I definitely need to make a good impression, especially considering the current climate. Thanks!

Thought I will make this revelation. Smart Managers deliberately continue to keep ordinary people in their team and these people are given a decent hike too so that they can stay in the company until there is a layoff scenario. This generally happens with product based companies that undergo periodic layoffs regardless of economic slowdown. So if you are an ordinary employee & continue to get encouraging feedback from your manager plus a decent hike every year, beware! This might be a smart-trap laid by your manager.

It's been almost two years since I have been working for a startup and I report to a founder. The work has been quite remote and the teams collaborate remotely. How often should I have one to one sessions with my manager? The last time we had a one to one was during my appraisal which happened a year ago post which we never met 1:1. However, we meet once a week on a group staff meetings which is driven on a specific business agenda? Is this something healthy?

Hello Grapeviners. So I was put into Focus (coaching plan, pre-PIP) at Amazon. After the focus period ended I was given two options Leave with severance Go into PIP I chose to leave. So I am currently serving notice period. My manager is trying to get some unfinished work done from me. I don't want to finish it. There are multiple reasons for it. Finishing this task will benefit him more than me.I am already stressed about looking for my next job Here's the question: My manager says that I can provide his reference to my next recruiter/hiring manager and he will provide good feedback about me. (He said this so that I feel indebted to him and finish whatever task that he assigns me) Do hiring managers/recruiters reach out to your previous manager? Can they reach out to your previous team members instead? My teammates have seen me working on the frontlines and know everything about me from my work ethic to my abilities. They can vouch for me way better than my manaher ever could. My manager always underestimated me severely. He put me into focus all because of his blindedness (this came from my teammate not me) I dont care about burning bridges with my manager because he was toxic af. Just wanted to know if recruiters will reach out to him or not? And can I instead provide a reference to my teammates