The Curse of Corporate

Posted in r/developers

So, i'm on the job hunt again & i spend a good chunk of my day thinking about the decisions i have made. 1. Quit my first job at Digit insurance because the work was super monotonous. Wanted to try something different. 2. Discovered product management, started doing cases, eventually got an internship- Gap of 6 months 3. Did internships at a solar company & Shiprocket, then got a full time APM job at a logistics firm- salary bump of 4X 4. Learned that my mother had complications on her knee surgery, got severely sick & would require constant care. Quit my job to take care of her for 6 months. 5. Explored an idea of mentorship platform, validated with 100+ people but couldn't start due to feasibility problems. Got an offer from Cashkaro next as APM- Gap of 6 months Total gap so far- 18 months 6. Quit cashkaro on may due to very disrespectful culture(created specifically by founders), authority over influence, severe communication gap between tech & product(no standups, no meetings, no updates) 7. Looking for opportunities again- current gap of 3 months already What are your views on this? Anything i could've done better? I'm asking because no matter how hard I try to explain the gaps, the eyebrows are always raised. Getting rejected left & right, 70% of the jobs are secured for tier-1 folks & for the rest, it feels like you have to Ranbir Kapoor in Animal with Arjan vaily playing in the background(just slaughter everyone to go through) Would appreciate your views

It's gonna be long thread. I have been working as lead engineer in a early stage startup since last one year. Founder (20 years exp in Product Management) raised some money from friends & family to start it and but company was running negative from February and he put his money to pay employees salary for March & April and We were hoping for some investment in April but that didn't happen. During May & June, he was looking for funding more aggressively and even after having a good background in academics & top tech work experience in product management, no investor got convinced to invest in it. Our salary for March & April was delayed from actual payroll date by 7 days and 21 days respectively and We were expecting our May salary to be delayed by same period and our company was about to complete one year in first week of July so we had some one year benefits associated as well. But Boom, he invited everyone on call and tells that company will shutting it's operation from next day itself. And he will help us find our new jobs and he doesn't any clarity on pending salary. Although we knew, our company is not in good shape so salary cut or something might be happening soon but didn't expect this. Now, we have to find other jobs and also be unemployed while searching for job and also get exploited by other companies because we will be desperate to find jobs to pay our bills. I think, he did this just before 5-6 days of our one year anniversary just because he doesn't get legally bound to pay our one year benefits. I for sure, not gonna join any early stage in future who doesn't have enough funding. Just wanted to put this story out of my mind. Open for any suggestions you have for me Thank you

I am currently working as a senior engineer at a startup (yoe 6+). Initially things were good , but from the last few months The workplace turned toxic and all the nasty things started happening around me. The burn out was deteriorating mental and physical health, so i lost my patience and resigned. Making this ama , so that I can help someone who is going through the same situation.

It's getting dirtier by the day and sure some orgs are still up to their dirty tricks. The models: - Appraise and then Lay Off: Why bother putting bandaid on a stab wound? Anyways the folks are going to fight how to answer the ..why were you laid off war, and now you are adding another twist.. why were you appraised and then laid off? - Low appraisals to force quit: Undervalue them so they leave on their own. It’s a leeches way to cut costs. Kill morale 100%. Severance penny spent $0. - Trap them in PIP: Dress it up however you want - very very few escape this death sentence. - Silent treatment: No assignments, No meetings. Watch them spiral into anxiety and leave to save their sanity. - Workload overload: Drown them in work until they break. No need for layoffs list until they make it to your collapse list first. - Strategic reorg: Re-organize them out of existence. Offer a demotion or a proxy role in a random team that you know they dont want as an alternative. - Sudden policy changes: oh! I have seen so many I can't keep up with this one. New policies that make their life hell. People leave to escape your pettiness. - Mandatory relocation: Demand they move to an undesirable location. Then you treat remote employees like outsiders. Exclude them from key projects, conversations until they feel like foster care kids, second-class citizens. You know the outcome from there on. - Use the "Culture Fit" excuse: Call out how they’re not a culture fit. Vague, unchallengeable, and forces them out without severance. And don't sell me "the org has got to do what it has got to do to survive" line. I don't buy that If you have seen this being done, I understand your silence, but I don't value it. If this has been done to you or someone close to you, I am sorry. Orgs and the people failed you. We could be 1000x better than what we are operating as.

I want to share my experience as a fresher at Accenture, my first company from a college placement. The first six months were fine, but then I faced severe mental harassment from my supervisor and manager. She constantly criticized my work and gave negative feedback, causing me immense stress. I often skipped meals and worked weekends to improve, but nothing helped. Despite reporting the issue and requesting a supervisor change or a different track, my requests were ignored. The harassment worsened, affecting my physical health, and I couldn't eat or sleep properly. My manager controlled trivial aspects like where to sit and whom to talk to, making the situation unbearable. I was even forced to switch from a developer role to a tester, despite being trained as a developer. The final straw was being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) without a clear reason, with the same harassing individuals assessing me. I only had 1.9 years of experience then. I reported the mental harassment to HR and resigned due to deteriorating health, panic attacks, and weight loss. Despite having no other job offer, I couldn't continue. Even during my notice period, I was forced to complete PIP assignments, which led to suicidal thoughts and further health issues. Now, I am jobless, feeling helpless and frustrated. With less than 2 of experience, I struggle to find offers in a down IT market and don't know what to do next.

I recently left a good company to join a startup. Now after joining I come to know they have working Saturdays and in 2 weeks I'm already burnt out. There is literally no process to do things and in my first feature their psycho tech lead had mood swings and asked me to refractor the code 3 times based on his mood swings. The signs are really bad and I don't want to stay here anymore. Is the tech hiring picking up? I'm prepared to sit for a couple of months without a job as well tbh. But if the market is too bad then that may be a worse step than staying here. Regretting the switch.

So I interviewed for a SaaS company serving US clients. I got selected after three rounds (basic email chat, built a project, technical coding round at last) and got selected. Finally, it was time to discuss salary and joining date with the CEO. He was impressed by the about section on my portfolio, where I mentioned that I like to go on treks, hikes, read books, lift weights, go on a run, etc. During our call he mentioned that everyone at the startup works 6-7days a week, 12hrs a day and asked if I'd be fine with it as I have a "happening life". I said that I'm not used to it but I'll manage and work in appropriate working hours. He seemed to agree on it. But he ghosted me after that, and when I pinged him in the email thread; he said he's not moving ahead with me because my other properties won't allow me to "work as much as other employees". How am I supposed to react to this lol

This is truly truly heartbreaking to hear.