Thread

The senior engineer death spiral

285 points · 150 comments · nsavage

hsbalanxvxjsmab · 1789923615 · focus · HN ↗
I'm a staff engineer and I haven't thought about trying to get promoted a single day in my life. Do good work and be nice the rest follows
1. Arainach · 1789924420 · focus · HN ↗
  This was never really true at most places, and even where it was sort of true, it's been false since 2023.
  The ladder has collapsed. No more juniors to mentor and grow (in some cases no more US hiring period), and all of the carrots have been replaced with sticks. If you're lucky, the reward for doing good work and being nice is 'not being laid off', but the promo budget is gone and it's not like your boss gets a say in who's laid off so may the odds be ever in your favor.
  1. hsbalanxvxjsmab · 1789924635 · focus · HN ↗
    Find a new job because this is absolutely not the case at any company where I know ppl in tech
    b112 · 1789926007 · focus · HN ↗
    Maybe it's your fancy name, which gets you those promotions.
    hluska · 1789927716 · focus · HN ↗
    Grow up.
    b112 · 1789937570 · focus · HN ↗
    The guy's handle is literally 20 random characters, it's hardly harmful to joke about it. Why the anger?
    Arainach · 1789945661 · focus · HN ↗
    In general, joking that people's promotions are due to their names is thinly veiled racism, especially considering it's a very real phenomenon[0].
    Jokes in general are, if not explicitly against site norms, discouraged: "Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive." [1]
    [0]: <a href="https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/employee-relations/viewpoint-how-persons-name-can-prompt-hiring-discrimination" rel="nofollow">https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/employee-relations/vi...
    [1]: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html">https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    b112 · 1789950417 · focus · HN ↗
    I have no idea what the person's real name is, their ethnicity, where they come from. How on earth could you make a racist statement about someone, if you don't know any of those things?
    What a ridiculous presumption.
    Arainach · 1789952108 · focus · HN ↗
    If you have no idea what their real name, and their user name doesn't seem to be related to their real name, then the "joke" doesn't make any sense and would fall flat.
    So either you made a joke that isn't funny or one that is offensive. Either way, there's your answer to why people didn't react positively.
    vuurmot · 1789955838 · focus · HN ↗
    lmao you are insane
    rerdavies · 1789966823 · focus · HN ↗
    False dichotomy. I thought it was funny, and not in the least bit offensive. (And I also think it's a great handle).
    allarm · 1790019907 · focus · HN ↗
    It must be hard to be you. There are so many racists around.
    cucumber3732842 · 1789994884 · focus · HN ↗
    I know a dude with a traditionally female name. Dude just job hops. The wide "HR bins 99/100 resumes" part of the filter doesn't seem to apply to him...
    He's a fine guy, and a fine coworker, but he's not the hot shit his resume progression would suggest.
    I guess that's worth being taunted in graded school.
    qwerpy · 1789961749 · focus · HN ↗
    Apparently no one liked this, but I did. Harmless humor joking about a letter salad of a username.
    [deleted] · 1789994817 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]

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