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Re:My Angry Letter to My Ex-Employer by cookiecaper on Friday September 25, 2009 @02:38AM (#843035)
Yeah, I agree generally, but the letter contained no direct personal attacks and I hope that it can generally be understood as professional criticism, not an indictment of personality or a refusal to interact with the involved players later down the road. Of course, that's the most likely interpretation, regardless of the situation.

The company had already hired me as a contractor; I quit, they hired me back for a short contract, and this letter was written and sent after they terminated my services forty-some hours early this afternoon.

You'd think the six months I worked there previously would have been sufficient time to decide whether my work met their standards or not, but I guess it wasn't.

I wanted to try this largely because I don't know what kind of reaction I will get. The most likely is the cold shoulder, but the executives are really frustrated with IT right now, and I was hoping this letter would give some insight into the reasons why, and they just might be frustrated enough to change something. The letter isn't really angry, it doesn't go off on personal inadequacies or annoyances, just professional misconduct. We'll see if anything comes of it.

Re:My Angry Letter to My Ex-Employer by sokoloff on Friday September 25, 2009 @01:18PM (#843856)
Do you believe that a prospective employer who through a Google search on your name finds this rambling letter (no matter how accurate or anonymous) will be more or less likely to hire you?

I believe less. It's not like some others that I've read that are absolute bars, but IMO, this one doesn't help out your job search.

Re:My Angry Letter to My Ex-Employer by cookiecaper on Friday September 25, 2009 @07:07PM (#844645)
I don't know. I actually used to go to job interviews in street clothes intentionally to help provide assurance that my bosses wouldn't be tightwads; that's when I was a teenager and I dress up more now, but I still try to live by the same general philosophy when seeking employment. I'm honest in the interview and I don't try to project myself as something that I'm not; it's just a waste of time, imo, because neither of us will be happy if I make a misrepresentation to get my foot in the door, and it will just result in another bad sad story, of which I've had quite enough. I'm tired of roving. I need to find something that I'll be content to stick with for a long time. That's part of why my major focus is my own business right now.

I hope this letter does come up in a job search and that the employer allows me to provide context if he runs across it. I think it represents my personality; I'm not afraid to talk to you, I won't submit to scare tactics or disrespect any longer than absolutely necessary, and I expect respect and influence in my next position. I've never considered myself a "code monkey", that is, an inputless pawn of the higher-ups with no authority or place to influence or change systems, someone on staff only to implement things exactly as specified by his departmental superiors. I didn't get into programming to be a chump, I'm in it because I like solving problems, I like the actual engineering process. It's the difference between your civil engineer and your construction worker; the engineer designs the bridge, the construction worker puts it together. I don't mind wearing both hats, as long as it's established that I'm included, respected, and now I'd probably demand invested with the authority to determine direction in the actual engineering phase.

I understand chain-of-command and can acquiesce appropriately, as long as the circumstances are agreeable. As noted in the letter, I'm not willing to play the chump, I'm not willing to sell my sanity or emotional well-being or that of my family to line your pockets, and I'm sick of being put down by arrogant or dangerously naive patsies. If that's what you're looking for, then I hope you don't hire me.

That said, I don't really intend on getting another job. I've had enough of productions like this one, I'm really quite tired of it. I don't think I'll accept another full-time position unless I can be placed as an IT overlord; not necessarily singly, I don't mind and would probably appreciate a cooperative effort, but I don't want to be subject to a developer with six years less experience than me again, because it's happened a few times before this and it's never been very fun. I've had quite enough of that, I think.