This Business and Moment...

Kreeeee said:
I'm surprised it hasn't given how much the UK companies seem to push for part time staff. I guess people then need multiple jobs as they don't pay a living wage in the UK.
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With the cost of everything shooting through the roof at the moment I think people are resigning themselves to the fact they're going to have to work the hours that are needed to pay the bills
 
Cheers all, got the contract through and I've gone for it.

Didn't go down well with the new employer, did my best to keep things amicable but have certainly burned some bridges.
 
Had 2 interviews yesterday (both for a regional manager role) however one is internal and approx +30% my base salary one was external on +80% my base salary.

The internal position was the first of the two interviews (which I arranged back-to-back) and I felt I did "OK". I know I answered the questions well enough I can't help but shake that I left something on the table, whereas the second was much more relaxed and I seemed to click with the hiring manager.

Hoping to hear back next week at the latest :o
 
Feel like I’m struggling a little at the moment and not sure what to do.

I don’t like change much, been in my current role 8 years or so now but am feeling a bit deflated with it of late.

I like the core of what my job is/should be, but things in the company are changing and feels like the role is as well.

Am speaking to a few other companies in same industry, some direct competitors, but the thought of actually leaving to go somewhere else is a bit nerve wracking for me.

Especially moving from a huge company to effectively a startup, albeit a large one.

Maybe I’m a bit ‘institutionalised’, I have it easy/comfy where I am and make good money doing so. Whilst up until now I’ve been happy sitting and doing whatever’s needed, now it’s getting to the point where not enjoying some of the things we’re now being expected to do.

I guess until I have a job offer infront of me it’s not a worry I’ll have to think about!

(have left it all suitably vague on purpose!)
 
(sorry need to vent)

God i'm exhausted, totally exhausted.. Haven't felt this mentally exhausted for years.

Life at Amazon is slowly starting to drive me down, I don't think I want to do it anymore. Sure I get to work on nice cutting edge tech, but the reality is - it's just bloody chaos. Everything is run down to the bone - everything is months overdue, managers/program directors don't care - they just want it now.

One huge problem is people leaving, the "great resignation" has been a huge problem for us, we've lost about 5 people from our team in the last month or two - we didn't have enough people before, we're ******* now - people just don't want to put up with this work environment. Hiring people is a nightmare, the learning curve at AWS is vertical - it takes about 6-9 months before someone joining is able to contribute in any way.

I enjoy working on the technical stuff, but everything you work on is always on fire, it's not a case of working on some nice big project and making everything nice - by the time you get allocated the project, it'll have been **** on by someody else who left, be 3 months behind and on fire.

Sure I get paid a lot (!) of money, but this last 12 months - I've ended up on anti-depressants and I'm trying to sort everything out and to be honest - I'm just kinda burnt out with everything.

I'm on a 3 month notice, I'm very tempted to just hand it in and get looking - there's so much out there right now.....

Sorry.. just ranting... bloody knackered....
 
Screeeech said:
(sorry need to vent)

God i'm exhausted, totally exhausted.. Haven't felt this mentally exhausted for years.

Life at Amazon is slowly starting to drive me down, I don't think I want to do it anymore. Sure I get to work on nice cutting edge tech, but the reality is - it's just bloody chaos. Everything is run down to the bone - everything is months overdue, managers/program directors don't care - they just want it now.

One huge problem is people leaving, the "great resignation" has been a huge problem for us, we've lost about 5 people from our team in the last month or two - we didn't have enough people before, we're ******* now - people just don't want to put up with this work environment. Hiring people is a nightmare, the learning curve at AWS is vertical - it takes about 6-9 months before someone joining is able to contribute in any way.

I enjoy working on the technical stuff, but everything you work on is always on fire, it's not a case of working on some nice big project and making everything nice - by the time you get allocated the project, it'll have been **** on by someody else who left, be 3 months behind and on fire.

Sure I get paid a lot (!) of money, but this last 12 months - I've ended up on anti-depressants and I'm trying to sort everything out and to be honest - I'm just kinda burnt out with everything.

I'm on a 3 month notice, I'm very tempted to just hand it in and get looking - there's so much out there right now.....

Sorry.. just ranting... bloody knackered....
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When it gets that bad then its time to leave!
 
Screeeech said:
(sorry need to vent)

God i'm exhausted, totally exhausted.. Haven't felt this mentally exhausted for years.

Life at Amazon is slowly starting to drive me down, I don't think I want to do it anymore. Sure I get to work on nice cutting edge tech, but the reality is - it's just bloody chaos. Everything is run down to the bone - everything is months overdue, managers/program directors don't care - they just want it now.

One huge problem is people leaving, the "great resignation" has been a huge problem for us, we've lost about 5 people from our team in the last month or two - we didn't have enough people before, we're ******* now - people just don't want to put up with this work environment. Hiring people is a nightmare, the learning curve at AWS is vertical - it takes about 6-9 months before someone joining is able to contribute in any way.

I enjoy working on the technical stuff, but everything you work on is always on fire, it's not a case of working on some nice big project and making everything nice - by the time you get allocated the project, it'll have been **** on by someody else who left, be 3 months behind and on fire.

Sure I get paid a lot (!) of money, but this last 12 months - I've ended up on anti-depressants and I'm trying to sort everything out and to be honest - I'm just kinda burnt out with everything.

I'm on a 3 month notice, I'm very tempted to just hand it in and get looking - there's so much out there right now.....

Sorry.. just ranting... bloody knackered....
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Take the burn out/sick leave. Let them pay for it. Sounds like you've earned it, no shame.
 
Sorry to hear that @Screeeech :( It’s certainly extremely busy all the time. I haven’t worked so many hours after work for a long time, but for now I don’t mind too much as I’d rather learn new stuff than watch TV.

Are you in an Solutions Architect role? It’s way more pre-sales than I expected it to be.

No chance you can move internally instead? There’s no guarantee it would be any better, and if it’s forced you to take meds then maybe it is best to look for something new.
 
dLockers said:
Take the burn out/sick leave. Let them pay for it. Sounds like you've earned it, no shame.
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I've thought about it.. I had a few thoughts today where I thought "Nah,, cmon - you can do this, stop being a big softie, get it fixed/working, neck another 4x cans of redbull" then a colleague (an old-timer) who's one of the best network engineers I've ever met, pinged me in slack and told me to be careful - because he could see the program managers heaping pressure on me... I've never had anyone reach out to me like that before, it got me thinking "if other people are warning me, maybe this is getting silly?"

thewanted said:
Are you in an Solutions Architect role? It’s way more pre-sales than I expected it to be.
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I'm an NDE III, (senior network development engineer) so I'm basically confined to the engine room, most of the crap that goes on, on the internet probably flows across my fabrics, somehow... :p my life is basically Broadcom asics and BGP.

I think the most frustrating part, is that 90% of my time is spent wrestling with broken/complex deployment tools, than it is actually doing any sort of engineering or design.. It's a bit like being a mechanic trying to fix the most amazing cars, except each job you go to - you have to spend 4 hours trying to get your socket set to work, before you can actually do anything... Delivery at Amazon is just soul destroying at times.

But by far the biggest problem is people leaving, it's ******* us royally, the bar for joining is so insanely high, combined with the difficult interview loops and overall process, means that problem is never going to be fixed anytime soon.

It's sort of got to the point where I long for the weekend, I just cannot wait for the weekend - just want to go fishing, sit and watch the water and listen to the radio, listen to the birds, disconnect...
 
Ah, you're more "boots on the ground" than I am so I can't relate to what it's like being in a service team. I can imagine that it's super frustrating not being able to fix or implement stuff because the tooling get in the way.

If Amazon is a destination employer, where's everyone going?
 
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Screeeech said:
I'm on a 3 month notice, I'm very tempted to just hand it in and get looking - there's so much out there right now.....
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Where I am, I get tempted to do the same but can step back and laugh at the extent of the managerial deficiency. A project manager today made a suggestive comment that I've dug myself into a hole. The fact that it is the project manager in the hole, I really couldn't care less about the projects success or that I've been telling them for 6 months to avoid it was lost on them (including a meeting I arranged for them on a site, which no one else turned up to!).

thewanted said:
If Amazon is a destination employer, where's everyone going?
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It's a CV building employer. I wouldn't want to stay there long term.
 
thewanted said:
Ah, you're more "boots on the ground" than I am so I can't relate to what it's like being in a service team. I can imagine that it's super frustrating not being able to fix or implement stuff because the tooling get in the way.

If Amazon is a destination employer, where's everyone going?
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A lot of them go to Facebook, it's quite a bit smaller - far less stress and a bit more money in some cases, although I hate Facebook as a product. My ex-manager went to Twitter - she loves it there.

Trifid said:
Where I am, I get tempted to do the same but can step back and laugh at the extent of the managerial deficiency. A project manager today made a suggestive comment that I've dug myself into a hole. The fact that it is the project manager in the hole, I really couldn't care less about the projects success or that I've been telling them for 6 months to avoid it was lost on them (including a meeting I arranged for them on a site, which no one else turned up to!).
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Similar things happen here.

The way projects are run here - any project which completes in the "green" state, in terms of being within the time, or completing on the due date is classed as a failure of planning. The thinking is that if the project completed on the due date, then the expectations were far too slack and people weren't working hard enough.

The problem with that mentality is that it's burning the **** out of people, they need to start being more realistic, until they do - people will just walk because they're already able to get hired at Amazon in the first place, the chances are they'll get good offers from elsewhere are high, simply because of the experience and exposure you get here, so it's easy to leave.
 
Reminds me of the Steve Jobs quote…

I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
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It definitely sounds like you’ve reached that point where you don’t want to do it anymore. If it’s affecting your health then I’d be raising it ASAP with your line manager in a formal capacity…. The fact that others can see you drowning is a massive red flag for me.
 
EVH said:
Reminds me of the Steve Jobs quote…



It definitely sounds like you’ve reached that point where you don’t want to do it anymore. If it’s affecting your health then I’d be raising it ASAP with your line manager in a formal capacity…. The fact that others can see you drowning is a massive red flag for me.
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I'd worry about anyone who said yes most of the time to be honest. Perhaps those who like to preside over others and are in a position of authority?
 
Yeah sounds like a nonsense quote to me, just too extreme. I don't think I've ever had a day where my plans wouldn't change if I knew it was the last day of my life.
Maybe that's the point I suppose, i.e. every day you should look to change something.

Screeeech said:
I'm on a 3 month notice, I'm very tempted to just hand it in and get looking - there's so much out there right now....
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I did the same 18 months ago when the market was slightly less buoyant. It's a strange one, I don't regret it (now get paid more for less stress) but in the words of U2, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. I can see myself potentially just drifting between jobs for a bit now in search of something that motivates me; part of me thinks I'll have to do something drastic like completely change the type of work I do and take a >50% paycut to make it feel like I want to get out of bed in the morning.
 
Was on a call until 9pm last night, after a project we’re working on was going on and on. During the call my manager revealed quite enthusiastically that he’d been working since 5am, I wasn’t impressed at all.
 
Your health is worth more bud, you could walk into a lot of places with your level of knowledge and having Amazon on the CV will be a huge bonus.
 
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