Reply to: The grass is not always greener

[TheDude]

Unfortunately in my experience all those places operate on the Peter Principle. You need to be a D or MD for big bucks so getting it becomes the job.

Very few in technology make MD.

No idea what a director gets paid but my guess is that it is a very broad salary range. The same for VPs but I suspect few VPs make over £150k

[Guy Incognito]

Unfortunately in my experience all those places operate on the Peter Principle. You need to be a D or MD for big bucks so getting it becomes the job.

[TheDude]

Similar story to mine....

Got converted to perm after 12 months as a contractor & a very well known investment bank in Canary Wharf......

Can you provide a clue which one?

I worked at a European one and was shocked at the quality of many of the staff. The place was full of Directors and MDs who you could tell put more effort into keeping their job than actually doing it.

That said it was really easy to shine.

[lecyclist]

Similar story to mine....

...
Constantly micro-managing
Does not have a clue about pretty much anything work or otherwise
Gets aggressive when challenged
Does not want to hear anything except yes
Hiring all their best friends (who also do not have a clue about anything)
Trying to push all the existing well establish team members out (does not care if they resign or move to another team)
Everything this new manager touches is a total disaster yet they will never ever accept they are the big problem & do not know the solution
Will not delegate anything to anyone else except their recently hired best friends

...

Almost a complete checklist for toxic workplace bingo.

I would add:

- Sh!ts on everyone below, fawns over upper management.
- Disconnects team from upper management (all news passes through them, they control the narrative/ claim the credit for success, also maximises blame control)
- Congratulates individuals face to face, snipes about others behind their backs (keeps team on edge, plays people against each other)

And voilà, you have a typical toxic I.T banking environment

[uk contractor]

Similar story to mine....

Got converted to perm after 12 months as a contractor & a very well known investment bank in Canary Wharf......

Original hiring manager was a very nice person & decent human being!

They moved to another part of the business due to internal politics......the replacement is an absolute bell-end & morning to night nightmare!!

Constantly micro-managing
Does not have a clue about pretty much anything work or otherwise
Gets aggressive when challenged
Does not want to hear anything except yes
Hiring all their best friends (who also do not have a clue about anything)
Trying to push all the existing well establish team members out (does not care if they resign or move to another team)
Everything this new manager touches is a total disaster yet they will never ever accept they are the big problem & do not know the solution
Will not delegate anything to anyone else except their recently hired best friends

It's so bad I am looking to move from perm back to contracting ASAP for mental health reasons its simply not worth the stress & hassle of dealing with such an individual as this (who has almost 20 years service so not likely to be leaving anytime soon are they!)

[Paralytic]

And likewise there's often a little bully who can't see a professional discussion is not the place for personal attacks. Off you trot to General. The number of typos in your post makes it seem like you were probably typing with one hand getting all excited.

[Lance]

I get paid regardless whether I work during my lunchbreak or not.

Permie!!!!

[sadkingbilly]

And likewise there's often a little bully who can't see a professional discussion is not the place for personal attacks. Off you trot to General. The number of typos in your post makes it seem like you were probably typing with one hand getting all excited.

[d000hg]

MaNy internet forums are Like that too - someone who is jUst too Keen to add their opinion to every single post.

And likewise there's often a little bully who can't see a professional discussion is not the place for personal attacks. Off you trot to General. The number of typos in your post makes it seem like you were probably typing with one hand getting all excited.

[Paralytic]

Some teams are very terse, some have at least one person who just wants to ramble on and on.

MaNy internet forums are Like that too - someone who is jUst too Keen to add their opinion to every single post.

[d000hg]

And yet how many PMs book 30 minute standups each day, for 3 people?

It's a good chance to have a bit of time for general chat after the SU bit on anything that crops up. Sometimes our meetings are 15min sometimes 3.
Although the argument any meeting tends to fill to the time allotted (and a bit more) is often valid depending who is in your time. Some teams are very terse, some have at least one person who just wants to ramble on and on.

[PCTNN]

And yet how many PMs book 30 minute standups each day, for 3 people?

That's because 30 minutes is the default meeting length you get in outlook and you get 30mins intervals in the wee dropdown. Knowing it's PMs we're talking about, I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't figure out how to manually shorten meetings in outlook

[Whorty]

Scrums are - what did you do yesterday, what are you doing today and where do you have problems with a brief overview so that appropriate people volunteer to help.

Anything beyond that is for outside the scrum meeting…

And yet how many PMs book 30 minute standups each day, for 3 people?

[PCTNN]

I recently took a 15% rate cut to do 50% less work.... Actually enjoying life for a bit less money. Lots more free time for family and plan B.

That's the way to do it. Money is secondary, time to spend with your loved ones is the scarce resource here.

[PCTNN]

Using a stand-up as a time to get some fresh air sounds nice though. Do it on your earpiece while you walk the dog and get paid for it

I'd rather walk the dog and chat with my partner and actually enjoy my lunchbreak without the hassle of having to follow a standup. I get paid regardless whether I work during my lunchbreak or not.