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72 points jakey_bakey | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.203s | source
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tristor ◴[] No.41917286[source]
There are three things I refuse to do for any company. I have never had a problem finding a job, even in "down markets". It does greatly constrain which companies are a fit, but I think understanding your own boundaries and being honest about it is actually crucially important to being happy at work.

My three refusals / boundaries are:

1. Work permanently from an office building, unless I am given a private office with a door that closes and locks.

2. Work within waterfall processes for software projects.

3. Work on an almost entirely outsourced team (whether that's "on-shore" or "off-shore" is irrelevant, contractors don't have skin in the game)

That's pretty much it, I'm otherwise remarkably flexible and have done a lot of interesting stuff in a lot of different domains through my relatively lengthy career. I've been permanent remote since 2015, so since well before the current WFH shift. For senior level technical people with unique skills, you've always had the leverage to set boundaries in even really poor labor markets, and even more so as you move up in corporate rank.

If I'm given a private office with a door that locks in a reasonably decent office building, and I am paid an appropriate amount to live within a reasonable commute without sacrificing my quality of life, I'd consider working in an office again for awhile. But so far I've never had a company that is willing to provide private offices for anyone below senior executive (SVP+) level, so remote it is.

replies(1): >>41920842 #
1. johnnyanmac ◴[] No.41920842[source]
> For senior level technical people with unique skills, you've always had the leverage to set boundaries in even really poor labor markets, and even more so as you move up in corporate rank.

I'm stuck in that "early senior" phase, so the downturn hit me at the perfectly wrong time for leverage, sadly. My domain doesn't help much, either. No one's really safe here.