Ask HN: Where do seasoned devs look for short-term work?

Usually that will burn a bridge with that employer and look bad on your resume.

Much different career wise than having short term contracts that are designed around a specific job.

I know that companies don’t necessarily follow an ethical standard but I find that I can at least follow personal ethics and that’s within my control. I’ve always treated my employers like I would like to be treated, even if the employer was being a jerk.

Over 30 years I’ve found that people remember and it’s surprising how acting ethically sticks in people’s minds and comes back in positive yields. I like to think I’d act the same way no matter what, but it’s a plus that acting properly ends up being better in the long run.

Ethics are great but so is feeding your family and paying your mortgage.

Feeding your family is the more "ethical" thing here

You don't have to add it to your resume, right? If you want to mention the work in future interviews, you can easily talk about it as short-term contracting work.

I'm not sure what's wrong ethically about it though? Is it that you wouldn't have provided enough value to the firm in 9 months?

I get what you're saying, but this reasoning has always rubbed me the wrong way.

You will often hear scammers and con artists justify what they do by saying it's the only way they have to support their family. It's like, why is your family more important than any other family in the world? It's still a selfish act.

In the scenario described it’s not like feeding your family requires you to screw over your employer.

I think ethics are required to feed my family as if I don’t act ethically, my family will end up starving.

A gap on resumes is still a gap.

I invest a lot of attention, time, and resources in new employees and want to attract and retain people for long periods of time. I cover this during the interview process. If someone only wants to work for 9 months, they aren’t a good fit for my org. (Although we do have contract work for shorter term)

If someone lies and says they want to work long term to get the job, while planning to quit after 9 months, that stinks. As they are taking a spot from someone else who would be a better fit. And I’m wasting resources on them when they don’t need it.

It’s also that they wouldn’t have provided enough value as there’s a ramp up time in a position and I think it takes at least a few months to get going. So if there was ledger of ins and outs, after 9 months it’s still going to show a deficit.

disagree. feeding your own family IS more important to you. it has to be, because that is your responsibility. you are not responsible for other families. not at the expense of your own.

the question is rather: why is unethical behavior the only way to feed your family?

in case of the suggestion to just quit after 9 months i would say that if there is no other way to get work, then what choice do they have? this is similar to lying about the intention to have children. some might consider lying unethical, but it is so important that it is in fact legally protected in some countries.

> you are not responsible for other families.

Why not? Do you not consider yourself at all responsible for the wellbeing of society?

that's a very philosophical question, and i am happy to engage in a discussion if you like. let me start with that i believe that it is the very purpose of humanity to contribute to an ever advancing civilization. so yes, i do consider myself responsible for the wellbeing of society. in fact i am making that very choice right now, living with my family in a developing country so that i can make a meaningful contribution there and teach my children important values of life, instead of going back home where i could live on social benefits because caring for my children would prevent me from getting a job.

but at the end of the day i can't let my children starve to achieve that goal, nor am i responsible to feed all my neighbors who sometimes struggle to actually afford all their daily necessities. there has to be a balance somewhere. and as i said the balance is to not resort to unethical behavior. but that's not the same thing as giving other families a higher priority than my own which is what you are suggesting (you are not explicitly saying it, but the opposite reading of "why is your family more important than others?" is "why should other families be more important than yours?".)

i brought these children into the world, and my responsibility is towards them first. this does not mean that i ignore the needs of others, if i can help them. it also does not mean that i focus on giving my children an advantage over others, or that i protect them from their own mistakes. all i am doing is to make sure that they are healthy and learn, in school and in life. that is my priority because it is my responsibility alone. noone else is going to do that for me. i am the only one who can make sure that it happens. caring for society on the other hand is a group responsibility, not an individual one. i can and do contribute to that, but only as much as my primary responsibility of caring for my children allows.

People join wrong companies all the time and quit in less than a year. Same goes for companies, plenty of people get laid off during their first year. It sucks but it also gives us more liquid labor market where employees and employers know that they can get out of bad relationships easily. (And it usually favors employers)

One or two stints like that are not a problem. Nor is gap in resume should be an issue. (Yes some old school managers want perfect resume but many more understand that people now take time off to explore other interests, travel, start their own ventures etc)