@NickC Advertise the site to get more users, and don't be so gung-ho to close questions :) I don't want to post questions because I think they'll be closed (or it will take me too long to write one that possibly won't be closed)
I was working in a software company. My work was to do application programming with a little bit designing websites. I left that job due to some personal reasons. Now I am getting a job in a big software company as compared to the last one. But here I have to do only designing part. I love to wor...
For the past few months, I have been working with a coworker who, although is smart and hardworking, tends to make me promises which he doesn't live up to. These might be trivial ones like coming early on a particular day, or major ones such as completing his part of the report sooner.
A few po...
earlier he wrote this "But here I have to do only designing part" ... "I love to work with coding"
I have seen many people like this, and in my view such questions arise because they don't start out with curiosity of the new part as opposed to inertia towards leaving old.
So in that sense you cannot truly guide OP himself.
Actually, my honest answer to him will be : "Sometimes life has many new things hidden for us- so don't worry and embrace the change. Learn and enjoy new things and you will see a different world" ....
But as you can make out, it's not that constructive to put such philosophical answer here.
I like the edit just made to that question. It changed it to be more like "Should I take a job I don't necessarily want just because it will lead me to jobs I do want?"
I think OP wasn't really asking whether " Taking a detour (such as design from coding) " is sensible and what are the factors and risk.
He had left his previous job - and is now under pressure so he better pickup a job as soon as possible.
But, looks like what he has is not what was really worth it or what he was looking at it.
So now should I act "choosy" ? or better i would take up rather than repenting later? Should i take it or should i wait? or should i make some other smart deal with them?
That's his real concern.
So @normalocity has completely changed that meaning.
@DipanMehta I think it will help the OP make a decision. The op wanted us to make the decision for him so that he could blame us for failure. (Yes i am a cynic)
@DipanMehta But that question will help him answer that question for himself and hopefully help others who find themselves in a similar situation.
@DipanMehta I am very much the same way. I love to dive in and write code. That does not mean I do not like design. I would prefer to code. But while that gives context to the question it could have been formatted as:
I prefer to do something more logical but I have been offered a creative position.
I think normalicity's edit is even better
NM
Should I take the job, even though it's not a perfect match for where I want my career to go? Would it be a good stepping stone? I image (regardless of the programmer-specific duties listed in this question) that people have faced similar dilemas in all industries as they try to navigate their career paths. that is bad
@Chad And I agree with you about reopening the question about coworkers failing to keep up with what they promised to do. I'm interested in answers to that one as well
to all, looks like this is one more of the genuine attempt to get best out of question.
I think in situations (of OP) like this, it is natural that one is swung in the Whirlpool of emotions and hence sometime things are written more out of that state-of-mind.
It is natural that some of these questions might be genuinely poor looking; but if they have gotten from real situations, there is always a way to help situation better.
There's a problem I've noticed with most questions we close (and some we haven't yet): most of them are either too localized to be useful to more than one person, or they're too broad to be usefully answered.
For Too Localized we have questions about specific contracts, which really require lega...
From the votes on the question vs votes on answers/comments I can only assume everyone agrees there's an issue and no one agrees what exactly it is or what to do about it...
Hm, I had what was IMO a good question (how do I pursue a deliquient payment for freelance work) but is no longer an issue (they're responded for now), should I ask or what?
Can anyone tell me what they thought original version of the question was actually about? From my first reading of it (before I made changes) I always thought the question was about the choice of a not-perfectly-matched-job, and not about software at all.
My last job was doing application programming with a bit of web design for a software company. I left that job, and now have a job offer from a larger software company to do web design.
I love application programming and web design is not my ideal job, however the company did say it's possible (...
okay, but people who answer can address the "Is it a good idea to take a related, but not ideal job in hopes of moving onto my ideal job?" as opposed to the "Can I have a list of questions" portion.
Lists in themselves are not bad, but questions which ask for a list of answers, each containing one answer, are bad since then its moved from Q&A to a poll
@Chad Yes, but why is a question asking for a list not constructive? Because it turns into a poll
Providing the question isn't asked in such a way that the end result is a list of answers, each with one piece of the problem, questions which ask for lists are OK. For example, questions like "what should I ask in X situation" should be fine
That's the kind of thing I was trying to point out with my meta post about judging a question by what is asked, not how it's asked. Who cares what the actual words are, providing the context of the question is clear and constructive
You can't guide a subjective SE site by a set of rules, but rather by a set of guidelines
I was part of Programmers from the start, and trust me, they were WAY off topic and deserved some crackdowns (in fact, I was part of the problem since I didn't understand the purpose of the site)
(although I still disagree with the extent the crackdowns happened)
Well stated. I'll reiterate that there are plenty of discussion forums on this subject. We are here to create something better; to solve the problems prevalent in most open discussion forums -- Not to duplicate them. If you cannot forgo the discussions covered under "Not Constructive" and Good Subjective, Bad Subjective, there's no reason to have this site. I think calls to "relax the Q&A format requirements" would be a death knell to this site. — Robert Cartainoyesterday
I'm not asking to relax the SE Q&A format. The question is still a question which asks for an answer. It's not a question which is asking for a list of answers
bad subjective questions: search for reasons behind an answer, not just want an answer usually do not have one-line answers are objective, fair, and impartial invite experiences over opinions insist that opinions be backed up are more than just mindless fun
@Chad except that the interpretation of what is subjective is relative to the person making the interpretation. Hence, whether you call it a "rule" or not, it's a community, and there's can't realistically be one "true" interpretation of the guidelines; only a series of examples that we learn from.
I think we lost the subject of our discussion entirely.... if a question which asks for some questions to ask a potential employer is constructive or not
I respect your opinion on the matter, however I do not share it. I'm not looking to change your opinion, and only want whats best for the site :)
But if we want a successful, volunteer-run Q&A site, we have to deal with some users who ask sub-standard questions, and only know that the site is for asking questions and getting answers
If you expect every question asker to know how to write a good question, and how to phrase it well, then it will be a very small site and answer-givers will leave
Now if these users were paying for our services, we could require them to write questions in a specific format
I think we can let this one go. It's not going to seal the fate of the site. If, in six months, we go through the site and start cleaning up a bunch of questions that (in hind sight) aren't a good fit, and this question gets re-closed, so be it. I think we're debating around and around, and no one is going to change their opinion (which is totally fine). Perhaps time will clarify the direction we should take.
@Chad and I complete see, and can respect your opinion, Chad. It's clear from your fire that you care. I don't think this needs to ruin your faith in this SE. :) If, with time and more examples, it becomes clear that you're right and we're wrong, I'll be happy to change my point of view.
I can appreciate the concern over the perceived slippery slope. I just know that we're actually on a slippery slope. If we do get there we have the power to close questions, and things are still okay. This isn't going to seal our fate.
*I don't know that we're actually on a slippery slope *today, at this moment.
We meet: "So, Chad, can you login to workplace.SE, and show me what you're talking about?" I bonk Chad over the head, take his laptop with active login session, and the rest is history.
"Now I control two powerful workplace accounts! I cannot be stopped! Mwahaha!"
BTW: i think you can make out the question is now out of -NC definition; because people are not flooding with Yes of course versions of the answer... FLOOD == NOT CONSTRUCTIVE. and the corollary is also true :)
No, I mean a list of what will be on/off topic for workplace.SE. For example, I never thought about the fact questions about which job to choose should be off-topic
Hrrm I'll have to search area51 later then
@Chad And do I sense a bit of bitterness here? :) If you can post a better answer to that post (it's not really a question) I'd like that. But if my options are either a negative answer I mostly agree with, or a positive answer which doesn't address the question, I want the negative answer to be the top one on the list so it's read first
So I was just looking around on skeptics, and I love the fact that one of the first lines in their FAQ is a line saying "New users (even users familiar with the StackExchange format) should read our introduction to the site before posting", which points to a meta post welcoming new users and posting more information about stack exchange system and the site
Do you think we could get something similar in our FAQ? (In fact, perhaps all SE FAQs?)
Perhaps that can help us with the issue of new users posting badly worded questions
I was thinking a friendly introduction to SE and what makes good subjective questions would be nice for new users
Reading a page specifically designed to help new users understand the site seems like a better way to introduce new users to stack exchange than expecting them to read something called "frequently asked questions" to understand the site
explain the expectations and then either delete or reopen
@Rachel It doesnt answer your question because you asked for somethign that is against the rules. That answer was trying to explain why that was to you.
Since I started to work for my first employer, I have seen two employees quit the organization. What surprised me was that news of their exit was broken by team managers' only a week before the actual exit happened. Till then, even the closest of their friends were unaware of the developments.
...
@Chad Many subjective questions do not have a single right answer. The "right" answer is based on the situation and the people involved. Best we can do is provide enough information that the OP can make an informed decision
lol wait, someone spammed that as "spam or offensive"? The popup showed up for me in another chat room
Well stated. I'll reiterate that there are plenty of discussion forums on this subject. We are here to create something better; to solve the problems prevalent in most open discussion forums -- Not to duplicate them. If you cannot forgo the discussions covered under "Not Constructive" and Good Subjective, Bad Subjective, there's no reason to have this site. I think calls to "relax the Q&A format requirements" would be a death knell to this site. — Robert Cartaino2 days ago
It's a tough sell... to tell people (and have them understand) that "your question is perfectly legitimate but not necessarily a good fit for this type of Q&A." That's why education and guiding users with thoughtful comments (and meta posts) is so important. — Robert Cartainoyesterday
A colleague is trying to tell me that I should pay more and get a ceramic heater rather than a cheap convection room heater because I'll save money on electricity.
I have one like this:
Sure it's 2kW but with the thermostat it's only on 1/5 of the time. It heats the room in about 15 minutes!
...
@Chad To give you an example about how bad our questions were on Programmers in the beginning, some of the top questions there were akin to asking here "What's your worst experience with a co-worker?", "What's the worst boss you've ever had to work for?", "What makes a good employee?", "How should I cook dinner at the workplace?"
Skeptics need to be tough because their scope is about arguable claims, and you don't want anyone and everyone's opinion asking if it's right/wrong on the site
We're here to help you with your workplace questions, not to debate if a claim is right/wrong
@Chad hug
Don't cry, it's not that bad
We need people from both sides standing out and voicing their opinion so we can find some kind of happy medium that will ultimately be best for the site and the users of the site
Talking with you has certainly altered my viewpoint a bit (but not completely) :)
But I need to get going. Don't stop speaking up about what your opinion is, but also don't stop listening and trying to see things from other people's point of view
Remember, the sites are for the users asking questions, not for the people answering them :)
For the past few months, I have been working with a coworker who, although is smart and hardworking, tends to make me promises which he doesn't live up to. These might be trivial ones like coming early on a particular day, or major ones such as completing his part of the report sooner.
A few po...
Since I started to work for my first employer, I have seen two employees quit the organization. What surprised me was that news of their exit was broken by team managers' only a week before the actual exit happened. Till then, even the closest of their friends were unaware of the developments.
...
A colleague is trying to tell me that I should pay more and get a ceramic heater rather than a cheap convection room heater because I'll save money on electricity.
I have one like this:
Sure it's 2kW but with the thermostat it's only on 1/5 of the time. It heats the room in about 15 minutes!
...
The Water Cooler
The Water Cooler