New employer has too many rules, not comfortable, need Advice

WobblyDog

I wouldn't say any of those rules are excessive, but they are at the stricter end of the spectrum.

I wish there was a ban on eating at desks in my office, it would cut down on the munching noises and carpet stains.

Regarding hoops to jump through when changing code (presumably change management, issue tracking, coding standards, peer reviews, etc. ?), that's very common. It's worthwhile sticking around for a bit to learn how this sort of thing works, even if you don't want to work like that long-term.

I find it takes me about 6 months after starting a new job to fully transition emotionally and mentally from the old employer to the new one.

Errata

Assuming the OP joined the company because they figured it was a successful one, they haven't twigged it's successful because of the company rules and regs, not despite them.

ciderboy2009

OP - you remind me a lot of a developer I used to have on my team.

He used to think that he was such a fantastic developer that the rules didn't apply to him.

I used to spend half of my time fixing problems his code had created elsewhere which he hadn't even considered. Needless to say, he didn't last long.

It takes me 3-6 months before I feel I know a new developer well enough to be able to know what they are capable of. During that time their code would all be required to follow the standards & would also be subject to 100% peer review.

If, after just 2 weeks, they were moaning to me about this then I would be suggesting to them that they might possibly want to consider whether working as part of my team is really what they're ready for at this stage in there career.

Regardless of what the Press would have us believe, there are plenty of good coders with good experience out there.

f1621688

Thank you all for your input. I value your replies. Some of you have sympathised with me while others have suggested I should just get on with it. Others have been a little cruel. Nevertheless, I will get on with it for now. I am not a young coder in my teens. I have extensive experience over 8 years coding and I do consider myself pretty good at it. I was hired based on coding tests and after properly vetting my skills, not as someone out of uni.

Regarding changes to code, of course they would be done with full peer review, unit tests what have you. Most people at this company seem to be clever and know how it is supposed to be done, but when I suggested if I could change it, they said nah, just follow the flow.

Some of their policies are regressive by industry standards, like you cannot check in your code until it is fully complete and you cannot work on files that others are working on. Computer software industry has tools like distributed revision control like mercurial/git which allow code to be checked in frequently without disrupting others.

Another experienced coder on the team made some changes to global code and was moaning he has been waiting a week for approval from higher up devs (another team), who are too busy. He was given a couple of hours access which was revoked before he could complete the job. So he is back to square one.

Regarding eating at desk I have no issues and I happily complied. I think I cringed a bit at the colour of jeans and policy against ceramic cups. They don't have a formal dress code btw and I have seen various coloured trousers so far and ladies with fancy bunny handbags. I mean what does it matter? It could be that they had easier rules in the past and got burnt and have tightened shop now, and I have just landed at the receiving end of it.

The company is not in the defence sector or anything, I could understand if they were.

I am frankly sad at the situation some of you have mentioned at your work places and indeed have been fortunate in the past. It's like you can break the legs of athletes and see how fast they can hobble.

If we want creative industries and people to prosper in this country, we should be ready to provide the right environment with fair rules and a bit of freedom to think out of the box.

I think I will go contracting next time. Just need a little more courage to get out of the job security mindset. Perhaps the present circumstances will help.

Cyberman60

ciderboy2009 wrote: »

OP - you remind me a lot of a developer I used to have on my team.

He used to think that he was such a fantastic developer that the rules didn't apply to him.

I used to spend half of my time fixing problems his code had created elsewhere which he hadn't even considered. Needless to say, he didn't last long.

It takes me 3-6 months before I feel I know a new developer well enough to be able to know what they are capable of. During that time their code would all be required to follow the standards & would also be subject to 100% peer review.

If, after just 2 weeks, they were moaning to me about this then I would be suggesting to them that they might possibly want to consider whether working as part of my team is really what they're ready for at this stage in there career.

Regardless of what the Press would have us believe, there are plenty of good coders with good experience out there.

Well, all I can say is that I'm even more glad that I retired early from the industry if that's the way it has gone in removing job satisfaction.

I don't think myself or the OP would wish to work in your team.

Try contracting, OP, there's a big wide world out there !!

Tigsteroonie

f1621688 wrote: »

If we want creative industries and people to prosper in this country, we should be ready to provide the right environment with fair rules and a bit of freedom to think out of the box.

I'm sorry but I'm missing something ... how does insisting on a different colour of trousers impact on your creativity? Whereas it does impact on the first impression that the office gives to potential clients. Have you seen how many different colour blue jeans there are? It's far easier to insist on black, then everybody is wearing the same - and appears smart that way.

Takeaway_Addict

f1621688 wrote: »

If we want creative industries and people to prosper in this country, we should be ready to provide the right environment with fair rules and a bit of freedom to think out of the box.

Your boss wants what he wants, he pays the bills so it is his choice and if they wish to run it in a way that you feels won't prosper the country then that is up to him...the fact he is hiring probably means he is doing ok...

notanewuser

DH has a degree and almost 20 years of industry experience. He codes in multiple languages and manages system integration. He's been consulting for the past 14 years and is in demand despite the global slowdown. (Long may that continue.). He now works mostly from home, in his pants from bed if he wants to. He didn't get to that position by whinging about dress code or crumbs at work.

f1621688

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

I'm sorry but I'm missing something ... how does insisting on a different colour of trousers impact on your creativity? Whereas it does impact on the first impression that the office gives to potential clients. Have you seen how many different colour blue jeans there are? It's far easier to insist on black, then everybody is wearing the same - and appears smart that way.

As I said not everyone is wearing black. I would understand if everyone was and I would have spotted it. It appears there is something against blue jeans, even very dark blue ones :beer:

getmore4less

I can't believe your only finding out some of this stuff now, the tools and working practices are things you find out at interview stage and as part of the company research you do.

4 jobs in 8 years...5 in.....