Stressed with manager troubles & job hunt woes
Hey folks, I’m currently working at a Tier 2 tech company that enforces mandatory quotas for categorizing employees as not meeting expectations.
Recently, after a management change , I’ve felt unfairly targeted by my new manager. Despite positive feedback from other senior staff and even my director, my manager constantly questions my performance and has even rejected my reimbursements, making the situation feel very personal.
Additionally, I’ve been given an unfairly large workload and have been isolated, as my peers, including senior engineers, have been instructed not to assist me.
This has left me mentally drained and struggling to find time to prepare for job opportunities elsewhere, despite not being constrained by visa issues.
Given this challenging environment, what strategies would you recommend for managing these workplace difficulties and making time for job hunting in such a demanding job market? Thanks for any advice you can offer!
![Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Da7a5bcc0-e178-4b5b-b71e-09bf6c6aefae&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D780356ef-3efc-4728-9eb4-d909b75bb4a6&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Discussion
(3 comments)- 1
6 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroOh no, I'm so sorry to hear this. 😔 It's not just "Tier 2" companies either - A lot of companies (including top companies like FAANG) are cranking up stack rank percentages and PIPs into the stratosphere. Unfortunately, I think your manager is setting you up to be put on a PIP.
As with many things in life, you have 2 options:
- Fight - Put together a coalition to fight for you and follow the Taro advice of being as public as possible about your progress to get the proper credit. If your skip (director) is on your side, this seems like a pretty doable option. I would talk to them more about it if you haven't already, maybe even get a biweekly or at least monthly 1 on 1 on their calendar (this should be feasible for you as a senior engineer).
- Flight - Just do the bare minimum to look like you're doing something and put the rest of your time into the job search. Start from here: [Course] Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer
The silver lining is that if you're not constrained by visa issues, the #2 option will be better for you than many others if #1 doesn't work.
Best of luck!
- 06 months agoSenior Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
Right now, the director “appears “ to be on my side. But they might be just playing good cop - bad cop . Not sure whom to trust.
- 06 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
Yeah, if you do more 1 on 1s with them, you'll be able to get better signal.
