Episode 461: How to do side projects with a family and demanding job and my company promised me a raise, but didn't give it

Soft Skills Engineering

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. Hey, long-time listener, listened to almost all episodes now and have been loving it since day 1!!

   I am a senior engineer at FAANG and work 45-50 hours a week and have a lot of cross-org responsibilities. I am lucky to have a beautiful wife and two wonderful young children. I guess, you can imagine how difficult it already is to manage work/life; especially because I am working remote from a different timezone with large dilation.

   I did lots of side projects before I had a family. But I was totally okay leaving all that behind for a great family life. Now, I have been struck by a really cool idea for an AI-based product that intersects with static analysis and my day-to-day work, which I cannot stop thinking about. I am sure that this project would be more than I could handle at the moment without cutting back on anything else.

   The question now really is, how do people with families and FAANG jobs do side projects? Or do they even? Do they have more than 24 hours in one day?

2. Hello! Love the show, one-time contributor :p

   I’m in agony about my recent compensation change regarding my promotion and I am looking for some wise guidance (and if not that, some funny jokes will do).

   Context: I work at a big tech company. I got promoted to a senior engineer, but. I didn’t get a bump to my salary. Instead, the company “indicated” that the raise would happen in six months, at the next performance review, which happened last week.

   What did I end up getting? Nothing :)

   Why? Apparently they have not been giving salary bumps to people who get promoted, and it has enraged people.

   It hurts my pride. I consistently get good performance reviews & peer feedback. People go out of their way to say how good my work is. I have every evidence to say I am a strong performer.

   My manager is very supportive and tried escalating my case. But the company didn’t budge. They did say that “there’s a chance” to “make it right” in 6 months.

   On the one hand it feels petty to leave a company because I didn’t get the raise I wanted, especially when I do really enjoy working here. On the other hand…I am very disappointed.

   What do I do? Do I stick it out for another six months and see what happens? Are there options left other than start prepping myself for interviews?

   You are amazing people. Cheers.