Hacker News Reader

Comment by fileeditview | Hacker News Reader

I don't know how this works in the US but here in Germany your work contract roughly specifies what you do for work.. so for a software engineer it would be developing software and similar tasks.

Cleaning break room fridges would not be an acceptable task. You sure could say yes and comply if you like cleaning fridges but usually people would probably just say no thanks.

If you just exaggerated to make a point I agree with you partially. But you always have to consider your personal growth and satisfaction with your work.

View on HN

Unfortunately, all too often in the US, there is no contract. You apply based on a job description that can be changed at any time by the employer, and has no legal force in any case.

I did have a job at a very small defense contractor, where I was 99% a software engineer, but when we had to move the safe (happened twice) as the largest man in the firm and still reasonably fit in my 20's -- I also had to do that.

I took it as an exaggeration to make a point. They're unlikely to ask you to do that--or to pay you for doing so. But within the broad confines of developer, or product manager, or technical marketer, the is a wide range of roles and responsibilities. If you've been working on a mainframe and your employer decides to retire it but is happy to put you on some front-end web stuff which you've never touched, that's probably going to be a tough adjustment that may not end well.

> If you've been working on a mainframe and your employer decides to retire it but is happy to put you on some front-end web stuff which you've never touched, that's probably going to be a tough adjustment that may not end well.

Sure nice of them to give you that chance rather than just laying you off though. Would be even nicer if they spent a little money to train you on the front-end web stuff. Employers used to do that sort of the thing all the time - retrain known good workers rather than just fire them and hire new (unknown) ones.

And there's certainly a push for more retraining currently although we'll see to what degree it happens.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com