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Ask HN: How do I tell my employer I love the job but hate what I'm working on?

by x2f10 on 1/29/20, 4:58 PM with 18 comments

• by fastbeef on 1/29/20, 6:43 PM

  I went through this exact situation. I wound up telling them like it was - I liked everything about the job except my actual duties. Then I proceeded to describe to them what I’d like to do instead (focus on ops) and basically invented a position for myself. And they said yes!

  My point is, don’t dwell On What you don’t want, but rather focus on what you do want and work to make it happen.

• by shoo on 1/29/20, 7:19 PM

  > don’t dwell On What you don’t want, but rather focus on what you do want and work to make it happen.

  fastbeef makes a good point.

  That said, be clear when communicating what you want.

  A way to help frame discussion is to think of other work you could be doing that the organisation would find useful/important. If your boss or another manager is keen for you to start doing new work to solve the other problems, it can be easier to talk positively and get support for you to start doing the new activity and drop some of your existing responsibilities.

• by segmondy on 1/30/20, 3:21 PM

  Why is it causing you grief? Does the task matter? Will it help the company? Then why can't you suffer through it? Someone has to! Why should it be anyone else but you? I don't believe everything that we do for work ought to be enjoyable, sometimes it's tedious and boring. But we must suffer through it because it needs to be done. I personally believe that most people feel like you do when they don't see how it connects to the broader company strategy and what value it brings. So try to understand that. If it brings no value, then speak up because it's not worth doing.

  This is my personal opinion and feelings, I know most people don't agree with it, but that's how I reason about boring work.

• by ChickenTicklerz on 1/29/20, 7:46 PM

  Do you have a forum to discuss this in? I.e: weekly 1-to-1's, monthly/quarterly reviews (annual reviews naturally being too late to bring this up)

  What's your relationship like with your manager? You could test the waters if you socialise with your manager outside of work (maybe even just work drinks during a week?) and bring it up, and ask if it's something you could discuss.

  Alternatively you could ask your manager for a meeting and tell him you've been struggling with this task and you need support on how to make it easier. Note, it's important that when you're bringing a problem to management to have some potential solutions, including ones that you favour most i.e. Automate that thing Spread the load Farm it off to another team or get a tool to make the task easier.

• by JSeymourATL on 1/30/20, 5:25 PM

  > I'd like to tell them this in a productive manner ...

  First, have 2-3 possible SOLUTIONS to this problem when you have the conversation with your Boss.

  (Don't make it his problem.)

  Frame the conversation in terms of your professional strengths.

  We all should be thinking about the Highest & Best use of our time.

  If you weren't working on this Assigned Task -- what are you willing/able to do?

  Team Player Mindset: What would add more VALUE to the organization?

• by rajacombinator on 1/31/20, 10:13 PM

  Just straight up tell him/her. (In a positive way.) If you’re not able to have these conversations then it’s not worth staying.

• by vnpc1 on 1/29/20, 6:13 PM

  Is it a specific project that you want to move away from? Or is it an ongoing responsibility that you would like to stop doing?

• by soavepkyuvyu on 1/29/20, 8:21 PM

  Be honest and go straight and let's what will happen