Career Decisions

I can tell you the vesting date to the month. I know what percentage is mine at year seven versus year nine. I have a spreadsheet with the number in it, and I check that spreadshee...

Three weeks ago I shipped something with an error in it.

The spreadsheet says no. I've modeled it six ways — I've given the pay cut a haircut, I've given my savings a cushion, I've added a line for the lost bonus and another for the reti...

My old manager texted me at Christmas. The message is still in my phone, and I've reread it more times than anything I've received since: "Door's always open. You know that, right?...

I've owned the domain name for two years. It's a good one — short, memorable, the kind of name that looks like a real business waiting to happen. I registered it one night when I c...

Six years. That's how long it's been since I took more than a long weekend off. I know this because I counted, and counting made me feel virtuous, like I was carrying a badge of en...

I asked to go remote three months ago. My manager — a good manager, genuinely — said "we'll see," in the way that means "I don't want to say no to your face." Then nothing. No foll...

I gave my notice on a Tuesday. By Thursday, my manager had doubled my salary.

I've rehearsed the conversation twenty times. Twenty. In the shower, where I'm confident and articulate. On my commute, where I'm measured and calm. At 2am, where I'm honest and te...

It wasn't a promotion. It wasn't more money. It was one of those asks that gets framed as an opportunity but is really just — more. More work, same title, same pay, and a vague pro...