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Journal ces's Journal: Well this sucks 11

Journal by ces

Crap, the guy who's job I'm supposed to learn announced he is quitting the company effective 2 weeks from today.

So I've got 2 weeks to try to get up to speed on a bunch of in-house crap with absolutely no documentation.

I think this qualifies as a "trial-by-fire".

I guess I'll either learn it or go postal during the process.
 

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Well this sucks More

Well this sucks

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  • Worst is when you get a contract to fix and upgrade some code, have the hardest time getting the source code, and then after they welsh on your deliverables, find out the prior contractors had the same problem getting paid that you did ...

    Just be nice, identify the critical things you need to know, and focus on those.

  • I'm doing the same thing right now, and there's no way to get a new body "up to speed" in less than 3 to 6 months ... and THEN maybe be able to make the necessary alterations ...

    So think of it - once you've mastered it, you've become the one person any business should never have - someone who can't be replaced.

    Yes, its major suckage to work like that, but that silver lining is nice ...

  • It's not like the lack of documentation is new to you, coming from our previous employer-in-common. Time pressure an added factor, sure, okay, but lack of docs? ;-)
    • Docs?? What is this thing of what you speak?

      --------------sound familiar?

      You need to document everything!!!

      When? I work nonstop on ever changing processes and requirements and of course, they all are urgent #1 priorities of the moment.

      You can do it in your spare time!

      Indeed, Ill get right on that.

      • How very frustrating.

        *apostrophises to the sky* You know, there actually are people in the world who do documentation professionally, because we like doing it and it's our main job. Imagine that. I just wish more IT managers would get a clue already, since there's no shortage of documentation to do, and programmers generally hate doing it (and further generally don't do a good job of it). Sloughing the job off on the developer just makes for a cranky developer churning out bad doc -- everyone wins!*

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ces ( 119879 )

          *apostrophises to the sky* You know, there actually are people in the world who do documentation professionally, because we like doing it and it's our main job. Imagine that. I just wish more IT managers would get a clue already, since there's no shortage of documentation to do, and programmers generally hate doing it (and further generally don't do a good job of it). Sloughing the job off on the developer just makes for a cranky developer churning out bad doc -- everyone wins!*

          Sadly the only time I've seen professional tech writers employed in the IT/Technology industry is when something has to be documented for an outside third party like end-users or partner training materials.

          System Administrators also hate doing docs and are only slightly better at it than programmers. Product Managers do OK but their documents are of limited scope and generally have limited application for a technical audience.

          If I ever worked at a place with a dedicated internal documetation person for eit

  • I walked into a Charlie Foxtrot on my current job. How I dealt with it was part of the reason why I went from contract to permanent. At the end of the day, it is really a great opportunity to demonstrate your skills. If you can effectively communicate (based on your JEs, I'd say that's affirmative;-) then you can also help explain to the powers that be what the problems are, what your doing for way of solution, and what obstacles are in your way. My gut feeling is that you will find yourself in an even

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