A Manager's Story About PTO Abuse And Burned Bridges

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. How would you handle a situation where a team forms a negative opinion about you from day one — without any clear reason and without ever giving you a real chance to prove yourself?

   Even when you contribute technically, your suggestions are ignored… until someone else repeats the same thing and suddenly it’s considered valid.

   Is it possible to stay in that kind of environment without becoming bitter or burned out?

   Can you keep contributing professionally — or is it healthier to just walk away?

2. You guys are awesome. Jamison, I interviewed with you and it was lots of fun and productive. Which is really rad.

   Now… I just landed a 12-month contract in big tech role. It’s perfectly aligned with my long-term career goals. My current fintech FTE is perfectly opposed to my long-term career goals.

   The question — how unethical / despicable would it be to start one week of PTO at my FTE on the same day as Day One at my contract role so that I can onboard without distractions and then put in my resignation upon returning to my FTE? What about two, three, or four weeks of PTO?

   Also… are two-week notices still the default still in 2025?

   Also also… I promise I’m not AI — I’ve been using em dashes since the 20th century.