Episode 92: Career Death by Friction and New Job Woes

This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

1. A previous job involved a coworker who, over time, became very difficult to get along with.

   I did my best to talk it through with him, but he would only ever say I needed to “fix my attitude”. I tried to deflect and avoid conflict, but he’d continually impose himself on the situation. (Assign himself to review my code, come into my cube and demand my help, etc.)

   I had good relationships with the rest of the team, and they all agreed that he was out of line. Yet management viewed the situation as simply friction between two devs, with no clear instigator.

   Being a source of team friction is career death, and I’m personally embarrassed that anyone got that impression of me.

   How can I (or other listeners) handle this situation so that I don’t get painted as “part of the problem?”

2. I’ve started a new job. I’m enjoying the work and the culture slightly less, and I discovered my salary could have been much higher had I negotiated harder. Is it too late to negotiate for a higher salary after I’ve already joined?

   Dave mentions this article on salary negotiation. It’s good!