How important is the environment at a job?

Question

I have left jobs immediately in the past because the environment seemed like something I could not handle. One job I literally ran away screaming - took lunch and never came back - because the environment seemed dead; there was no communication among the programming "team" I was a part of, just a bunch of guys with their heads down typing away at keyboards. Another environment just felt incredibly boring and dull and I hated coming in - I left that company after a week. Another company lasted just a week again because nobody seemed to care about technology or anything; they all seemed like a group of soulless zombies - there was also a huge amount of red tape and the code was horrid too, but mainly it was like I was the only person there with any "passion" whatsoever about programming.

Am I insane or being foolish? To me a good programming job has communication all the time among team members and people who are interested in tech.

How do you feel about this?

Answer 1

The environment is important, but it is generally better to determine how it is going to be before taking the job. Future employers won't trust you if you keep leaving after a week or so, because it just doesn't seem like a good place.

Really you are going to spending a lot of time with these people, and the company is going to invest in you as it will take time to get up to speed etc. It is important to be a good fit with what you are looking for, both for you and the people hiring you. If not, no one will be happy in the end. Some companies do try to get the cheapest people possible with the cheapest work environment, but this never goes well and often they are wasting money as they will never really accomplish what they want to. Of course it is advisable to avoid these places unless it is a truly last resort.

Answer 2

Sounds like you didn't look on the workfloor during your interview.

About your question: Yes environment is important but this can be investigated before you take a job. Talk to some people working there etc.

Answer 3

At the job interview ask to see the working environment, have a look at their system, talk with the other developers. Ask them what would they want their new colleague be like, what technologies to be proficient in, something about process organization and quality management. If you'll get some standard boring answers it is a good sign noone cares...

As for communication between colleagues, it may not be so bad that people sitting and working. Often, the communication turns into chaos where you sit in a room where everybody's chatting all the time. Students/graduates often like that, but if you're trying to concentrate on something complex and mission-critical, you won't be anywhere near effective and will produce numerous errors.

Working environments are not university classes. Sometimes they are better, sometimes they are worse. You'll just have to find yours.

I think many job environments are pretty much like you described. In most cases people go to work to be receiving their pay checks, not because they love it. If you want engagement, newest technologies and passion, you'll need to start your own project! And judging you from your post, you absolutely should!

Answer 4

If you're guilty of anything it's probably the lack of a good screening process when you're going through the recruitment process. Interviews and the like aren't jsut there for the company to decide if they like you--they're also there for you to decide if you like the company. You've made a few choices you've regretted so perhaps it's time to reevaluate how you decide what company to work for.

That being said, not caring about technology and nobody talking are pretty valid reasons not to want to work somewhere. Programming is a creative endeavour and you can't do it well in a stifling environment.

A "boring environment" is perhaps a little more suspect. Define "boring". In a lot (most?) cases you get out of a job exactly what you put into it. The only red flag for me reading your question is the possibility that you might be thinking it is the company's or the team's responsibility to "entertain" you (I can't think of a better word at this time of day). Sure a good environment needs to be fostered but it's also a two way street.

Oh and FYI going out to lunch and not coming back IMHO is the right way to leave in such cases. It doesn't cause any dramas. One minute you're there and one you're not.

Answer 5

It is very important. It took me a couple of job switches until I found a place where I felt great.

And remember, the better you feel the better your performance is.

Answer 6

Well, if they're all just sitting their typing away at their keyboards, it could be just because they're very busy trying to get things done by deadline.. Every company has their "tight times" where everyone is under pressure to meet deadlines and really pump out the code. In my opinion, a week is hardly enough time to see what the actual environment will be like in the long run.

Programmers do get stressed and have bad weeks just like every other human being.

Answer 7

I'm not sure why you aren't spending more time checking out the companies that you're interviewing for. It's as much an investment for them as it is for you.

Walk around. Ask to spend a little time talking with the dev team. Ask to go to lunch with them. Talk to their clients.

If you're consistently finding places that aren't a good fit for you, I'd say half the problem, is you...

Answer 8

I don't know, walking out on three different jobs within a very short time period I think says more about you, than the companies you were hired at. Unless you are hiding that on your resume, its not going to look very good.

Maybe next time you should figure out if the environment is what you like (or expected), perhaps there is an opportunity to improve it and become a hero instead of running out their door - and maybe even move very quickly up to a senior person if you really are the only one with "passion".

Quitting one job after a week would be acceptable to me if I was hiring you if you had a good excuse, but I am not sure any excuse you gave me would convince me to hire you if you left 3 places in that short timeframe.

Answer 9

Not a brilliant point, but it's worth keeping in mind - a "dead" environment has its advantages. Calm and quiet could mean very few office politics to deal with, or the absence of a micro-managing boss. If the pay is acceptable to you, and the work is reasonable . . . buckle down a little longer, until you're there long enough to see the real deal (however it may be).

Answer 10

I tend to agree with Matt, a quiet environment could be better on the long run. Or at least could be better for some, I definitely don't like a very friendly environment to work either. In your next job interview, ask for a tour, it is your right to know where exactly you are gonna work, which desk, chair and everything else around. At the end of the day you will be spending a larger part of your life on that desk than anything else. I hope this helps.

Answer 11

Out of the comments about this looking poorly on you for leaving I would have to say don't even list these on your resume. The only positions you should list on a resume were ones constructive to your career. In my opinion it is better to have a short term gap in your employment rather than listing a position that was completely pointless and only could be explained negatively in your interview.

Job interviews are almost exactly the same as your first dates with another person. It generally doesn't work out well to talk about your previous relationship and everything that went wrong with it. As I said your resume should be about you and how you've grown positively through experience as a professional.

Now it can be important to discuss some negativity about previous work places especially for finding if a potential employer is right for you. In one of my previous jobs I was a developer on the business system that was mostly used by our customer service. There literally was a wall between us, the salaried employees and business employees and the call center and the customer service employees. Not only was there a physical wall there really was the mentality that it's us vs them and almost no interaction between the 2 parties.

That really isn't acceptable and only results in negativity in the work place. I would talk about the experiences you had in a general sense in these short durations of employment. Ask in your interview is this truly a team environment. Do the developers really work together or does everyone just sit in their cube and keep their head down all day everyday.

Make sure to actually speak with tech staff even if you don't have the opportunity to speak with regular employees make sure that you've spoken to some of the project leads or directors or team leads and ask them about how it is day to day, what technologies are important, what technologies are they looking forward to? I would never consider working at an employer if my entire interview process was conducted by Human Resources without interacting with atleast some of the actual people that would be involved in my day to day routine.

Answer 12

I would love a dead quiet working environment! Our place is just too busy to get anything useful done.

Maybe you could tell me about one of the places you went and left and I'll tell you where I work? :) Seriously though a quiet environment is ok as long as you have the daily scrum meetings and the weekly code reviews etc. That is the time for talk and walking out three times in a row? I wouldn't hire you if I heard of that.

Also worth mentioning is that it is always awkward when you start a new job. You don't know anyone, you don't feel very productive and if people are too busy with work to give chat away with you I'd ask to get some knowledge transfer and start hacking some code.

I might be to quick to judge but I think you are too.

Answer 13

I think it is highly important. I really give a position more interest if the work environment is informal/casual dress. I have never liked ties or being uncomfortable in my wear. From there you have how the development team interact, who is interested in what technologies, who (if any) play what games etc.

There is a life outside of work, but that does not mean there shouldn't be some kind of life at work..

Answer 14

One job I literally ran away screaming - took lunch and never came back - because the environment seemed dead; there was no communication among the programming "team" I was a part of, just a bunch of guys with their heads down typing away at keyboards.

This is not the proper way for a professional to leave a job in almost any circumstance. Taking lunch and never coming back is akin to a teenager quitting Wal-mart by not showing up to work anymore.

If you are a professional, hell, even if you are simply a respectful adult you should never do this. Not only does it burn bridges and possibly force you to leave gaps in your work history it is disrespectful to the extreme. Don't be passive aggressive.

Setup a meeting with your new boss and express your concerns about how you don't think the job environment and you are not meshing well. Say how you were on a trial employment period with the company, and like wise the company was on a trial employment period with you and you think it would be best in the long run if you parted ways amicably.

Answer 15

I prefer a quiet environment most of the time and don't care for a "life at work." I'm perfectly fine just hunkering down, working, and then going home. No attachments.

There have been environments I have worked at where I felt obligated to keep up with the socializing and drama. It becomes a job and is like taking care of pets.

I prefer some distance to everyone at work. I do like talking with people who like their craft and want to improve and having conversations every now and then. A constant social environment is definitely not for me though.

Answer 16

One of the aspects I think which has been missed here is that the environments you've described might be fine for other developers.

Some people I know don't mind that kind of work/environment and in some cases even lack the social skills to effectively communicate within or outside of a team environment. It doesn't mean they have no passion for programming (sometimes it is even due to a language barrier) and it's doesn't necessarily equate to a bad environment (which is subjective at any rate).

You need to find an environment which is right for you. If good communication and an open exchange of ideas help you to do your best work, then ask the company questions about how they approach designing, planning and building their software (or whatever is applicable). You could ask them how their (most recent) release was planned, built and deployed, for example.

Perhaps try explaining to an interviewer the way in which you personally engage in development design and planning to see if it's compatible with their environment.

You should always have a few well thought out questions to ask an interviewer - as someone else said, an interview isn't a company deciding if you're the right fit, it goes both ways - you need to feel if the company is right for you.

Answer 17

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