How to handle less structured team while contracting | CS Career Hub | Page 1

ionic locust Sep 23, 2023, 2:08 PM

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I've been subcontracted to a team that seems to not have any ticket system. They use tickets but it seems like the engineers just find work and add a ticket as needed. Being new, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to find work. I've never had a job where I haven't had features planned and such as a team.

There's an additional layer to the problem as well. It seems like there isn't a lot of work for my skill set on the team anyways, which makes me wonder why they hired me on.

Should I just go and find things to do? Ask for work? Each time I've asked about stuff to work on, they tell me I'll figure it out how to be useful over time which feels pretty condescending and unhelpful. How would you navigate this?

hearty horizon Sep 23, 2023, 3:01 PM

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Have you asked your team for guidance?

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I'd be like, "Hey how do you guys figure out what to work on?" Or I'd ask about particular tickets... like, "How did you decide you needed to create ticket X?"

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I also would hold off on taking their answers as condescending.

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They might just have poor communication skills, not really understand the question, or maybe they've been working on the product so long that they forgot what it's like to be new... or a ton of other reasons that aren't so negative.

ionic locust Sep 23, 2023, 3:15 PM

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I have asked for clarification just once. But you're right.. I could be misreading their intentions. I'll give it some more time before forming any hard opinions.

main plank Sep 23, 2023, 5:14 PM

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Does the team have a tech lead or a manager?

ionic locust Sep 23, 2023, 5:32 PM

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Yea has a PM. Not really a manager or tech lead. Just a bunch of engineers

main plank Sep 24, 2023, 1:17 PM

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That's a strange setup.

Well, you could ask the PM then about what is the next most important thing to deliver and start working on that.

#How to handle less structured team while contracting