3

The firm I joined initially got acquired by a bigger firm couple of months back. After the acquisition, the work quality has decreased severely. I work as a tool developer for a semiconductor company, and when I joined 1.5 year back, my road-map was very clear. But since acquisition, there has been no good work my way. It's been 5 months since I have done something really productive, except solving a few customer issues.

I have tried discussing this with my manager, I have suggested some things that I will like to do, but it is not taken very seriously. I have also started feeling that I am a little left out at work, while others are more in loop and have greater insight about the upcoming projects.

In such a hostile scenarios, how do I get more visibility to be awarded with good work? By good I mean meaningful, that challenges my intellectual capabilities.

Some more details to avoid making this look like a broad question: - The 5 month gap has really affected my productivity, I don't know how to pass time at work. - I have been given some mundane work, which involves reading code and documenting my knowledge, but that too will be over by this month's end. I don't know what will I do after that. - I have tried talking to others in the team, but everyone keeps their cards to themselves. The senior developer is very possessive about the work he is doing and doesn't talk much or involve me into anything.

In our team of 7 people, one guy has already quit. Should I start looking out actively too? Or is there a way I can make things better for myself by being more visible? I really feel I am capable of a lot more than I am doing right now. And I am looking to learn more, only I don't know how.

EDIT: I have already looked into the other questions related into this, but I felt my problem is different in the light of the acquisition and the unhelpful attitude of the senior dev and the manager. In all those cases people are quite happy in their current jobs, but it is not the case in mine.

sk89
  • 73
  • 8
  • So, you're being left adrift. Is that just you or are a bunch of others being affected by the acquisition, too? And you want more visibility without plugging yourself into what's happening at the company? – Vietnhi Phuvan Mar 23 '15 at 09:35
  • @VietnhiPhuvan : On the contrary, I want to plunge myself headfirst into work, only there's NO WORK. Yes there are others with the same feeling. – sk89 Mar 24 '15 at 11:19
  • Thank you everyone for the kind suggestions. I think others in my team felt the same way too, and recently my boss's boss visited us and made our work allocations clear. There have been many favorable developments after that, so I guess what I felt was just temporary. – sk89 Apr 06 '15 at 11:22
  • 1
    The boss's boss visited you as a team, plugged you all in as to what's going on and gave you all your marching orders. Nice to know that the leadership finally showed up and did what it was supposed to do :) – Vietnhi Phuvan Apr 06 '15 at 11:30

2 Answers2

7

It's always difficult when a takeover happens, things can take time to even out.

That said, having been in a similar position myself, the spider sense is tingling, so I'd suggest a two prong approach:

  1. Start looking on the market, I think you are bored anyway, so might be time to move on no matter what.
  2. Keep occupied at work. If they don't have something to do, find a mini project of your own that benefits them, but here's the thing: look at what's hot in your field (as it's software dev: languages, frameworks, design patterns etc). Look at what interests you (and might be useful in your job hunt), and use that when doing the project so it's a win-win.

That way they get something useful (good for a reference, or maybe keeping you on/advancement), and if it goes bad, you have demonstrable experience of that hot new stuff when you apply to the much cooler new job.

The Wandering Dev Manager
  • 33,609
  • 11
  • 71
  • 119
1

I have been given some mundane work, which involves reading code and documenting my knowledge

You are being given no new work and then you write the above. The writing is on the wall. Start looking immediately for a new job, the most likley scenario here is that they are planning to offshore your job. I have seen this happen several times.

HLGEM
  • 142,324
  • 26
  • 258
  • 516