I am doing tasks not listed in my working contract

Question

I would like to ask how to deal with my current situation. I was hired as a C/C# developer for embedded hardware and user desktop applications.

After a few months working it became clear that there is no need for a software developer at this company. Most of our products don't have any software and because there were major issues with the former external contractor (software dev) the company decided to discontinue every product with software.

I guess they were looking for a hardware developer. That is what I am doing right now, I have a general understanding of hardware development but I am really not qualified nor do I have a electrical engineering background. I told them that I am not an electrical engineer but it was ignored. Fast forward 6 months I am developing 3 new products parallel, there are prototypes and they work. But I know scenarios where the product will catastrophically fail, I told them, and it was ignored. It feels like there was a decision to take out any intelligence out of the product but the requirements never changed.

The company is great in metal processing and anything mechanical, but there is a giant black hole where hardware and software departments should be. There is also no will to invest money into more people or external contractors.

I changed my last job after 2 years because my wife had to move. I am 1 year into this job. If I change this job again it will look like I am a job hopper.

What can I do? I can't tell them they don't need a software developer, as that would make me obsolete. If I continue like this there will be a big product rollout and there is a chance a lot of them will fail. My contract explicitly mentions I am responsible for developing in C/C# and anything software related. Clearly I am doing something different and I don't see how the contract will help me.

Answer 1

It is quite simple really... you either carry on doing the job that they are asking you to do, or you find a new job that you want to do.

Your contract is kind of irrelevant here. They can't give you C/C# work if there isn't any of that work to do. It is up to you to decide if you are willing to accept the type of work that they have available, or if you want to move elsewhere.

I would suggest you don't worry about the impression of "job hopping". If you have the desired skills and experience that potential employers are looking for, then you will still get the interviews. And while they may question your short-term positions, you can easily explain this scenario exactly the same way as you just explained it to us. It's unlikely it will hold you back.

Finally a quick comment on the point that you have reported potential problems with the products and they ignore it. Well, that is completely up to them to decide if they take action or not. Just make sure you keep a log of the emails where you report the problems, then you can refer back to them if they try to place the blame on you.

If you are not reporting these issues by email (and instead verbally) then I suggest you start doing it by email from now on. If you need to, bring these past issues back up via email now so you have it on record.

I will also add that if you do decide to continue with this current employer, then arrange a one-on-one meeting with your direct line manager and discuss your concerns directly with them. See if they have any advice for you.

Answer 2

What is it that you would like to do?

Clearly, this role does not allow you to grow as a developer. If you don't have side projects you may get rusty. That becomes a disadvantage when you're interviewing. If you would prefer a development-focused position, you might not want to stick around too long.

On the other hand, the combination of experience with C and hardware development is valued highly by some companies. Even without formal education, you are probably getting valuable experience: If nothing else, it'll help you communicate with electrical engineers.

Don't worry about job-hopping.

A few hops are nothing to worry about. A good offer that turns out to be a bad match explains two switches in a short timespan. At the start of your career, your CV likely lists projects or jobs you've held before graduation and you might switch a little more often, while working out what kind of role you like.

A competent interviewer has seen all that before. At most, you'll have to explain a few switches that they don't understand. Patterns that I would find worrisome are:

• 10 years post-graduation in the industry, but you've never made it to 2 years at a company. Many 3-6 month stints are particularly worrisome.
• If you've been a junior or medior for much too long, through too many companies. You're good enough to get hired, but not good enough to get promoted.

I suspect that the definition of job-hopping depends on the role you're interviewing for - I'd expect developers to switch more often, simply because you get more offers. However, suppose my company is looking for a product lead and we pay for a 3-yr growth track (coaching, education, paid study days). Then I prefer a candidate who was promoted internally at least once or twice. Candidates that switch frequently may trade up their titles quickly, but we'd like to benefit from our training effort for a few years.

Answer 3

On career planning for programmers, the other answers are generally good and sensible. Yes, you should use the management structure in place, but also plan your own career next steps. One note of caution though while you continue your current job, because you mention "catastrophic failure".

Especially since we are talking about physical products, if you think there are safety problems that would endanger people, you need to take extra time to document the risks and escalate. Not just drop an email. This is somewhere physical engineering has stronger professional obligations than programming typically does, but there is also the concept of a principal engineer, licensing and so on, depending on the jurisdiction. Given it is a mechanical and manufacturing company, they should already be more familiar with this than you are, but you might need to find the right people in the company or explain the risks in different language - "physical injury", "electrical outage", and so on.

Answer 4

I would agree with the advice in the existing answers - nothing wrong with looking for a new job.

From personal experience, I would advise you to be very wary of two of things you mentioned:

1. They want to develop software & hardware
2. They do not want to invest in software or hardware engineers or training for you.

I have been in a similar situation where products were 'agreed' to by the company and the responsibility for implementing them fell to me. I did not have the requisite skillset for these and there was no budget or appetite for training.

If the products release and they work you may be thanked, if they fail, you will be blamed. This is not a healthy workplace environment at the minute and you should consider this when deciding whether to move on.

Answer 5

It's true that job hopping raises questions during the interviews. It's not nearly as bad if you can explain why you changed jobs. Nobody in their right mind will hold it against you that you quit when your wife had to move, or when you got assigned tasks you weren't qualified for.

It will be much worse if you start looking for a new job in two years, and there will be questions about things you are proud of in your latest projects. If at this point you start talking about stuff you have done 3+ years ago, that will be a much bigger red flag than job hopping.

Releasing a product that could catastrophically fail sounds even worse. Of course, that depends on your definition of "catastrophically": if it's something like the users says "OK Google" and nothing happens, that's one thing. For me, "catastrophically" sounds like the product might cause damage or become dangerous to use. If that's the case, I would certainly go beyond just reporting it in an e-mail and keeping a copy to cover yourself in case it backfires. Check out your compliance guidelines: you might have the obligation to report it if the management decides to release such a product, otherwise you might still bear part of the responsibility.