- Hey guys, today I was fired from Facebook
as an ex-Google tech lead.
So there I was just minding my own business, right?
Going around eating my free food, drinking my free coffee
and I must have been on like, my third cup of coffee here,
when suddenly, I get an email from HR.
And normally, I would have just ignored this,
except I was pretty much done with my coffee
and I thought fine,
why don't I just go have a friendly chat with HR?
Like I always do.
And what happened was, they tell me
that they didn't really like my YouTube show
where I'm always talking
about how I'm an ex-Google tech lead
and they were wondering, why couldn't I mention
that I'm also an ex-Facebook tech lead?
And they wanted to see that happen.
So they told me that it would be a conflict
of interest if I remained
because I could not fulfill that portion of the bargain.
So I needed to leave and so I did.
Which is pretty cool because that makes me
not only an ex-Google tech lead,
but also an ex-Facebook tech lead.
Now, I know that everybody is shocked
and at a dire time like this,
I feel like what we really need to do is just take a pause,
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Now, the timing could not have actually been better
because I was starting to actually saturate
on that ex-Google tech lead keyword.
And you know, the YouTube algorithm
just needs more content here.
And also, there are a few pros and cons here, right?
Actually, one of the good parts
is that since my wife recently left me,
I don't have to explain any of this to her.
Normally, I would have to put on some sort of charade,
in which I would have to pretend
that I would still be going to work everyday.
Where instead, I would actually go to like, a cafe
or something like that and read up on classifieds,
but I don't have to do that.
You know, there's no explanation needed.
You know, in a sense I'm almost glad that my wife left me
before any of this happened,
so I just don't have to explain any of this.
Now, on the other side, the con
is that I've lost my job.
So here's what happened.
I was called into this room with HR, the director,
and all the windows were blacked out and they told me
that they didn't really like my YouTube show.
Which is absolutely surprising, right?
Like, who doesn't like this stuff?
So here's what I was told at orientation,
that if you're currently running a blog, podcast,
YouTube show, whatever it is,
then go ahead and continue running it,
they don't have a problem with that.
But they told me that since I was starting to monetize,
then that would not be okay.
So as long as your blog, podcast, social media
is not popular, as long as it's pretty bad
and nobody's watching it, then that's fine,
they don't care about that.
But if you start getting some success
and you start getting views and you're monetizing,
then you know, that's going to be a problem.
And then we were in this debate
about whether podcasts are monetizing or not.
And I would say, "Well, I think podcasts
"are monetizing, most are."
And they'd say, "No, they're not, they're not monetizing."
And I tell them, "Look, I don't work for free,
"and I don't do open source."
For a social media company that is always encouraging people
to post about themselves, I find this surprising
when they don't like social media.
And overall, I think that just sends
the wrong message, you know?
In tech, we have a talent shortage
and in my opinion, there's nothing wrong
with telling people about what they need to know,
what requirements they need.
You know, about like, data structures, coding, algorithms,
teamwork tips, communication tips, how to work with people,
all of this general advice and letting them know
what it means to have good communication skills,
what does it mean to have good teamwork skills?
Now, take note that I have never leaked
any confidential information
and I work very hard to not leak that stuff.
I have access to so much of it
and I never reveal any of that
because number one, I don't think it really helps anybody
to know the pure specifics,
but I do think it helps people to know general information
that I may have picked up
over my personal years of experience.
It is really what a good career coach
or mentor may be able to do
to help guide young people
along their career paths, just to make sure
that they're learning things properly, right?
Learning the right frameworks,
learning the right technologies,
having better understanding of what interviewers
and companies are looking for.
So by the way, if you want to learn that stuff,
check it out, techinteviewpro.com,
I'll get you guys set up, fast track your career.
So you know, I took great care
in never misrepresenting the company,
I made sure all of the views were my own.
So I was just dismayed to hear that,
hey, if you work in tech
and you have a Twitter, a LinkedIn, a Facebook,
a blog, a podcast, YouTube show,
then you could be in danger of losing your job.
And they didn't even give me a warning about any of this,
they just told me, "You're done."
And to be on the safe side,
you could run your blog, but it better not be about tech,
your passion, coding, right?
Make it about cooking, skiing or five-minute DIY crafts.
Which I might just start getting into now.
But whatever it is, if you're passionate about coding
and that's all you wanna talk about,
we don't want you, right?
They don't want you.
Now, there's something you need to understand.
I was working as a staff software engineer.
The salary was north of 500k.
I was honestly getting a little bit worried
that I would be working until I died
because they got death benefits too.
So there was no way out for me.
Like, I'm not just going to walk away from a job like that.
I'm too cheap, I can't leave that much money on the table.
And I was just thinking, how can I get out of this?
So when the problem or opportunity presented itself to me,
I didn't even bother arguing it or fighting it.
You know, I just said, "When do I get started," right?
"When can I get outta here?
"Is it in two weeks?"
And they said, "No, today."
I was like, "Okay."
And I actually felt a bit of relief.
I mean, these are golden handcuffs,
they're called that for a reason.
So I had been working 80-hour weeks, which was crazy
like, it was just not sustainable.
In my mind, the writing was probably on the wall.
For the past few months, I've just had no time to relax,
play games, watch movies,
I wasn't able to do any of this stuff
and I had no free time.
Now, I've been thinking
that maybe I should just jump straight back
into the job market,
maybe find a smaller company that's not so paranoid.
But I'm not sure I wanna do that quite yet
and I think that overall, a company like Facebook or Google,
these two companies have prided themselves
on transparency, internally, right?
They're not like Apple, where they just silo employees off
because they can't trust the employees.
If you're going to hire someone, you should trust them.
So I mean, come on, we're not Apple here.
But overall, you have to remember
that I have been working about five years straight.
Before any of this began,
I have been like, traveling the world.
So I really began to miss my free time
and quite likely, I will be taking a break
for a while, at least.
And you have to also remember
that I am financially independent, you know?
I retired like ten years ago, actually.
And I can just sustain myself indefinitely,
within this car, I could just sleep here, live here,
like, this is shelter.
So overall, I knew that coming into a job like this,
it would not be something I could walk away from
and the only way out would be
either getting laid off or fired.
So somewhere in my mind, I always knew
that this would be the way that I would go.
Now, I have a question for you guys.
Seeing that I have lost my wife and my family and my job,
have I hit rock bottom?
Let me know in the comments below
'cause I really wanna know,
did I hit rock bottom here?
Because there's always further that you can fall
and in every problem, there's some opportunity.
But if there's just a little bit more to go,
then I might be willing to go down to reach that
before I begin my ascent back up.
But let me know what you think I should do.
I'm thinking I'll take a vacation, maybe take a break.
And I wanna say, if this is concerning to you,
if you fear that this could happen to you someday,
then I really want to encourage you
to look into starting a side business, some side hustle.
That is, in my opinion, one of the only ways
to really safeguard yourself against life events like this.
Potential layoffs, being fired,
some issue cropping up at work
or maybe, if you just want a voluntary career change.
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That'll do for me.
Give the video a like and subscribe,
I'm really going to need those likes and subscribes now
because this is my only source of income.
Someone has to sustain me, that's gonna be you, so.
(light switch clicking)
(sighs)
I can't believe I have to make my own breakfast.
So how do we do this here?
(bag crumbling)
You just pour this thing?
(cereal jingles)
(cup tapping)
(water trickling)
(coffee trickling)
(slurping)
(cereal crunching)
(humming in satisfaction)
Not bad, not bad if I say so myself.
Now before I close this out,
I do want to also just go check out
the Facebook summer party because before I left the company,
I did manage to snag a few wristbands.
I hope you guys don't mind that.
(inspiring music)
It's got like a Ferris wheel over here.
(guests screaming in excitement)
♪ I can't ever get enough of this ♪
♪ But you're breathing so deep you suffocate ♪
♪ 'Cause hate is something that you underestimated ♪
♪ And lately, ♪
♪ I see blue skies and it's crazy, ♪
- Still freeloading.
Sorry.
♪ hailing, ♪
♪ I see a heart in mind disagree ♪
♪ But tell me why you can't be what you want to be ♪
♪ 'Cause it's times like these ♪
♪ When life throws you at your knees ♪
♪ And things are far from easy, so don't fail ♪
♪ A self-fulfilling prophecy and let's kill ♪
♪ All this negativity, so break free ♪
♪ And start doing things a little differently, yeah ♪
♪ Let's make a plan of attack ♪
♪ Say life hits you, well, let's hit back ♪
♪ 'Cause even will is the best revenge ♪
♪ I can tell you're mad as hell ♪
♪ But until that final fail, well, you're stuck here now ♪
- I just wanted some food, you know.
Got my cotton candy.
Honestly, it's a good life, it's a great life
you been missing.
It's just not the one for me.
See ya' next time.
♪ This has gotta be the good life ♪
♪ The good, good life ♪