With the exception of my last installment of “Beyond the Loading Screen,” this is my last post for 2011. If there's one big thing I learned this year, it's this: Know your rights. Know your rights and defend them.
When you get a job, especially if you’re a young person working at entry level, your employers may try to take advantage of you. Don’t let them. Do a web search of what workers in your country/state/province are entitled to – the government’s official site should be the first hit on most search engines – and read. There are rules set up to protect you. Learn them.
This applies to anyone at any job, but it is especially important for geeks. There’s this sense that since you’re working towards your dream job that you’re asking too much for your rights to be upheld too. We get the idea that there are sacrifices that must be made.
Sure, you have to work really, really hard, and do your best, and challenge yourself. THAT is what is meant by “paying your dues.” However, you do NOT have to work through paid or unpaid breaks, and you do NOT have to stay quiet when they skim a few hundred bucks off your salary. I have heard horror stories, and I’ve even lived a couple, and I was nervous about bringing it up because I thought I was just playing into the stereotype about being “The Entitlement Generation.” No. If you work, you should get paid every cent they owe you. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself.
A lot of geeks I know are quite shy, as many of us have been ridiculed for things we feel strongly about. That can make it hard to stand up for yourself at work, but remember you’re not the one stepping out of line. You’re not demanding anything ridiculous; you’re just reminding your boss that they owe you a break after X number of hours, or a certain wage, or that they can’t force you to do something that might be dangerous.
To be a progeek means your job combines your passions with something you can do to provide value. It does NOT mean that you have it any easier than people with traditional jobs and are therefore less deserving of your basic rights. Labour rights are there for everyone.
Finally, if you ask for something you’re owed anyway, you will NOT lose the respect of your employer and/or coworkers. If anything, your coworkers will be grateful you’re holding the boss up to standards. If your boss is annoyed that they can’t take advantage of you, then the loss of their respect is no loss. Unfortunately, our culture has taken the notion that hard work leads to success and turned it into “suffering leads to success.” Just like having a job that you’re passionate about doesn’t mean you’re any less successful, you are not any more respectable or mature if you let yourself be bullied. Respect is only earned when you stand up for yourself.
-Tamara Hecht