Hi All,

I have been working 3D game programming for a year now, and that is my first job in industry. Today I had employee appraisal and my manager told me that I don't work independently and I ask for help and two guys (seniors) they are tutoring me for the last year and I'm wasting their time. However I have worked on a lot of tasks dependently too, but for tasks that are beyond my knowledge, yes I ask them.

I asked him what if the situation won't be improved, he said I won't be in the team..however he asked me to be patient with another team member that is causing a lot of troubles to other team members and he is still in the company for a long of years!

I have already another offer from a company that is doing augmented reality, do you think should I wait to be fired or listen to my boss and do better or leave and keep my dignity untouched, in case getting fired?

Moving to the career advice section of the site.

I'm not sure exactly how to interpret your comment. The comments could be advice on how to improve your skills moving from an entry level person with one year experience into an intermediate level employee. The comments could also be a warning that you're on the fast track to being unemployed. Be very careful about that, since your own interpretation of the comments could be incorrect.

I've seen people who take one kind of comment and act as though they are the other. Someone gets simple advice about some improvements and they act as though they will be terminated. Others are told they will be fired in 30 days and they treat it like it was nothing.

I would talk openly with your boss about the matter. Ask directly if the comments about not working independently was a comment about how to improve generally, or if it were meant as a warning about impending termination. Get a direct answer. If you try to get an answer but the boss won't give a firm direct answer, treat it as an impending termination.

You write that at the moment you have a job offer from another company. I would absolutely consider it as an option.

No matter the response from your boss, I would consider moving to another company, especially if the terms of employment are better. Very often the transitions up the career ladder while staying at a single company are tiny. You might get a COLA raise or small benefit with a job title increase. If you want to move up the ladder sadly you often need to change employers. If this is your first job and you are transitioning out of an entry level role, it may be a good decision. Jobs are not permanent in this industry, and sometimes transitioning on your own when another offer becomes available is a good choice. Of course, other times it is not a good choice and you look back with regret, so there is that too.

What can I do then? He said sorry for that ( when he said you won't be in the team), that he needs quality of the product to be high,..etc of none sense reasons.

I wanna dig into the industry, but looks like there are no junior or entry level jobs at all. For example I was asking my colleagues yes about some areas which I'm not expert in! or have no clue to solve them. For example an imposter, a friend told me an algorithm then I implemented it and made it work. what's wrong with that ?!!! what's wrong if my colleague give me advises in how to approach a problem

I think my question to you be, what have you done outside the work on your own to expend your knowledge and learn new things and hone your skills on your own. I hired quite few junior guys in the last couple years and if I did not see measurable improvements in their knowledge an experience after one year, I would consider parting the ways.

I wanna dig into the industry, but looks like there are no junior or entry level jobs at all.

When it comes to entry level workers companies usually get so many unsolicited submissions from people eager for work that they don't need to advertise for them.

or have no clue to solve them. For example an imposter, a friend told me an algorithm then I implemented it and made it work. what's wrong with that ?!!! what's wrong if my colleague give me advises in how to approach a problem

An intermediate developer (which is what you should start to reach after a year or two in the real world) should either have some vague ideas at how to solve it, or be able to do research online to find the answers. Very rarely should they need to poll their coworkers for ideas. You should still collaborate and work together, but for implementation ideas you should be mostly independent.

An advanced developer or a senior developer should have multiple good ideas on how to solve just about any commonplace problem, and if they can't figure one out they should be able to quickly come up multiple possible algorithms if they need to search for them online. If they don't see one they should be able to come up with a working solution on their own.

Again, I would get clarification about intent. Is the boss saying "You're fired", or is the boss saying "You are on track to be fired", or is the boss saying "please work harder", or is the boss saying "here is something specific you can improve on." Ask him directly, because sometimes emotions get in the way.

it was am mixture feeling of please don't do this (work independently ) and when I stressed If not, he said in 3 months to 6 months, we will evaluate, then I said, if not, he said you won't be in the team.

he also said you need to learn much in client programming, so what ? is it bad that I ask colleagues and learn ? what's wrong with him ? he said I'm wasting their time, but to be honest it just occurred one time that a guy asked for per programming for the whole year. and I did a lot of tasks independently, he even didn't know about them, because he is a server side programmer, and the client manager who hired me left the company after three months of my employment

Why it's bad if I'm learning but I'm doing the task ? I have never left a task not done since the whole year! no one single task

what's wrong with him?

That statement summarizes your entire thread.

It does not matter what is wrong with him, if anything. You cannot change him. You can only change yourself.

He is the one in charge of the position. He sets the rules.

You can only change yourself, through improvement and managing perceptions.

Accept the fact that you need to improve, and then do so. Study and work to improve. Everyone always needs to improve. Even the most experienced senior developers have need to improve. if you are not constantly improving the market will leave you in the dust.

You have been with the company for a year. That's usually more than enough for anyone to see how you work, and what you have been told is your boss' perception of your work. He's in charge, and he's clearly not super happy with your work. He wants you to improve, and he gives you time. It's a good thing that he told you this upfront. Some people will let it sit for a long time until you suddenly get the pink slip without warning whatsoever.

Here's the thing of being an engineer. You need to figure things out yourself. That's what makes a good engineer, when they solve problems. Engineering problems are not math problems. There is not one answer, but many. The way I see it, engineering problems are the opposite of math problems. A typical math problem asks you "what's the result of 1+1", an engineering problems is "I have 10 and 3. What should I do to get 2?"

You need to figure out what you need to do, instead of asking people what you need to do. If you are stuck, research things yourself, figure things out yourself. This is part of the reason why tech forums don't want to solve people's homeworks. Don't let the senior engineers solve problems for you.