u/picpoulmm

I've spent the past 4 months buried in building an app for iOS and Android with Expo, HeroUI Pro Native, Firebase. I've got a bunch of Native modules, all working absolutely fine. Expo is phenomenal, HeroUI has some beta bugs, but in general it's excellent.

iOS has been a dream - performant, smooth transitions, everything is working exactly how I want it, with very little effort. I'm testing it on physical iPhone 13Pro, iPhone 15Pro and iPad 11 M2, plus a ton of Simulators. It's rock solid, aiming for public beta in about 2 weeks time. It's quite a complex app, but it's been a doddle and it's working exactly how I want it.

Android on the other hand - is an absolute shit show. I'm testing on a physical Samsung A12 and a Galaxy S24, plus various emulators. Really slow and laggy, constant crashes, weird interaction bugs, overlays that randomly stay mounted that intercept other interactions and make it unusable, pressables needing multiple clicks.... aaaaargh.

I've been an Apple user forever, and honestly even just using an Android phone with other apps, it feels like a poorly made toy that I want to throw at a wall, the screen resolution looks aliased, nothing ever feels like it's cohesive. What a shambles! Does anyone actually like Android?

I'm seriously considering just sacking off building the Android version at all. I had hoped to be able to release both, but given the energy and time this is taking up I think I'm going to ditch it!

Had a first round interview call yesterday for 30 minutes with an internal talent manager. Great conversation, felt very aligned with what I heard about the business. Good fit in terms of my experience and was quite excited about potential.

Towards the end of the call, I asked for details of the process and what I might expect as next steps.

I was then told that the person I would be reporting to, likes to see 3 x P60s from candidates ahead of meeting with him. I parried this diplomatically.

My recruiter emailed me last night, saying they'd received very positive feedback from the talent manager, and would like to invite me to meet with the hiring manager (my potential boss) - preceded by, a request to first see my 3 x P60s before agreeing to dates/times for round two.

Slept on it. It doesn't sit well with me at all. I spoke briefly to my recruiter this morning, who agreed it was a very unusual request (not unheard of it, but very unusual). I've thought some more on it and have just sent a follow up note to him (see below).

My feelings are that it's giving me tons of red flags - micromanager, forensic about the wrong things, has possibly had his fingers burnt in the past, but hasn't adapted and instead puts a rigid process in place, that stinks of toxic working practices.

What are people's thoughts on asking for this from a candidate, so early in the process??

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Hi T,

Good to chat earlier today.

I've spent some more time reflecting on our conversation and I think I've reached a decision.

When __ asked me yesterday during the interview, what values matter most to me, my answer was trust, authenticity and loyalty. They're very important, they're the reason I left my previous role, despite enjoying the work itself.

With that in mind, X's request for my last three P60s, before we've even had the opportunity to get to know one another, has left me wondering if we're likely to align. I was totally open with __ about my salary, commission structure, targets and performance, and I'm always happy to discuss my commercial track record in detail. Equally, a P60 isn't an accurate measure of sales performance, target achievement or commission arrangements. 

More than anything, though, it's the principle. I want any new working relationship to begin with mutual trust and respect, and I'm not sure this one feels that way.

It's a shame because I enjoyed speaking with __ and was excited by what I heard about the business.

If there's context that I'm missing, or if X has a particular reason for making the request that would help me understand it differently, then I'm more than happy to have that conversation. Otherwise, I think it's probably best that I step away from the process now rather than ignore something that my instincts are telling me is important. 

I'd welcome your thoughts.

..