I find my job real boring (not programming itself) and I'm not sure if it's going to change. I'm not sure if I could risk getting a better programming job and my workplace would be left in a bad place if I actually do leave. It depresses me.
Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
151–160 of 549 posts
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#152Really stoked!! I love what I do (front end, design, occasional dalliance further back the stack). I taught myself HTML and CSS in my earlier years of high school and kept building upon those skills through university. I actually studied an unrelated field but getting an entry level job in it was difficult even after a masters so started working in tech and it's a blast being able to come into work every day, do an activity I love, and get paid more than I'd be getting paid doing my credentialed field.
Some days I'm just in awe of how lucky I am.
I work for a nonprofit so we are more mission focused than the average company and don't have to deal with certain kinds of bs to the same degree. My team is great, I've got a nice range of people to learn from.
Now, time to get out of bed and go to work...
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unless you're rich to start with then you'll still end up making either your investors or your landlord rich. Do it right and you get rich too. But then you're often still perpetuating the system by then employing people who work making you rich. Start a cooperative, forget about being rich and seek the fulfillment of all its members.
I've often thought about the possibility of designing a company specifically to maximise the wealth of its employees. Choose a location with a low cost of living, give equity to all employees, maybe provide accommodation / food as part of the benefits package. I'm not sure if I'm describing a cooperative, I just know that most normal companies do the exact opposite of this: they force you to live in a high cost area…
>I know there are plenty of good reasons why humans have decided to live in cities, but I can't help thinking there's a better way.
The fallacy is in believing you can't have both a reasonable cost of living and the benefits of a city. There are plenty of such places, globally. As more and more people realize that it's unnecessary to assemble in specific places I think we'll see a sea change. Programmers are going to be some of those most able to take advantage of it (they already are).
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#154I enjoy working as a programmer but I do not enjoy it as much as programming as a hobby, which I do too.
I have found that my growing skills outpace the level of challenge provided in my day job. I just think this is a fact of life when your work stems from your hobby.
As an analogy, I think of someone who works with metals (e.g my father). The type of work asked of him was routine stuff where as he was free to sculpt cool gifts for his family. The unfortunate fact is that it's easier to make a living doing routine stuff since those requirements are far more common.
Perhaps there is a company that would match skill growth with challenge growth but somehow I think I'm in a sort-of 'limbo' where I'm not skilled enough or hold the experience to work at those places so I must resign myself to the less interesting jobs.
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uhh... I have to ask: what, exactly, were you expecting? Exhilarating highs and a path to millions? It's a job. Most people don't have jobs that'll make them "rich". Be glad you aren't living paycheck to paycheck, or worse, are unemployed because the job you had was optimized away with computers. To be blunt, there's a sense of entitlement evident, here, that I have trouble grokking. You get to spend all day in a com…
Working with your brain takes just as much effort as working with your muscles. Think back to taking a multiple hour exam in school, and how knackered you'd feel at the end of it. Now imagine doing that for 8+ hours every day, trying to solve problems that you don't even know have a solution. Yes, your body may still be ready to go, but there's nothing left upstairs to make it happen.
>Working with your brain takes just as much effort as working with your muscles.
Does working with your brain leave you susceptible to long-term injury or disability?
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#156I loved it when I was younger. The older I get, the less satisfying it is. At this point, I just tolerate it. I realize more and more how damaging it has been to spend 25 years sitting at a computer. It is not all bad - the career is great for supporting my family and the life we have built. I work with decent people. But I do not intend to take another programming job after my current one.
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uhh... I have to ask: what, exactly, were you expecting? Exhilarating highs and a path to millions? It's a job. Most people don't have jobs that'll make them "rich". Be glad you aren't living paycheck to paycheck, or worse, are unemployed because the job you had was optimized away with computers. To be blunt, there's a sense of entitlement evident, here, that I have trouble grokking. You get to spend all day in a com…
This is a horrible comment. There is 100x more to a career than living a comfortable existence. Personally, I want to feel purposeful at work and that I am contributing to a better world. I also absolutely require regular challenges or I end up severely depressed. Also, I have undertaken extensive education partially as a way of raising my standard of living and having a more enjoyable life outside of work. THERE ARE…
> This is a horrible comment. There is 100x more to a career than living a comfortable existence.
I thought so too. However, the funny thing with market economy is that it IS pretty efficient, so jobs that are regarded as satisfying and challenging are approached by so many talented people that they don't have to pay very well and the conditions are usually not great.
The solution is to either accept that the role of a career is to get to you to early retirement ASAP (Mr Money Mustache style) or to get excited about something that most people don't care about.
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uhh... I have to ask: what, exactly, were you expecting? Exhilarating highs and a path to millions? It's a job. Most people don't have jobs that'll make them "rich". Be glad you aren't living paycheck to paycheck, or worse, are unemployed because the job you had was optimized away with computers. To be blunt, there's a sense of entitlement evident, here, that I have trouble grokking. You get to spend all day in a com…
This is a horrible comment. There is 100x more to a career than living a comfortable existence. Personally, I want to feel purposeful at work and that I am contributing to a better world. I also absolutely require regular challenges or I end up severely depressed. Also, I have undertaken extensive education partially as a way of raising my standard of living and having a more enjoyable life outside of work. THERE ARE…
>Personally, I want to feel purposeful at work and that I am contributing to a better world.
And yet you are depending on your employer to provide you with this?
>but I am already looking at applying to medical school in a year if can't find a challenging and decently rewarding job in bioinfo
I see you running into the same issue.
Just because you've received "an education" doesn't entitle you to a glamorous, exciting job. You'll probably have to make that yourself.
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#159Happy. Broke, but happy. :) (I earn around $100/hr, but my life organisation skills are so miserable that I can't yet make the ends meet. And I have to travel around 50 times per year). Scala/Java.
$100 an hour? If u work 5h per day for 22 days it's like 11k per month. Unless you got some serious addiction/debt problems I don't see how can u be broke :P
50k debt, living in world's most expensive country (Switzerland) as an immigrant, working remotely as a consultant with sporadic work patterns, having a diagnosed ADD. :)
Re: Ask HN: How happy are you working as a programmer?
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
Paying people the same value they contribute is not socialism. It's called: Being a good person. Capitalism seems to have made us all think it's completely okay to exploit someone else's surplus labour. How is the risk the founder takes that different to Employee #1's? Their payout is usually vastly different, but their contribution not so much.
You misunderstood me, I am not saying you should exploit your workers, pay them fair wage. What I am saying is that founder who took the risk should enjoy the fruits. > How is the risk the founder takes that different to Employee #1's? Employee #1 will probably be getting a salary, if the company fails he can get a job somewhere else. Meanwhile the founders who worked on the idea probably used their savings initially…
>What I am saying is that founder who took the risk
Please describe what "risks" the average high-flying tech startup CEO has taken.