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Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

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Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#21

Post by jghn »

kevinconroy wrote: post #6

Try the nonprofit world: http://idealist.org/ I used to say "Nonprofits? They aren't doing anything interesting with tech!!" One day, my wife convinced me to try searching on Idealist just to see if there were any nonprofits doing anything interested with tech. I feel in love with the very first result , got the job, worked my way up the ranks, and am now Chief Product Officer at GlobalGiving.org and I couldn't be ha…

This. Without stating my employer I rub elbows with people from all the household name cloud vendors and an knee deep in their stuff plus we invent new things where they can't cut the mustard.

It's hard to find but it is possible

Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#23

Post by throwawaybs »

mrburton wrote: post #5

Find someone who’s vision is inline with what you want. What type of work do you like? What type of business would you like to build? Fuck it, what’s your feeling on building solutions for people just like you? That’s what I’m looking to do.

I want stronger community and trust between people. I don't want to just build something for individuals. I want to transform overall society.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#24

Post by ivansavz »

kevinconroy wrote: post #6

Try the nonprofit world: http://idealist.org/ I used to say "Nonprofits? They aren't doing anything interesting with tech!!" One day, my wife convinced me to try searching on Idealist just to see if there were any nonprofits doing anything interested with tech. I feel in love with the very first result , got the job, worked my way up the ranks, and am now Chief Product Officer at GlobalGiving.org and I couldn't be ha…

+1 for non-profits with a mission. There are many good projects out there, and they are often can't afford a full-time and experienced devs, so the addition of one competent person could make a significant impact.

You'll definitely experience more higher-level-Maslow-pyramid buzz when working for a big mission than for big dollar.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#25

Post by fecak »

1. Identify causes that truly interest you.

2. Make yourself look like a strong candidate on paper.

3. Search for companies that are focused on the causes you care about.

4. Reach out directly to the appropriate individuals at those companies. Don't pay any attention as to whether or not they are hiring.

5. In your approach, briefly mention your qualifications but also your interest in the organization's mission. Mention the latter first. Make it clear to the recipient that your message was written exclusively for this organization.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#26

Post by crispinb »

What an excellent question. Possibly one I should have asked years ago, but instead I largely turned my back on the world of work in disgust - not a course of action I would recommend!

Anyway, there's a slew of helpful and positive answers here and I wish you luck in making use of them.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#28

Post by RomanPushkin »

How about your own non-profit? I founded one. Actually, not non-profit at the moment, but I was lucky to win a grant of $25K from one non-profit accelerator (they scammed me and didn't pay at the end). But it's kind of fun to do it if you're willing to spend your weekends on something.

There are plenty of other non-profits, but they usually don't pay good enough to even cover the rent in SFBA. So IMO it's better to play your own game if you have a plan.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#29

Post by hw »

As others have and would point out, going out on your own and doing something you _want_ to do will be one of the real ways to work on what you want to work on, unless you're not keen on the overhead that comes with entrepreneurship.

It'll take time to find a company that both exudes the same values as you and is in a domain that you enjoy working with. More often than not you get one but not the other.

Usually what I would do when evaluating a company, is ask if I'd ever want to spend my weekends contracting / part-timing / volunteering for that company. If you have a M-F 9-5 job and are looking forward to the weekend with that company, then it's a good step in the right direction.

Then meet with the team and talk to their employees both while on an interview or if you can get one or more of them out on an informal coffee or meal to talk it would help too. Plenty of times interviews are too official, too rigid and pre-meditated to truly gauge the culture of the company/team.

You might end up jumping around a few times before you find something you like, but the important thing is you find something you like, instead of droning on at a big tech company or startup where you reap the benefits financially but suffer emotionally and psychologically.

Re: Ask HN: How do I find meaningful work?

#30

Post by Mz »

I want there to be real values behind what I'm working on that I can believe in. Despite claims to contrary, I find the entire business culture rotten to the core. What should I do?

Have you considered seeking employment with organizations working in extremely distressed parts of the world, like refugee camps?

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