Ask HN: Jobs with Meaning?

Depending on your company, you might be able to start a project within the company that is either open source, or will be open sourced and work on that during slow times.

It can be tricky to find meaningful jobs but with open source it flips the other way around and it's actually hard to ship open source at scale without people using it to help others (though seldom the only use).

Bonus points if you spend time thinking about what would be the most helpful as well as what would be the most interesting to work on (to keep your interest through the boring days).

I believe.... You're looking for purpose. Not utility or excellence.

I am in a similar situation with a few life long proposes.

Be a great father, husband, and always available to help my neighbors.

Fixing a fence for a neighbor on ten minutes notice was a highlight last month. I was gone for an hour with my tools. Wife didn't mind even though I bailed on lunch. Kid understood. Daddy has to be a hero.

My job situation allowed all of the above. I'm not excited that I build CI pipelines but a great means to an end.

Meaning is not an easy thing to communicate. Each philosophy puts meaning in different places, meaning of words, meaning of an image, meaning in work, ect.

Corporate jobs don't often have the capacity to provide a meaningful role. I hazard the suggestion, an internal sense of meaning can better cultivated from other sources.

What worked for me internally was a lot of literature and imaginative study that resulted in a view that fits boring and exciting tasks alike in a larger, structured meaning.

Nobody can really answer or help properly, unless someone close to you, can see the real 'me' and meaning in you and what you might explore next.

Also practically speaking meaningful jobs arent always the best places to work. Meaning often (not always) is an end in itself that does not naturally create profitable business models.

> ... that doesn't really advance humankind.

How could you possibly know that?

To answer your questions: Yes, no.

To suggest: Go and pivot your career into aerospace, contracting or full time. No better time than now as the resurgence of aerospace, SpaceX, and related startups is a good sign. You could always go back to your job/industry (don't burn your bridges if you want to play it safe and have a plan b). Good luck