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Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

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Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#41

Post by busterarm »

Hermitian909 wrote: post #17

> where I can flex my engineering skills without BS Not to be snarky, but it depends on how good you are and where you are (and have a track record of being). I don't know you but when most people complain about "BS" they're complaining about the fact that they have to justify their priorities, projects, and timelines or interact with other departments. This is exactly what high paid SWE work is these days. You can h…

> This is exactly what high paid SWE work is these days. You can have less collaboration by moving to infra, but it'll still be the norm.

As someone who made the switch to infra, don't do it. The same problems mentioned before will become uncontrollable roadblocks to you getting real work done and you'll have zero power to do anything about it.

You do get to provide enormous amounts of value but typically only when the stars align.

Unfortunately the only real way to make that difference is in software team management and then say goodbye to contributing code.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#42

Post by pugworthy »

EddieEngineers wrote: post #35
throwawaysleep wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just expect to be treated as an brainless execution monkey at those places. I have done it in the past and quit after 4 months. Have a new grad of mine who took a 1 year contract with a lab and I want him to quit within 6 months as the kinds of people who tend to become researchers are also jerks.

> the kinds of people who tend to become researchers are also jerks Blanket statements like this are ridiculous. > Just expect to be treated as an brainless execution monkey at those places Each lab has a different vibe - some will suck, some will be awesome. Totally depends on where you end up just like a startup. > I have done it in the past and quit after 4 months Sounds like you got unlucky.

Agree with your rebuttal. I worked for 17 years in the university environment as a Sr. Faculty Research Assistant. Loved it for the most part. Yes, there are assholes (that's DOCTOR asshole to you buddy), but you can choose them as much as they choose you.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#43

Post by lylejantzi3rd »

pbw wrote: post #37

The "I will be happy when" trap is a dangerous one. Work on being content with that you have. Your health, your family, your friends, your hobbies. The fact that you live in 2023 and have the entire world of entertainment and information at your fingertips, something no human in the previous 200,000 years had. > Everyone says ... a true engineer's paradise. I've never had this impression of FAANG. I always figured th…

> I've never had this impression of FAANG.

I have. It was a popular myth when I was coming up. I'm the same age as the OP (40, graduated in 2005). Back in the early 00s, google was seen by most as the promised land. Facebook was too, for a while. Those initial impressions, even though they were formed from afar, can be hard to shake.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#44

Post by kylehotchkiss »

dogtorwoof wrote: post #6

I’m a medical doctor and I wish I became I software engineer instead.

I bet you have a lot of good perspectives on how software could better serve doctors and healthcare. Keep practicing medicine, but give coding a try in your free time. Web technologies are the easiest places to start and have pretty good resources on starting from scratch.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#45

Post by kylehotchkiss »

darkvertex wrote: post #29

The Head Of IT at my employer insists when he gets sick of his job and completely burnt out of his career he's retiring to become an alpaca farmer.

Not a bad idea… alpacas and goats could serve a lot more of the west coast eating up a lot of flammable brush. He could even starlink a small office setup and get paid to be on call.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#46

Post by complex_exp »

sidlls wrote: post #23
lupire wrote: post #15

Work on your marriage. Stop pining for being 20something again; stop believing company PR. You won a golden ticket; don't burn it.

This is a bit odd. I have completely turned my life around in my mid-40s by "pining" (well, actually acting on urges) for my 20-somethings again. I was helped immensely by some extremely good luck in a choice of company to work for that went public and netted me millions. But I took some agency, distanced myself from individuals and companies I thought were not aligned with my desires and needs, and am all the better…

The first point is more important. The second point mostly helps with getting the first point done. When other things get stable you can adjust things at your job, or just quit and do something else entirely.

Someone in their 20s often believes bullshit stories about productivity, and understands very little about the social practice of allocation of resources and rewards (aka politics). This can be easily observed by hearing statements like "you know, there is politics at place X!". Gosh, well I hope so, otherwise it would mean there is nothing valuable at place X (i.e. nothing to allocate), or there is exactly one person there.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#47

Post by tmsh »

Learn to find joy in the little, bottom-up things. Curiosity and humility are relevant. If you don’t, you fail in an evolutionary sense compared to those who learn to do this (it’s why commencement speakers touch on finding your passion — your situation is one on which they’re talking about).

Humility: look in the under-looked places for finding joy. And realize there’s always more to learn and to teach. Curiosity: try new things.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#48

Post by closeparen »

pbw wrote: post #37

The "I will be happy when" trap is a dangerous one. Work on being content with that you have. Your health, your family, your friends, your hobbies. The fact that you live in 2023 and have the entire world of entertainment and information at your fingertips, something no human in the previous 200,000 years had. > Everyone says ... a true engineer's paradise. I've never had this impression of FAANG. I always figured th…

>”Work on being content”

Is that a thing? I don’t think that’s a thing (separate from working on creating the conditions for contentment, which you might have a wrong idea about, but which are nevertheless real and out in the world).

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#49

Post by stcroixx »

I think you’ve seen about all there is to see in software dev. I’ve been doing it 25 years and passed that point a long time ago. From here, you can switch to something more fulfilling, which almost surely won’t pay as well, or just suck it up like most people and realize nothing is pleasant for 40+ hours a week and enjoy the oversize checks.

If you do manage to get lucky and find a place like you describe, realize that too will be temporary, so the problem will be back.

Re: Ask HN: Tired of being a software engineer, what next?

#50

Post by fsckboy »

pengaru wrote: post #30

> I kind of feel I have wasted my time/life on this career. Software development has squandered the brightest minds on pointless work for decades. Your feelings are not wrong IMO. Even back in the 40s this threat to Real Work posed by the computer's infinite ability to steal time from bright minds was basically already identified: > It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work. The > trouble…

>It's a very serious disease and it interferes completely with the work.

what he noticed is playing with computers can steal time from your other work, yes... but if your work is the computer it's not stealing time from anything

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