41–50 of 64 posts
SF startups seem like a fucking nightmare. I live in a second-tier city and there's lots of six-figure, 9-5 software dev roles that are nowhere near as competitive. Consider relocating somewhere with a lower CoL and more sane culture?
SF startups seem like a fucking nightmare. I live in a second-tier city and there's lots of six-figure, 9-5 software dev roles that are nowhere near as competitive. Consider relocating somewhere with a lower CoL and more sane culture?
That's the plan for now - if I found a job with decent enough salary I'd more than consider returning to New York where the culture is more sane and people do... anything other than just tech.
Hmm. 1. Get a job that pays the bills for starters, doesn't have to be fancy or pay much, just enough that you don't become homeless. 2. Do something in your spare time that you're interested, just for fun, with no expectations or even plans of making money from it. 3. You will profit in a way you couldn't possibly plan or predict. Or maybe not. But probably. Either way, you're not homeless or starving.
Even though I can't really afford it I'm going to start seeing a therapist. Right now just reaching for some kind of knowledge work that won't torpedo my resume. If I really didn't care I'd just go get a job at Fedex in Maine or Vermont. What's most embarrassing is potentially having to stay at my parents to avoid sinking into my savings further. Obviously others are having a hard time to, part of the mental hurdle i…
You'll be ok. Move somewhere cheaper and work in tech for a non-tech company. There's no shame in relying on your parents if you have to but as someone that doesn't have parents or anywhere near the savings you do i really think you'll be alright. Being a SWE at a non tech company really will eliminate most of your issues with the work i think.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the plan for now - if I found a job with decent enough salary I'd more than consider returning to New York where the culture is more sane and people do... anything other than just tech.
If your options are only SF or New York you're leaving a whole world of opportunities out.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even though I can't really afford it I'm going to start seeing a therapist. Right now just reaching for some kind of knowledge work that won't torpedo my resume. If I really didn't care I'd just go get a job at Fedex in Maine or Vermont. What's most embarrassing is potentially having to stay at my parents to avoid sinking into my savings further. Obviously others are having a hard time to, part of the mental hurdle i…
Fuckin hell. A few hundred K? That's an unbelievable sum of money from where I'm sitting. Manny times how much I've been able to save over 4 years of an SWE career. You'll be ok. Move somewhere cheaper and work in tech for a non-tech company. There's no shame in relying on your parents if you have to but as someone that doesn't have parents or anywhere near the savings you do i really think you'll be alright. Being a…
At 30, you're still young! If I was starting today, rather than an electrical engineering degree, I'd choose a trade: probably electrician, or plumber. I know a few kids working for themselves in these trades and they are in unceasing demand.
There's plenty of low effort stable jobs available, and being a programmer can be one of them. There's companies out the wazoo who just need a mediocre programmer to work ~40 hours a week. But you could also be a clinical pharmacist, or an accountant, or a supply chain manager.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Idk how long it would take me to be interview ready - I know it's not a great look and above all it's really embarrassing... but leetcode seems like a waste of time and side projects seem like the only way to prep for non-leetcode pairing sessions where they always expect you to know all the bindings / syntax like the back of your hand.
Really depends on the company and interviewer. I can't teach problem solving and critical thinking skills, but those are what I focus on during interviews and why I toss 98% of the applications that make it to my manager and myself after an interview. Given I am a hybrid SRE/SWE my role and team is a bit weird, but I can give somebody extra time on tasks while they're learning new tools or responsibilities, what I ca…
I'd say my strong-suit is in vaguely defined zero to one work and scale out for more sharply scoped functionality. That said, if you ask me to write a react app from scratch, I'm likely just going to lean on cursor / claude to do the boilerplate and hop in when I need to make sure things are surgically correct.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fuckin hell. A few hundred K? That's an unbelievable sum of money from where I'm sitting. Manny times how much I've been able to save over 4 years of an SWE career. You'll be ok. Move somewhere cheaper and work in tech for a non-tech company. There's no shame in relying on your parents if you have to but as someone that doesn't have parents or anywhere near the savings you do i really think you'll be alright. Being a…
Yeah, move to a smaller town where apartments can be like $700/month and get a regular job to augment your hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings, you'll avoid starving and going homeless for a good 5 or 10 years that way, plenty of time to figure your life out. Plus you'll have more down to earth experiences that will help give you some seriously needed perspective.
At 30, you're still young! If I was starting today, rather than an electrical engineering degree, I'd choose a trade: probably electrician, or plumber. I know a few kids working for themselves in these trades and they are in unceasing demand.
Eh... trades are overrated. They're hard, the people typically suck to be around, and they're volatile. A lot of people making good money in trades are on a grind, 60-80 hours of work a week. Sure, you could do that, but it's still a grind. There's plenty of low effort stable jobs available, and being a programmer can be one of them. There's companies out the wazoo who just need a mediocre programmer to work ~40 hour…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the plan for now - if I found a job with decent enough salary I'd more than consider returning to New York where the culture is more sane and people do... anything other than just tech.
If your options are only SF or New York you're leaving a whole world of opportunities out.