Nice rant. Go watch “Office Space” that will tell you what to do, and no it’s not burn it all down.
Tell the consultants you come in late through the back door and only work just hard enough to get fired?
Haha Office Space is a real feeling
Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
71–80 of 112 posts
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#72Some options: * Move to a frontend job that is less chaotic. RoR jobs are relatively easy to find and some codebases are quite tidy. Plus, the framework moves slowly and there is little JS. * Move to a backend job that uses an interesting technology, like Erlang, OCaml or Haskell. These technologies will provide some stimulation due to elegance and novelty. * Pivot to a job in a different domain. Consider academic, i…
I’ve also been thinking about embedded and firmware. I have an EE degree so could do that if I re-read some stuff.
Firmware programming seems neat, I enjoy C programming as you really have to think to do anything
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#73What sparks your flame? Is it viable as income? If so, try that. Sorry I couldn't be more specific. It is odd that we treat time like it is the most worthless thing when it is the most valuable thing we have.
Animals, creativity, beaches and reading!
I’d love a creative job. One where people give me open-ended problems or goals and I create, whether that be through logic or art, to arrive at a solution.
I spend almost all my spare time creating (via programming browser extensions) and pondering ideas.
It’s so true what you say about time. I recently dropped to a 32 hour week and it has been the single best choice I’ve made in my life. Now I just need to squeeze out creativity in those 32 hours
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#74Have you always felt this way about development? Or is this a newer feeling? If it's newer, you might just be burnt out and taking a step away from the stuff you hate for a while may be enough to regain your excitement and motivation.
I’ve always felt this way about work. It’s so much of our time working on making other people rich, making things that don’t matter. I recently dropped to a 32 hour week to combat this feeling.
I really enjoy the creativity of development in my spare time. I just wish I had that creativity the whole time.
I’m a person who needs to be constantly thinking of ideas and trying things, that's when I’m at my happiest
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#75The traditional career progressions for software developers are management, entrepreneurship, and carpentry.
I feel seen.
Jokes aside, carpentry is an amazing complementary hobby for software related work. There's something about drawing on a piece of paper and using your hands to make it a reality that scratches a lot of itches.
Sadly, entrepreneurship doesn't leave much free time for carpentry.
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#76I was surprised by the number of science grad students I knew who were into This Old House. The dream of applying your expertise in a short time frame with tangible results.
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#77I want to re-educate myself and combat climate change. Non-profit or maybe politics. Need a big pile of cash first so I can disregard the looming threat of ever lacking money.
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#78> I don’t care about what we are building I don't switch jobs much, but this is when I do. If I don't care about it, and I'm tired of the org and its practices, and the system is stuck in some way, I have to bounce. I'll just drag myself and the team/project/org down because my paycheck will only buy so much caring from me. We'll all be better off if I'm somewhere more satisfying and they fill my slot with someone wh…
> I'll just drag myself and the team/project/org down I wish everyone had this much self awareness. Some people just hold on for dear life to collect a paycheck. I get it, people have a family and bills to pay, but at least use the slack time to find another job.
I'm sorry but it's incredibly difficult to find such a job. My work history isn't long, but out of all companies I've worked for, all of them sucked in their own, unique ways. Currently I'm at a company that's moving away from coding towards having meetings over processes, and honestly, the pay is good while expectations are low, which allows me to just cruise.
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#79I'm probably projecting here, but I wonder if you're having a bit of an existential crisis. I.e., "Why am I even doing this? It's ultimately not important." I don't really have any advice on the matter. I just thought it might be help you locate the kernel of your discontent.
Probably. I’m of that age that you have a quarter-life crisis lol. I will have to dig deeper
I'm in the same boat. It seems very common for people to feel burnt out in their careers after the first 5-10 years. Trouble is that the economy seems so intimidating right now.
Re: Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
#80What are your hobbies?
Good question:
Programming, walking, reading