Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#1

Post by whitepirate20 » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 4:26 PM UTC

I’m 27 years old and started hacking around when I was 13 with vb6.

I’m realizing all I build these days are more advanced CRUD apps with more advanced security, but I’m bored. It’s a sad cycle because cost of living to support my partner and I is high, so I cannot just quit (she’s in academia), however my love for tech is still strong, but I need harder and different problems. What can I do?

My buddies and I want to start a company as we are all in the same position, but we have no grand ideas. What have you all done to exit the endless loop of existentialism in the field?

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#2

Post by ignorantguy » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 4:36 PM UTC

Try and contribute to open source projects if possible. There are a ton of good ones out there, pick one that interests you. I am trying to do the same.

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#3

Post by fatherzine » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 4:41 PM UTC

Beware of false idols, says the old book. Tech can be amazing, tech can be boring. At the end of the day, tech is but a tool. It will never satiate your soul. Find a target worthy for the love your heart yearns to offer, and aim at it steadfastly.

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#4

Post by Incerto » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 4:43 PM UTC

I feel your pain. I was stick in the same boat as you a couple of years back. It’s hard as CRUD really is the bread and butter of the industry. I did two things..

1. Took a few weeks of holiday and didn’t TOUCH a computer during that time, did a hard reset.

2. Longer term, I looked into stuff I had never programmed (during my spare time) to rekindle my love for it. Stuff that was (objectively) useless for my career but that I did anyway for the sheer love of it. In my case it was messing around with 3d games libraries and building a basic gaming server.

Hope this helps.

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#5

Post by enduser » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 4:50 PM UTC

Be careful what you wish for. Solving harder problems for cash still comes with the expectation to solve those problems on a timeline, in a way that delivers value for the business writing your paycheck.

It sounds like you and your buddies may be experiencing nostalgia for the days when coding was a hobby and not a livelihood. The fun/hobby part is a fraction of the work of starting a new business—most of which is at least as boring as writing CRUD apps.

I switched to consulting/contract work and now have the freedom to work without supervision, no expectation of managing people, the ability to pick which projects I will tackle, and loads more free time (because of a higher hourly rate + nobody expecting me to keep a seat warm).

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#6

Post by chrisco255 » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 4:52 PM UTC

Understand that at the end of the day, it is a job. You will eventually get bored on some level of anything you do. It can be exciting to learn something new, but before you do, you should be okay with boredom, too.

Existentialism is heavy stuff for what is ultimately a job at the end of the day. You don't have to wrap your identity up in your job or whatever your current role or project is. If it pays the bills, great! It's a CRUD app? Fantastic!

If you want to start your own thing and your partner is on board, and y'all have the runway for it, great also! But since you said you have no great ideas, yet, you may want to hold off until you do. Starting a business is exciting at first but turns into a grind at some point, too. You'll have to go through lots of drudgery when you run your own company. Make sure you're okay with the boring stuff.

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#7

Post by julienreszka » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 5:03 PM UTC

Have you tried machine learning

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#8

Post by IceMetalPunk » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 5:17 PM UTC

I'm in a similar (but different) position. I'll give you the advice my current boss gave me: keep your day job while you learn the skills needed to find another. Then keep your day job while you apply to jobs that are more aligned with your desired fulfillment. Once you are offered one of those jobs, quit your day job and transfer to the other.

In your case, where you want to start your own company, those are some grand ambitions. Be ready for disappointment, as that's not a path that works out for most people. But my boss's advice still applies to you: keep your day job and push through it while you work on building the infrastructure for your own company. Only once your company becomes profitable enough to pay the bills should you quit your day job. Because unfortunately, we live in a society that threatens everyone with homelessness, starvation, and death if the things that fulfill them are not producing something other people want enough of.

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#9

Post by shafoshaf » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 5:34 PM UTC

chrisco255 wrote: post #6

Understand that at the end of the day, it is a job. You will eventually get bored on some level of anything you do. It can be exciting to learn something new, but before you do, you should be okay with boredom, too. Existentialism is heavy stuff for what is ultimately a job at the end of the day. You don't have to wrap your identity up in your job or whatever your current role or project is. If it pays the bills, gre…

The way I put it is that it's a shame to ruin a perfectly good hobby with a job.

My background is all computer science and I work building those CRUD apps. However, my hobby is mobile dev, simulations, and hacking. I don't think I'd be happy doing those things with bosses and customers telling me what they need.

Re: Ask HN: Lost in My Career

#10

Post by 1001101 » Fri, Aug 26, 2022, 5:54 PM UTC

This is me, but I watch a couple of episodes of Deadliest Catch, and then plopping down on the Aeron with a good cup of coffee whenever to write code takes on a different perspective. Good luck!