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Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

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Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#11

Post by nashashmi »

A friend I know went from software engineering to civil engineering for difficulties in finding work. But I find many more that do the opposite, go from civil to software.

I was first inclined into software before deciding on civil in college after the dot com bubble burst.

I recommend all software inclined engineers do anything but software. Software Programming is a very powerful tool in most industries but is least required in the software industry.

So I recommend you pick up another skill. And start working on it from a software perspective.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#12

Post by codingdave »

I took a break for a couple years at one point, also about 4-5 years after I started. I went and threw boxes around warehouses for UPS, then I did a year of law school, then I realized that software wasn't so bad, so I came back to it.

But I came back with different goals. I wasn't pushing myself to be the best engineer in the world... I just did the work. I wasn't trying to make software used around the world... I just took jobs and did my best.

And I found that with a more relaxed attitude, I was better. My work was better, my performance and satisfaction overall was vastly improved. And my career went to a better place. I still don't have the passion for it that some people do, and won't miss it when I retire. But I have solid skills, a solid work ethic, and a solid career.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#13

Post by marsrover »

codingdave wrote: post #12

I took a break for a couple years at one point, also about 4-5 years after I started. I went and threw boxes around warehouses for UPS, then I did a year of law school, then I realized that software wasn't so bad, so I came back to it. But I came back with different goals. I wasn't pushing myself to be the best engineer in the world... I just did the work. I wasn't trying to make software used around the world... I j…

I want to do something like this. Take a hiatus but work a minimum wage job so that I appreciate what I have.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#14

Post by draw_down »

UglyToad wrote: post #4

I'm currently on my first break after 6 years with no job lined up and I'm not sure I want to go back to software. Unfortunately I don't have any answers but as the other responses point out software is a gilded cage because it would be very hard to get anywhere near an equivalent salary doing anything else. I had become increasingly disillusioned with software, mainly the maddening bureaucracy, problematic managemen…

It’s true that we’re just rewriting crap, but then most jobs are basically pointless. I see it as an opportunity to not take all this so seriously. Just shovel the shit and get paid. Could be a lot worse.

At the same time, the “change the world” rhetoric is even harder to swallow when you look at things this way.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#15

Post by factorialboy »

I moved to sales & investing after 10 years of coding. I still write code every day, but only for myself. For me, programming is beautiful if I am in control of the product getting built. It's a complete package and the creative aspects is what gives me the thrills. Being a code monkey does not.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#16

Post by ScottFree »

nashashmi wrote: post #11

A friend I know went from software engineering to civil engineering for difficulties in finding work. But I find many more that do the opposite, go from civil to software. I was first inclined into software before deciding on civil in college after the dot com bubble burst. I recommend all software inclined engineers do anything but software. Software Programming is a very powerful tool in most industries but is leas…

> A friend I know went from software engineering to civil engineering

Do you mind if I ask how he achieved that? Did he go back to college? I ask because I've been thinking about transitioning to mechanical engineering, but going back to college for 4 more years and racking up 10s of thousands of dollars in debt is off putting.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#17

Post by Rainymood »

marsrover wrote: post #13
codingdave wrote: post #12

I took a break for a couple years at one point, also about 4-5 years after I started. I went and threw boxes around warehouses for UPS, then I did a year of law school, then I realized that software wasn't so bad, so I came back to it. But I came back with different goals. I wasn't pushing myself to be the best engineer in the world... I just did the work. I wasn't trying to make software used around the world... I j…

I want to do something like this. Take a hiatus but work a minimum wage job so that I appreciate what I have.

No need for extreme measures. Why not do some gardening in the weekend? Some manual labour?

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#19

Post by sergiotapia »

Aeolun wrote: post #8
UglyToad wrote: post #4

I'm currently on my first break after 6 years with no job lined up and I'm not sure I want to go back to software. Unfortunately I don't have any answers but as the other responses point out software is a gilded cage because it would be very hard to get anywhere near an equivalent salary doing anything else. I had become increasingly disillusioned with software, mainly the maddening bureaucracy, problematic managemen…

I never really understood how insane it can get until my current job. We literally have a system diagram with like 30-40 different components (proxies, lambdas, pretty much all aws services), for a system that would work just as well with 3 (front/back/database). At this point it’s become a kind of joke for me because anything else would be too depressing.

Search for baklava code. Or architecture astronauts.

It's comes from leadership and trickles down to individual engineers. If your leader is deep into this mindset of completely over engineering things, you are screwed. I quit a job like this because the system was just too much. It was making me hate my profession and that's when I knew it was time to go.

You can get so far with a simple monolith, there is no need to suffer the whims of someone justifying their position.

Re: Ask HN: Did anyone leave Software Engineering as your profession? If yes, why?

#20

Post by alexfromapex »

UglyToad wrote: post #4

I'm currently on my first break after 6 years with no job lined up and I'm not sure I want to go back to software. Unfortunately I don't have any answers but as the other responses point out software is a gilded cage because it would be very hard to get anywhere near an equivalent salary doing anything else. I had become increasingly disillusioned with software, mainly the maddening bureaucracy, problematic managemen…

Are you me?! I have almost the exact same story and feel the same way. One thing that particularly annoys me is how interviews at a lot of places have devolved into 4 interviews and around the 3rd you talk to some smug engineer that expects you to have memorized pedantic things about programming languages. I’ve worked in senior level positions for years doing very high quality work but I still google a lot of stuff and it just makes no sense to me why they do this instead of evaluating applied knowledge. Most recently this happened AFTER I had already passed a HackerRank test. And the worst part is then companies might ghost you if you’re not selected as a candidate.
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