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Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

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Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get why your comment has been downvoted without an explanation. From my (admittedly ignorant) point of view it seems like a fair perspective.

The other guy probably took it as an insult that I was saying he wasn't creative. Being 'creative' is seen as 'good' when in fact it's often a huge pita.

You’re calling people uncreative farmers. Of course it’s insulting. But to someone who stays in one place for a long time, not because it feels good but because it’s what the world needs to keep turning, young job hopping engineers remind me of my kids, always wanting new legos.

It’s not about whether you’re a special creative snowflake, it’s about whether you have the disciple and emotional fortitude to keep working on something after the easy parts are done.

Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#143
I’m sorry but this sounds more like dating and not being able to find your perfect match. If you want your perfect job, then fight for it. Put in the long hours and grind starting at an ok position while working your way up the ladder until you have the authority to create the environment you are seeking. Complaining about this right now where you are a low man on a totem pole gets you no farther than you were yesterday.

I wish you all the best. Pick your head up, find a position that suits your skills and has room for promotion..and begin grinding harder than the engineer next to you.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#144
post #2

I think I've read a few posts on this type on HN, and it seems to me like they are similar in a few ways, there might not be anything wrong with that, but I am still somewhat inclined to believe these things are why the job hunt is not going well for them. Almost always asking for "meaningful" jobs. What even is that? I'll challenge the notion and call it "An inability to find meaning in the available work." Feeling…

Agreed. If people aren’t chasing after you then you have done something wrong along the way. Learn and adapt. Ask yourself “what did I not convince them of that they didn’t hire me on the spot?”

Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#145
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree with this. You sound like a manager I'd never want to work for because you seem to believe this relationship is all about you and I'm some kind of servant. > Almost always asking for "meaningful" jobs. What even is that? A lot of people like to feel like they're contributing positively to the world. If you can't explain how their job does that then maybe your company isn't a positive in the world. > Sense…

I'm a swdev who knows this relationship is all about my company wanting to make a profit off of me, and me wanting to earn money by providing my company with the service that they need in order to do that. Yes, that includes pushing back and resisting stupidity, but it does not consist entirely of me getting my way in every little detail because I'm oh-so uniquely blessed with the magic and rare ability to program a…

> I'm totally not buying into the silicon valley "we're changing the world!!1one" hype

I always loved how the show Silicon Valley poked fun at that. Pretty sure the words "making the world a better place" were sprinkled around many places.

Most companies exist for a single purpose: Profit. Sure, maybe some start as "Hey, this would be a cool thing to have", but eventually the focus is switched to extracting as much money from the population as possible.

I know a guy who is obsessed with this idea of finding fulfilling work. He's an artist who has despised every job he's had because he expects fulfillment, like his job should give him heart-felt purpose. He actually had a job once where he got to use his artistic skills, but he hated it because it didn't allow him to draw the things he wanted.

I'm just like...you're not going to find a job drawing fan art of video game characters. -_- Get over it.

You don't expect any job to provide meaningful, fulfilling, satisfying work. It's all done so someone can profit. Find a non-profit organization that helps the poor if you want fulfilling work.

Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other guy probably took it as an insult that I was saying he wasn't creative. Being 'creative' is seen as 'good' when in fact it's often a huge pita.

You’re calling people uncreative farmers. Of course it’s insulting. But to someone who stays in one place for a long time, not because it feels good but because it’s what the world needs to keep turning, young job hopping engineers remind me of my kids, always wanting new legos. It’s not about whether you’re a special creative snowflake, it’s about whether you have the disciple and emotional fortitude to keep working…

> after the easy parts are done

"Uncreative farmers" is insulting, and this isn't? The claim that your standard megacorp legacy maintainer is altruistically keeping the world spinning seems a little self-important, too.

Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#148
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Almost always asking for "meaningful" jobs. What even is that? I'll challenge the notion and call it "An inability to find meaning in the available work." Having an impact. Right now, I'm stuck in a glue code + terraform + maintaining third party code job. 2 years ago I did platform engineering with high impact features for ~100 people across ~20 teams. > Sense of entitlement, _YOU_ liking the hiring manager? It's…

> Remember, if you call something crap, you're probably doing it close to the person who is responsible for it being crap. I got bitten by this once. It turns out there's a variable φ(crap) representing the amount of time you have to work at a company before – what I thought were – self-deprecating comments, about the app being a piece of shit, are regarded as self -deprecating, rather than an outsider trashing their…

What you're saying is that the app is crap, everyone knows it is crap, but it's a faux pas for the new person to say it? If so, it seems it is not really about the crappy app but more about the in-group pecking order. Wish adults would be mature enough to forgo things like that.

Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#149
post #129
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What bias would they have that would be reliably backed up by them? ('Scandanavians are the best employees' perhaps, based on this thread..! But that aside.)

"Another INTP wouldn't fit in the team" is a great excuse for "I don't like this person". "This woman only has an IQ of 103" replaces "I don't want to hire her because she wants babies". Hiring is hard. People are complicated. Trying to reduce them a couple of letters or a number is hogwash.

To be clear I agree with 'hogwash', I just think it's such random unreliable nonsense that you couldn't rely on it to 'objectively' (so you might claim) show the same correct outcome as your beliefs. Because it would just be all over the place.

Re: Ask HN: Am I the only “unlucky” software engineer?

#150
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other guy probably took it as an insult that I was saying he wasn't creative. Being 'creative' is seen as 'good' when in fact it's often a huge pita.

Except I upvoted it, I am not offended by it, but didn't bother writing out a "defence" for my view, I have no desire to change those assumptions. I do not consider myself particularly creative, no, if I was "highly creative" people would pay for my paintings and other artworks, as it stand, I'm lucky to even get invited to display them anywhere. I paint abstract acrylics, enjoy photography, program fun little projec…

Beautifully written and reasoned. I disagree only in that I think more emphasis should be placed upon finding a niche that allows that range of expression. I also believe that society would be wealthier and happier if more such niches existed. But if you cannot find alignment, "working to live" is a reasonable compromise.

You clearly are creative, although you mock me by claiming that you are not. People who have worked hard to change an aspect of themselves are often especially harsh to those who have trouble with that same aspect.

For instance someone who is distractible may be a messy person by nature. But say they worked really hard and managed to stay neat and tidy by force of will and habit? They can often be more judgemental of untidiness than those to whom it comes naturally. "I have accepted this and overcome it, and it has cost me a lot.... Why have you not put forward the same effort?" Also, when you are confronted with an external image of the thing you have fought against, those emotions get transferred onto the thing. The emotional tone of that internal struggle with disorganisation becomes placed over the external world, over the top of the person who has not yet organised themselves.

And so it is with people who have struggled and sacrificed pieces of themselves to live in the world. When they see that part of themselves in others it can bring out the emotion of that internal struggle, which probably includes a little self loathing.

I think maybe that dynamic influenced the tone of your original message.

As my own dynamics influenced my reply. My anger with this world for being on average different to me led me to write something that had an undercurrent of resentment.

But it is only through the tension of our emotions that we find the will to act in the world. We may not always be the most reasoned beings, but it is this imbalance that gives us agency. It is through my anger and indignation that I act to change the world. To find myself at peace with the world is to find myself impotent, and I still suffer from the delusion that I have something of value to give.

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