Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
41–50 of 214 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#42Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#43There are a couple things you can do:
- Accept it, do as little work as you can get away with, and find fulfillment outside your job. Maybe get a stand-up desk and do some light exercise while working, to ease the feeling of wasting your time.
- Find a useful job. Non-profits, government services, and research organizations are good places to look, but there are lots of private sector jobs that produce useful things even while squeezing out profit.
I work at a public research organization, creating tools to collect, process, and share climate data. All of my co-workers are fairly happy and motivated, because the work we do is useful. I'm currently working on a CRUD app to make it easier for researchers to submit reports to the grant organization. The product is dull, but I'm happy to work on it because it will let our researchers spend less time on administration and more time on climate science.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#44But there are tons of other kinds of SWE jobs out there that aren't about squeezing another fraction of a percent of profit out of some process - positions with non-profits, development jobs in medical research of all kinds, or even early stage startups where you get to play a bigger role in the product development. You probably won't make FAANG money, but you can do just fine for yourself in a position where you feel like you're doing something more meaningful.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#45Even if you get to a job with a point, like doing something meaningful or for the good of society, it's not necessarily going to feel great from day-to-day, and might be even more disillusioning (speaking from experience here). I find that I just care about it less when other things in my life are going well.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#46Think about what are the problems that are actually worth fixing in the world and make your way up from there. Give it time, don't force it. It might also be worth checking out techniques that can help generate ideas: https://medium.com/ideas-into-action/ikigai-the-perfect-care...
And even in situations where the job itself is not that meaningful, there are lots of other areas you may be able to focus on. Building relationships, learning about how software is built...
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#47Maybe you just see capitalism for what it is [1]. If so, this might be the wrong forum for you to be asking that question on. On the other hand, not every job is unproductive busywork (despite being for profit), so maybe you're just not feeling well or you've had exceptionally bad luck? 1. https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/
As someone who lived through communism - this kind of phrasing is really dangerous. What people complain about on /r/antiwork is problems that people from my country would kill to have. Capitalism has it's faults, but just complaining, without a constructive alternative can lead to way worse outcomes.
If you check the sidebar of that subreddit you'll find anarchism and mutualism as the solutions to the problems it identifies.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#48Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#49That is by definition the relationship of an employee and and employer. If they didn't make money off of you they wouldn't hire you (exceptions exist as always).
Edit: making sure i didn't missinterpret this sentence - if by people you meant customers then it's also what companies do.
> People who have really great jobs(not talking about money ofc), how did you find them
Try to abstract away the company. Raise your own bar, strive to be a great professional for your own sake, because you love your field of work. Progress your knowledge and skills for your own joy, not for your employers. Now, if you get into that mindset, even the worst company is a training ground to help you become better. It's a new level in a game. See how well you can manage in the worst possible conditions, making sure it is not taxing your mental health though.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?
#50I really like my job - work on innovative product lines with a small close knit team. I got here by just working on ideas/probelms that interested me and selling that company to the current one.
Go do something you like. Also go to a therapist.