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Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

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Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#81

Post by foxfluff »

JSavageOne wrote: post #34

Does anyone working in software honestly feel like their work gives them a strong sense of purpose? Honestly I'd imagine the far majority don't, working on proprietary code for companies driven solely by profit, within agile factories where a developer's sole role is to churn out tickets on an assembly line, and have no real ownership or stake in the company's success. Hence the high rate of burnout despite the job b…

I've never found sense of purpose at work. I wish I could but nope.

The idea of passion projects is what keeps me going but to be honest, work tends to exhaust me to the point that my own projects make no real progress and I don't know if I can ever make something I'd feel happy about.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#82

Post by brightball »

A few areas:

- Working for an organization that provides some service or product that you believe is valuable and under appreciated

- If like protecting people, you may find purpose in security, fraud prevention, etc

- If you value privacy, you may find purpose with encryption techologies, etc

Don't rely on the company to give you a sense of purpose. Decide what is valuable to you and find a way to fill it.

I've spent time working for a company that made software for churches, working for a special needs therapy practice and working to advance DMARC adoption. All of these roles have been very fulfilling in different ways.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#83

Post by tehjoker »

mlac wrote: post #24
garyfirestorm wrote: post #9

To think about it, govt is supposed to be profitable while providing the services. Private is no different. You have to be better and cheaper than your competition.

Government is not supposed to be profitable. It is supposed to minimize cost of meeting needs that the voters agree should be provided by the government. “Profit” in the public sector would indicate that too much tax money was collected, because there shouldn’t be a surplus at the end of a year. There shouldn’t be a deficit either, but that’s a different story.

Neither of these are correct, they're libertarian talking points. You can't really distangle the competing goals of different classes, but if you were to take democracy seriously, it is to do whatever the majority wants. Some problems with that when it conflicts with certain fundamental values, but the US mostly doesn't follow majority rule anyway as is documented in many studies.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#84

Post by slothtrop »

The sense of "meaning" in work is sensory, it isn't rationalized. The most effective utilitarian job in the world won't feel meaningful if you don't like the work. If your job affords deep flow, few interruptions and adequate social interaction, you'll be hard-pressed to get a better environment. Maybe you're bored with your tasks. Our monkey brains light up when the right circumstances surrounding work are there. If the whole sector leaves you jaded now, then best find some refuge in pet projects.

I was always someone more interested in the ends, the ideas, and immediately lose interest when it came to the prospect of implementation. To an extent it's still in my nature, but I've learned the hard way you have to start appreciating the means for their own sake; the abstractions to justify them don't necessarily matter. If you dwell on them long enough you'll convince yourself they're bs anyway and not necessary. Nothing is "necessary".

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#85

Post by pknerd »

cm2012 wrote: post #75

I find fulfillment from solving hard problems through my own cleverness. I wouldn't work on something that hurts people but I also don't care about the end results beyond proving to myself that I can.

What kind of hard problems, may I know?

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#86

Post by Dig1t »

I work on a project that tens of millions of people use every day, my mom uses code that I wrote on her phone and computer. She's super proud of me. Knowing this gives me an incredible satisfaction every single day and its an amazing feeling. I feel so lucky that the adage "choose a career you enjoy doing and you'll never have to work a day in your life" is actually true for me.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#87

Post by trunnell »

Think of profit as a natural way to make an activity self-sustaining. And if a product is profitable, it likely has an authentic reason for continuing, namely that it’s creating value for customers. Now, of course, judgment is still required to ensure your profitable activity is good for society, ethical for everyone involved, etc. But to me, I’d rather be working on something that meets the criteria above than a non-profit or gov project that requires donations (or gov appropriations), because those things can continue (or be halted) for very unnatural reasons and there’s no guarantee the value being created exceeds the effort put in. Hope that helps you!

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#88

Post by aix1 »

capableweb wrote: post #43
aix1 wrote: post #27

> Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector? I work on improving the treatment of cancer through the application of deep learning. I am employed by a FAANG and work very closely with several leading nonprofit academic medical centres. Our primary driver is real-world patient impact (rather than, say, revenue or just academic publications). Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of downsides…

Ultimately, the company you are employed by is employing you to improve their bottom-line, as all of FAANG are for-profit companies. If your branch suddenly starts eating away profits (research proving something your company does is bad for example) or being too costly without improving the profits, there is a real risk they'll cut your branch/team. Is that not a fear for you? I'd like to understand the reasoning how…

> Is that not a fear for you?

Would I be disappointed if my project got cancelled? Yes. I think it would be a missed opportunity for my employer to make a meaningful change in an important space.

Am I fearful of it being cancelled? Absolutely not. I'll just find a new gig and move on with my life.

Last time my (much more commercially-focussed) project got canned, I had four very exciting offers lined up within a few weeks. All of those internal and within my very tight geographic constraints (couple of cities in Europe). I didn't even bother interviewing with other companies as I felt no need.

In the end, the cancellation turned out to be a great thing for me personally as it forced me to move. In the process of that move I found the current -- much more fulfilling -- gig.

Much as I love it, at the end of the day it's just a job. There are plenty of other opportunities out there if I ever need to find a new one.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

#89

Post by altendo »

> Where do you find your sense of purpose working in the private sector?

In some sense, I don't.

At this point in my life, my tech job essentially funds my living expenses: a place to live, food, etc. That isn't to say that I don't like my job - I do, I am still passionate about doing a good job, and I know that my work helps other people - but my purpose doesn't involve work necessarily.

My sense of purpose lies outside all of that. I practice martial arts regularly. I volunteer as a crisis counselor for a local crisis center doing all sorts of things. I love getting outside on a cold day and just going for a walk. I love being with friends. Work provides me the money and the flexibility to do all of it.

I would suggest that, if you are moving into the private sector but still want to serve without worrying about profits, look for charities and other nonprofits in your area and get involved. Maybe even think about what fields of interest matter most to you (is it homelessness? LGBTQ issues? immigration-related issues? mental health?) and find resources near you that are addressing those things.

Working in private sector can provide you the foundation for doing other work elsewhere at the same time. Work doesn't have to provide everything.

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