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Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

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Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#341

Post by nmpuck »

+1 travel. If a future employer/recruiter asks, say: "I went travelling to X and Y and Z."

(Do not apologise or feel guilty for trying to better yourself or your life through new experiences.)

You're young. Travel for more than a month. Go somewhere you've never been and you don't speak the language. Stay in hostels. You'll meet friendly people everywhere and see things you can't imagine now and, perhaps, gain a sense of self-belief and confidence. Perhaps through adversity - it might be hard sometimes! Fantastically rewarding like nothing else, though.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#342

Post by misja111 »

feanaro wrote: post #200
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

> Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

It's not that. Having a gap in your resume might mean that the candidate is trying to hide something. E.g. a job where candidate was fired and doesn't want to be asked to provide references.

If you took a gap to pursue other things, put whatever this was on your CV, don't just leave a gap. If it was something interesting, it might even put you in front of other candidates for some employers.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#343

Post by itsoktocry »

finikytou wrote: post #224
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

trust me they care. especially in a fast moving technology space like cloud, k8s, ML. if you are hired for COBOL yes sure a gap wont matter

>trust me they care.

The Boomers might.

Thankfully, one of the best things to come out of the recent progressive movements is that work is the be all, end all. There's more to life. More and more companies are being run and staffed by people who understand this.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#344

Post by whiddershins »

A lot of advice here about working less, and you should, but working a lot early in your career is not a priori bad.

I think you will really benefit from a formal education in computer science, whether online courses or a traditional institution.

Not only do you want to work less, and get paid more, you want to feel intellectually and creatively stimulated and competent. When you copy and paste less, you will feel more fulfilled in your work. You might also get things done much faster.

So, take a break. Go to school (in whatever form work for you) and get a job that pushes you intellectually, not long hours wise.

And you aren’t old. It’s ok. Many people don’t realize any of this until much later in life.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#345

Post by AussieWog93 »

You can't neglect your soul for 4 years straight without your entire mind breaking down. Sounds like you've learned this the hard way.

If you still have family that cares about you, talk to them about your experience and possibly let them drive your life for a while. They don't know how to program, but they almost certainly do know how to be human.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#346

Post by UncleMeat »

misja111 wrote: post #342
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

> Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise? It's not that. Having a gap in your resume might mean that the candidate is trying to hide something. E.g. a job where candidate was fired and doesn't want to be asked to provide references. If you took a gap to pursue other things, put whatever this was on your CV, don't just leave a gap. If it was something interesting, it might…

Common gaps are for protected things (raising children) and can cause problems if put on CVs. The idea that employers need to treat every applicant with maximum suspicion is frustrating.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#347

Post by Namari »

feanaro wrote: post #200
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

I have many gaps in my resume, like 6 months here, few months there ... at the points it looks like I worked 2/3 of the time over the last 10 years. Sometime recruiters ask me why and I tell the truth that I went travelling, that I needed some time off. Why I had so many different jobs ... It may be a deal breaker for some but it doesn't seem to bother everyone as I've never had trouble finding a job, it could be because the market was in need of my skills, I guess IT people should worry much about that.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#348

Post by UncleMeat »

4lp wrote: post #206
wildmanx wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> OP is more valuable than a toilet cleaner, or a starbucks barista Not to kill your point, but those two are dramatically under-valued and under-appreciated jobs in most societies around the world. Every time you use a toilet (other than the one in your home) which is hopefully clean, somebody had cleaned it recently. Imagine they hadn't. You'd have a terrible day. Every time you go grab a good Starbucks coffee. May…

> But they are paid crap The pay is usually indicative of employer's ability to find a person with the necessary skillset to do the job and not some abstract "importance to society" value that the job has.

Wouldn't it be nice if pay was correlated with value to society? There are a lot of software engineers getting paid bank to make products that are worse for users and society but make their bosses fat stacks. The school janitor is providing more benefit to society.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#349

Post by linsomniac »

Consider your physical health. Over the past year I've gone from a sedentary life to doing 5K on the treadmill most mornings, 10K steps most days, working hard on getting better sleep (going to bed at 9:30 most nights, having a good sleep regimen), and good nutrition.

It has really helped with burnout, though I still do need vacations and weekends for sure. 80 hour weeks are a killer.

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