If you really want to change jobs, ignore the '300 applicants per vacancy' situation. I bet 80-90% of these are thrown out after a quick screen. If you can put together a good package, you have a chance. You would be surprised with how many bonus points candidates get in my company just for being 'normal'. Age definitely not a minus.
But first, take care of yourself! Best of luck
Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
71–80 of 192 posts
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
> but its usually some typescript challenge or something like that - which i refused to learn, since i already know javascript. once static type checking became a requirement in front end is like the intersection for when i became a dinosaur Why? Static type checking is a good thing to reduce errors.
TypeScript is a Microsoft band-aid on problems far better solved by other languages. The level to which people praise it feels like Stockholm Syndrome, and criticizing it frequently gets the stereotypical toxic programmer forum replies like "well you just don't know how to use types." It's impossible to speak critically about TypeScript unless you write long blog posts.
Static typing zealots have butchered perfectly good dynamic languages like Python and Ruby in recent years after M$ took over Javascript like Russians invading Ukraine. Even Ruby ffsake. Soon Clojure will be the only refuge for us devs who value dynamic languages.
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#73I feel you... Web development is geared towards the "next hot thing" and can be very exhausting. Could it be an option to change your career path into a more management type role? Are you good with people? You might be a great mentor for junior devs?
I don't quite get this. The highest number of JS jobs are in React and Express which are over 10 years old.
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
For a lot of people with technology taste, the web is offensive. Not to say that interfacing with say ugly Windows APIs is that much better, but at least you have way more control over the machine and your program, so (in systems programming) interfacing with ugly abstraction is only a minor part of your experience.
The trouble isn't just that it's offensive for people with technology understanding and taste, but the clients in web space often consider the tech and your work as disposable and they treat you as such.
Interesting. My previous company (large bank) really cherished the front-end devs on our team, because they knew how hard and annoying it would be to hire replacements for them. They definitely were not treated as disposable.
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#75Based on a comment here last year I picked up a copy of the Anarchist's Work Bench. It's about building a bench for a workshop. I never built that bench but in the fall of last year I started accumulating some tools - table saw, miter saw, router, etc. Working with wood has become a haven for me.
I'm hoping to turn this into a second income for "spending money" and then into a real business.
I haven't felt this good in years.
Quick bio: 20+ years as a bartender, around 10 years as a web developer, next career...?? Who knows? As long as life feels like it's worth living. Probably a low bar for many, but that's a decent start for me.
Good luck!!
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#76Take a break if at all possible, if not then prioritise saving to be able to take some time off. A month+ would be ideal but anything over 2-3 weeks would be nessesary to disconnect enough to start seeing past the tress.
Look into therapy/counciling of some sort. No matter what what the actual problem is, having space to talk and vent about it is important. Judging by your post you've got a lot of thoughts and feelings locked up right now, having a professional to work through it with would be really helpful.
None of that is to say it's "your fault" or "your problem", but it might help you to figure out your next move. That may be getting out of the industry and into something else, or it might be finding a new job where the issues aren't as pronounced.
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#77I'm in the same boat, but even older than you with 25 years in. I just hate everything except the actual coding - I hate devops, always have. I hate having to learn new frameworks every six months and having the fundamental stuff I learned early on - objects are good, always separate presentation from logic - being totally flipped around. I've managed to learn React and Next enough to build stuff in them, but I'm not…
Don't take it personally, but you seem to hate quite a lot of things that are outside of your control, or just objective truths that are there to stay: * DevOps: If people find value in releasing software in an organized manner to avoid breaking websites / "testing in production" and losing a lot of revenue, why do you strongly hate or care at all? You don't have to work on devops. * Learning new frameworks: Did some…
> * DevOps: If people find value in releasing software in an organized manner to avoid breaking websites / "testing in production" and losing a lot of revenue, why do you strongly hate or care at all? You don't have to work on devops.
Nowadays, devops can be the process police, where they define rigid processes which make their life (releasing, version management, hotfixes etc.) easier at the cost of the developers. The processes are automatically enforced by the tools and workflows they write (which are often slow and/or flaky BTW, making things so much worse), so there's no way you could just ignore them.
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#78Seems like you’re experiencing burn-out and from what I’ve read and experienced, burn out is a function of emotional investment vs the emotional return. So I see that you have two options both of which shouldn’t happen before first taking a small break: 1. Continue to work in the industry and reduce your emotional investment. Hint: great places for that are big corporates. 2. Continue to work while upskilling in anot…
> function of emotional investment vs the emotional return This!
I was also struck by this definition, which I had not heard before.
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#79I feel you... Web development is geared towards the "next hot thing" and can be very exhausting. Could it be an option to change your career path into a more management type role? Are you good with people? You might be a great mentor for junior devs?
I don't quite get this. The highest number of JS jobs are in React and Express which are over 10 years old.
There may be 10 year old, but most people didn't work in React in 2012. 10 years ago, people were working in things like Ext.js or Backbone.js. Then, they had to learn Angular. And later, they had to learn React.
Re: Ask HN: Depressed, need to leave web development, what can I do?
#80There are a lot of companies that don't primarily do web development, maybe look into that if you know or want to learn Java, C++? Telecom, automotive, finance, games, medicine, industry. These companies need a lot of developers and they're typically much nicer to work at. Better paid, much less stress.
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