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Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

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Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#41

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

> I have stopped learning new things, and working on personal projects because of Dota2.

Might be worth looking at. In my own life, I have had severe issues with video games, in the past. I use a Mac, though (the worst video game platform on Earth), so that limits my ability to get too compulsive.

It can get bad, for me, but I know that I'm a bit of an outlier.

When I stopped compulsing on video games, my "nights and weekends" projects took off, in a big way.

The rest is history.

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#42

Post by abhnv »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #3

Have you thought of working for a different company? Maybe a different technology? It sounds like you've been pigeon holed and you don't like it. You can leave for another. I got my bachelor's degree almost 15 years ago, and never once have I wanted to get a master's degree. Only do it if you have an extremely good reason to, as it doesn't have much market value over a bachelor's. Becoming a software architect comes…

Yes, I'm looking for a new job. It's just, I think that interviews will be harder now, than when I had 2 years of experience.

I need to prepare to ace interviews for better companies.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#43

Post by samsquire »

abhnv wrote: post #33
samsquire wrote: post #2

Start journalling your growth from this point onwards. Write down what you want to learn, what you want to accomplish. Then take steps every day towards your goals in your journal. Write down your side project ideas and work on projects that improve your skills. The idea of journalling is to get yourself to be reflective and adaptive to your situation. Edit: write goals that are achievable and that you think you thin…

I've never tried this before. I'm not an organized person, and its difficult for me to stick to plans. But I'll give it a try, it seems I need to schedule a time slot to work on my personal project, otherwise it'll never happen.

I use GitHub to journal ideas in the open, see my profile.

You can create a private GitHub repository and simply create a README.md and have a # 24/08/2022 (markdown heading) for each hour, part of day, day or week or month depending how often you journal.

Then add to the top or the end of the journal. Journalling should be something you go to enjoy and unwind and get your thoughts out. It's similar to pulling a piece of string and letting go, it feels cathartic.

You can also interrogate your thoughts and ask WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY recursively for each thought and get to the bottom of things and undergo introspection.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#44

Post by abhnv »

matt-w wrote: post #39

I've certainly been where you are. It definitely sounds like you need a job change, but your next company should be selected with care. > I don't have good grades in my undergrad Don't furnish that information. If the company asks you, bow out - it's an absurd question when you have 5 years of experience. A masters won't help you much and I wouldn't recommend it in your situation. It's the kind of thing a person thin…

Thanks for all the great advice. I've started working through LC myself, and I think using your method would make the process more efficient.

I think it'll be better for me money-wise once I land a top-tier job. It'll also make my resume much better.

I'll just uninstall my video games, and start practicing. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#45

Post by abhnv »

chitowneats wrote: post #24

Your grades in undergrad do not matter at all. I cannot stress this enough.

I beleived that too. But recently, one of my uncles, who was being considered to be promoted to being a director in his company, was rejected because the other person who got promoted, had a masters degree.

And my uncle was like, "I wish I had done my masters degree when I was young".

It feels stupid to say this out loud, but this incident did impact my thinking.

Edit: My uncle works at an automobile parts manufacturing company, I'm not sure how his experience applies to software industry.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#46

Post by abhnv »

jcmontx wrote: post #34
headcanon wrote: post #12

A few things that might help: - Exercise if you're not already doing it. Bicycling or swimming can be a meditative activity and get you outside some more - Join another company, possibly even a startup thats doing something you find interesting or meaningful. The job itself probably won't be that different but it will be a change of pace, and maybe if you believe in what the company is doing then you might get more m…

> Factorio That's like recommending cocaine to stop smoking marihuana.

Haha, I have it in my library, played it for 20hrs or something. But I think I stopped before I got hooked.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#47

Post by chitowneats »

abhnv wrote: post #45
chitowneats wrote: post #24

Your grades in undergrad do not matter at all. I cannot stress this enough.

I beleived that too. But recently, one of my uncles, who was being considered to be promoted to being a director in his company, was rejected because the other person who got promoted, had a masters degree. And my uncle was like, "I wish I had done my masters degree when I was young". It feels stupid to say this out loud, but this incident did impact my thinking. Edit: My uncle works at an automobile parts manufactur…

Masters degree matters. The fact that you graduated undergrad matters. The actual grades you earned do not.

If an applicant included their undergrad report cards or GPA with their resume, I would take this as a sign of naivete and would most likely slot this person as a junior engineer.

Conversely, if an employer ever asked to see my grades from undergrad as a condition of employment or promotion, this would be a major red flag for me.

Edit: Masters degree is less valuable for a typical web dev or SWE than years of experience in the industry. Specialties like ML/AI are an exception.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#48

Post by abhnv »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #41

> I have stopped learning new things, and working on personal projects because of Dota2. Might be worth looking at. In my own life, I have had severe issues with video games, in the past. I use a Mac, though (the worst video game platform on Earth), so that limits my ability to get too compulsive. It can get bad, for me, but I know that I'm a bit of an outlier. When I stopped compulsing on video games, my "nights and…

I am similar to you, I use Linux (not the best for gaming, but still I make games work through WINE).

I think once I stop compulsing on video games too, then maybe I can start working on my personal projects too.

Re: Ask HN: What should I do next for my career?

#50

Post by ferrumfist »

headcanon wrote: post #12

A few things that might help: - Exercise if you're not already doing it. Bicycling or swimming can be a meditative activity and get you outside some more - Join another company, possibly even a startup thats doing something you find interesting or meaningful. The job itself probably won't be that different but it will be a change of pace, and maybe if you believe in what the company is doing then you might get more m…

Definitely agree with making a game. I was stagnating as a defense contractor and turned to games as an escape from the grind of government work. I ended up installing Unreal Engine 4 and never looked back. My career growth improved exponentially after that because I was finally excited about the stuff I was working on at night.

To OP, if you enjoy DotA then I highly recommend trying to make a DotA clone yourself and coming up with your own unique abilities. If you use UE4, there's a HUGE amount of free assets (especially Paragon assets, Epic's old third-person MOBA).

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