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From web developer to database developer in 10 years

notes.eatonphil.com

31–40 of 80 posts

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#31
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you have the time to do this? I already barely have free time, let alone time to attend classes

Wild guess: gp is self-employed and can manage their own time. I’m assuming that with some planning you can carve “learning time” across contracts.

No, I always worked for companies.

However, there was never the "996" shit, you see, these days. I generally did about 50 hours per week. Sometimes more; sometimes, less.

Sometimes, if the extracurricular stuff also benefitted my day job, I could get the company to help out, there.

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#32
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case, I'm a bit obsessed. I'm "on the spectrum," and that helps me to concentrate and understand stuff. Also, I just like doing this stuff. My work is also my hobby. There's not that many things that I'd rather be doing. I have also had a very good venue for doing volunteer work, and that has always provided a driving force. Of course, now that I'm retired, I have the time.

This is me to a big extent. Sometimes I feel like I to learn for learning's sake. Which is okay, or at least that is what my therapist tells me. I struggle with the fact that I "think about doing" vs actually doing. My work is my hobby too, that is why I struggle sometimes wondering if I will ever retire. Why retire when what I'm doing is for the most part fun. Sure, there are days that I'd rather be "doing X", or mo…

> With my personal projects, no one needs it or is expecting it so it is too easy to abandon.

In my case, I was fortunate to have projects that people depend on. Even my "hobby" work has always shipped.

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#33
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wild guess: gp is self-employed and can manage their own time. I’m assuming that with some planning you can carve “learning time” across contracts.

No, I always worked for companies. However, there was never the "996" shit, you see, these days. I generally did about 50 hours per week. Sometimes more; sometimes, less. Sometimes, if the extracurricular stuff also benefitted my day job, I could get the company to help out, there.

I see, thank you for correcting me!

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#34
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you have the time to do this? I already barely have free time, let alone time to attend classes

The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. "I don't have freetime" is usually a tell sign that people either don't know how to manage their time / prioritize free time activities, or have made choice that they refuse to see as choice but as obligations instead (which implicitely just means they prioritize this activity a lot)

> The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time.

Overwhelming majority? Plenty of people don't make enough from their 40h/w job to pay all their expenses and have to get another job or have to share responsibilities with a working spouse. Having kids or aging parents is also a common demand on ones time.

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#35
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. "I don't have freetime" is usually a tell sign that people either don't know how to manage their time / prioritize free time activities, or have made choice that they refuse to see as choice but as obligations instead (which implicitely just means they prioritize this activity a lot)

> The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. Overwhelming majority? Plenty of people don't make enough from their 40h/w job to pay all their expenses and have to get another job or have to share responsibilities with a working spouse. Having kids or aging parents is also a common demand on ones time.

The average weekly hours of US employees is ~34 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/AWHAETP

"Only" 5.2% of US job holders hold more than one job https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat36.htm

If you want to argue that this doesn't add up with "The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time." then please provide sourced numbers rather than baseless internet doomerism.

Oh and I'll add that the average commute time in the US is among the shortest in the OECD, since the long commute boogeyman always end up popping up in these discussions.

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#36
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. "I don't have freetime" is usually a tell sign that people either don't know how to manage their time / prioritize free time activities, or have made choice that they refuse to see as choice but as obligations instead (which implicitely just means they prioritize this activity a lot)

> The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. Overwhelming majority? Plenty of people don't make enough from their 40h/w job to pay all their expenses and have to get another job or have to share responsibilities with a working spouse. Having kids or aging parents is also a common demand on ones time.

you're describing people who work MORE than 40 hours a week

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#37

>I held out while unemployed Watching Eaton's journey online was very inspiring but sadly I have also seen a lot of people doing this to no avail. This is eerily similar to how musicians do busking until they got noticed by a record label.

The part where the analogy breaks down for me is the ZIRP phenomenon and historical developer salaries.

The only thing that is sad to me is watching someone with 250K+ annual cash salary for a solid decade somehow becoming destitute after mere months of trying to do things without active W2 employment. Savings rate is a huge part of the "no avail" aspect. You can beat the pants off this game by simply being frugal. Income is 50% of the battle. How you spend it is the other 50%.

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#38
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. "I don't have freetime" is usually a tell sign that people either don't know how to manage their time / prioritize free time activities, or have made choice that they refuse to see as choice but as obligations instead (which implicitely just means they prioritize this activity a lot)

> The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. Overwhelming majority? Plenty of people don't make enough from their 40h/w job to pay all their expenses and have to get another job or have to share responsibilities with a working spouse. Having kids or aging parents is also a common demand on ones time.

[deleted]

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#39
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. "I don't have freetime" is usually a tell sign that people either don't know how to manage their time / prioritize free time activities, or have made choice that they refuse to see as choice but as obligations instead (which implicitely just means they prioritize this activity a lot)

> The overwhelming majority of people who work around 40 hours a week have plenty of free time. Overwhelming majority? Plenty of people don't make enough from their 40h/w job to pay all their expenses and have to get another job or have to share responsibilities with a working spouse. Having kids or aging parents is also a common demand on ones time.

[deleted]

Re: From web developer to database developer in 10 years

#40

> But my background kept leading hiring managers to suggest putting me on cloud teams doing orchestration in Go around a database rather than working on the database itself. This is extremely annoying. This also means if your first job is doing X, it is very difficult to break into Y even if you know quite well about Y, and even have side projects. I have tried attaching cover letters indicating even if my current ex…

Never gets old:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/4k994j/if_...

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