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Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

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Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#121

Post by KineticLensman »

mxmpawn wrote: post #85
epm7384 wrote: post #22

I'd argue differently. Congrats for having the courage to recognize your problem. The analogy that comes to mind is I've been playing basketball in my local town, and now I've gotten promoted to play in the big city. I now feel like a small fish in a big pond. If you enjoy software engineering, I'd say, double down. Now that you're at the medium software company, seek mentorship and coaching from others. In addition,…

I really appreciate your (and everyone) help. I've always knew I was behind some things but this real world experience slapped me in the face and now I'm trying to readjust. My manager has already been aware of my lack of knowledge but I'll talk to him to know if they still want me there. If I keep my job I for sure will be asking for more help at the start of a new project.

Crucially, don't start the discussion with "do you still want me" but with "I'm concerned that I might run into problems and wanted to discuss how we can avoid them" (or something like that).

Some managers would welcome this discussion. It shows that you are aware that you have limitations and that you would like to improve. If nothing else it helps keep the manager / company from placing you on a task that you wouldn't be able to complete successfully, which would ultimately hit their bottom line. If the company / management are sufficiently enlightened (such companies do exist), they may be able to find additional training or development opportunities to enhance your skills

FWIW, when I was a manager, I ALWAYS liked to find things out before they created a problem, when there was time to fix them, rather than in the middle of some critical task.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#122

Post by jokethrowaway »

Most of the "senior" engineers I know don't care about the craft and are pretty mediocre developers.

You faked it until you made it. You care about becoming better.

Just work harder on your skills and get better.

Learn about best practices, learn from your mistakes, learn from code reviews from better developers, look into OSS, contribute to OSS and get feedback by better engineers.

There is no reason to sabotage your career over this.

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#123

Post by nicoburns »

moolcool wrote: post #79
nicoburns wrote: post #26

> I'm thinking about looking for semi senior roles but I'm afraid it'll look weird for the company interviewing me to hire a semi senior with +10 years of experience. I think this is definitely an option if you want to go for it. There might be some companies who will discriminate against you, but they'll definitely be some who won't. The key will be explaining to them (and convincing them) that the reason you're not…

With 10 years of experience, and ability to solve most problems given (even if it is hacky), I think junior is WAY too uncharitable.

I guess that depends on your perspective. From mine "not hacky" is absolutely required to move up from junior level. Hacky code is only useful if it's single-use or you can pass it off to a client and be done with it. In a bigger project (presumably what OP wants to be working on), hacky code is worse than no code at all.

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#124

Post by fasteddie31003 »

Not to sound like a jerk, but I feel like I have completely the opposite problem. I work at a large software company as a senior engineer. Every problem is way too easy and uninteresting. I don't do much work most days and complete all my tasks for a 2 week sprint in a day or two. I work on side projects in new technologies just to keep myself sane. Most recently working on blockchain dapps because they are such a departure from traditional architectures.

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#126

Post by cjaybo »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #14
tdrgabi wrote: post #3

>I'm not sure if I can be a PM if I'm not able to code things the right way myself. You don't need to know how to code the solution to be a good PM, it's a different set of skills. QA - writing testcases, automated regression tests is also a possible path. Lots of companies want QA engineers that can write automated regresion tests (selenium etc)

> " QA - writing testcases, automated regression tests is also a possible path. " No. QA automation code is still code. If a person can't write solid code, they're not going to succeed in QA doing automation either.

This statement is far too definitive given the amount of info OP provided.

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#127

Post by philiiiiiipp »

A funny side-note, 9 years ago you asked about working with a bad engineer https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4783995

Maybe this is not applicable because your circumstances are likely different now, but you could look back at that time, think about what you would have wanted the other person to have done and do that.

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#128

Post by aarongray »

There is no shame in being an average or below average software engineer. I would know, I am one myself. The key is to remember that we have one of the best jobs in human history.

You get paid an incredible amount of money, you can work from just about any place you want - from the most modern cities to a remote cabin in the countryside - and you have great job security. You can work for yourself as a freelancer and control your schedule, or work as an employee and have structure and security. If one place doesn't treat you well, there are countless other places that will hire you.

Not everyone gets to be above average or amazing at their job, so stop comparing yourself to other people. But if you really can't stop comparing yourself to other people, compare yourself to people in other trades. There are expert chefs, top 10%, and their job pays far less, demands far more hours, and is much more cutthroat than yours. There are musicians, athletes, artists, and performers who have spent almost every moment of their free time practicing their trade since they were kids, but they struggle to pay the bills or even find someone to hire them at all in their desired line of work. Just accept that, and forget about job titles. Don't find your identity in your title or in how you stack up compared to your peers. Just find a place to work where you can learn every day and that pays the bills, and then enjoy the life that you have inside and outside of work. You may never be a Mozart of software engineering, but that's really okay. You can still make beautiful, useful things and build a rich life being average. :-)

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#129

Post by patrickthebold »

mxmpawn wrote: post #85
epm7384 wrote: post #22

I'd argue differently. Congrats for having the courage to recognize your problem. The analogy that comes to mind is I've been playing basketball in my local town, and now I've gotten promoted to play in the big city. I now feel like a small fish in a big pond. If you enjoy software engineering, I'd say, double down. Now that you're at the medium software company, seek mentorship and coaching from others. In addition,…

I really appreciate your (and everyone) help. I've always knew I was behind some things but this real world experience slapped me in the face and now I'm trying to readjust. My manager has already been aware of my lack of knowledge but I'll talk to him to know if they still want me there. If I keep my job I for sure will be asking for more help at the start of a new project.

I agree with the sibling, but let me be more explicit: It's going to be hard to take time off, "level up" and then come back and get another job. Your best bet is to stay where you are and keep your job. The company has already invested in you and your manager has every incentive to help you improve rather than finding someone else.

You should go to you manager with a look to the future: come with some specific things you can do differently on the next project, and perhaps also some general 'goals' for improving your skill.

Then, most importantly, do what you said, and get better.

All this assumes you are happy and want to stay in engineering, if you do think you'll be happier doing something else, then by all means go ahead and do that.

Re: Ask HN: I've realized I'm a bad software engineer and I'm over 30, what's next?

#130

Post by [deleted] »

epm7384 wrote: post #22

I'd argue differently. Congrats for having the courage to recognize your problem. The analogy that comes to mind is I've been playing basketball in my local town, and now I've gotten promoted to play in the big city. I now feel like a small fish in a big pond. If you enjoy software engineering, I'd say, double down. Now that you're at the medium software company, seek mentorship and coaching from others. In addition,…

[deleted]
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