I'm hating swe, what could be another career? • Hacker News Board

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#21

Post by plz-remove-card » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:48 PM UTC

juice_bus wrote: post #7

>but currently i working as a consultant in a corporate This is the problem. Your experience with software development will range widely depending on where you're working, who you're working with AND what you're working with (tech stack).

> my techlead is an asshole

And this one, I find this is more often the case than not...

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#22

Post by uptown » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:48 PM UTC

wageslave99 wrote: post #5

mmmeff wrote: post #3

Carpentry

Why a lot of software engineers have carpentry as a hobby or pivot to that job?

I think part of it is that at some point what you’re working on is considered “done”, which is rarely the case with software.

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#23

Post by bequanna » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:49 PM UTC

miravmehta wrote: post #4

Solutions Architect, Developer Advocate, Technical Product Manager, Technical Pre-Sales Engineering

SA role might take some time. I haven’t seen anyone in that role with less than 5 years experience. Typically more like 10.

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#24

Post by captainkrtek » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:49 PM UTC

Change companies. In my 10+ years the experience varies wildly from startup to medium size to large. Consulting for a corporation generally sounds not so appealing, especially if you’re more junior. Go seek out a company and tech stack that you’re more genuinely interested in working for rather than completely changing tracks.

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#25

Post by a_wild_dandan » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:50 PM UTC

wageslave99 wrote: post #5

mmmeff wrote: post #3

Carpentry

Why a lot of software engineers have carpentry as a hobby or pivot to that job?

Saw. Bang, bang. Scraaaape, smooth slivers of wood. Mmm, smell. No think. Quiet. Peace.

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#26

Post by chimpanzee » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:50 PM UTC

passwordoops wrote: post #10

There's always great demand for developers in major academic projects (e.g. cancer, genomics, climate, etc). It won't pay as much, but it's much less soul draining

Do you have a recommended resource for discovering SWE openings within such projects?

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#27

Post by paxys » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:50 PM UTC

juice_bus wrote: post #7

>but currently i working as a consultant in a corporate This is the problem. Your experience with software development will range widely depending on where you're working, who you're working with AND what you're working with (tech stack).

Exactly. You may be writing code day to day, but ultimately you are a consultant, not a software engineer. Working for a company that sells a product and getting to own chunks of it for the long term is a completely different experience than working on short term contracts for random companies with the goal of maximizing hourly billing.

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#28

Post by bequanna » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:51 PM UTC

You didn’t discuss what tools or languages you’re familiar with. Try adding that to get some more tailored recommendations.

Have you considered transitioning to Data Engineering?

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#29

Post by modriano » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:51 PM UTC

wageslave99 wrote: post #5

mmmeff wrote: post #3

Carpentry

Why a lot of software engineers have carpentry as a hobby or pivot to that job?

If your mental embedding for "carpentry" is very similar to your embedding for "woodworking", this [0] HN post provides many excellent reasons.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31687378

Re: I'm hating swe, what could be another career?

#30

Post by kcsavvy » Wed, Apr 10, 2024, 6:51 PM UTC

Lots of people dislike their first jobs, which is totally reasonable because you don’t know what you like and what to look for. So congrats on realizing quickly what you don’t like. Over the course of a career, that’s progress.

You could change careers, but if you like tech and coding maybe try changing environments first. There are certain things you don’t like about your current work environment, and you can probably find a new place where those things are not present.