201–210 of 1001 posts
100% were in full remote worldwide since August and offices are just starting to reopen.
I've been a consultant for years, and I'd be unable to work as an employee for any company, especially a larger one. Seeing all the bullshit employees have to put up with at companies would make me scream. I'm not talking about the work, it's everything else. The culture.
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Do we really have a precise scale for those things?
People tend to flip flop between the classical "wealthy people but not born into centuries old familial wealth on the top end and successful doctors, lawyers and financial professionals on the bottom end" definition and the "blue collar workers plus or minus a little" definition based on whichever is more convenient for the point they are trying to make that minute. Basically the GP is using the former definition and…
Back then, the market was flooded with young folks out of bootcamps. So much so, in fact, that several companies had absolutely no problem treating me in quite shabby fashion, as I have committed the crime of Eld, along with a rather disturbing level of Provable Competence. These seem to be characteristics that immediately mark people for ridicule, humiliation, and indignity.
Fortunately, I had been quite frugal, and have enough to retire anytime I wanted. I won't be zipping around in any learjets, but I'll be OK.
I have never worked harder in my life; but I'm not making a dime. I'm working on the kind of software I find interesting, and that will actually have some real social impact, with people that treat me with basic human dignity and simple respect. It's cool. I'm also trying out and refining all kinds of ideas for high-quality, flexible software development, that no one was ever interested in exploring. They are working out fairly well. My GH Activity Graph has been solid green, for a couple of years. I like writing software (and delivering it).
I'm in no hurry to put myself in a position again, where my work can be destroyed by others; even if I do make decent money at it. I have found that the pain of having my work ruined is far greater than I had thought. It took several years of being able to do things the way that I want, to realize that[0].
This is actually what I have wanted all my life. I just didn't know it, as I had never taken the risk to give it a go.
This would not have happened, if the door had not been slammed in my face, forcing me to adapt.
I'm really quite happy to see that people younger than I am, are getting a chance to make this realization, and I wish them all the luck in the world, in following their muse. The tech industry should be engaging, fun, and a source of wonder. We have amazing tools, technology, and a maturity of community that was unavailable, when I started.
It would be great to see the tech field return to a greenfield, and a garden of pride in craftsmanship, real creativity, and joy in exploration, as opposed to the rather sordid, low-quality, mercenary mess, that it is now.
Im quitting and not looking for another job. Gonna use the savings to take a gap year, or a couple, work on some stuff I want maybe. Maybe more involvement in OSS is coming too? I've never had a gap year, it was all school, then immigration, work, university, more work. Any holiday time you fly back home. I kept hearing its not unusual for people in the west to take gap years, so thats what Im doing. edit: thank you…
I've done this twice: the first time back in 2007 when I got made redundant and decided to use the time and money to study and indulge in my dream of writing a book; more recently (which is still ongoing) to recover from burnout and rediscover the joy of coding. I do not consider this time to be "gap year", but rather an investment in, and a reward for, myself. Why do I need such luxuries? Because time is short and n…
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Here is a good pdf where you can calculate it for your age: https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_insurance/ihcseh/ihcra... Basically, the metal levels are as follows: bronze, silver, gold, platinum are priced so that you the insurance company pays 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% of the healthcare costs. Of course, this is an actuarial calculation, so it’s only true over a large population over a long timeline. But healthcare is…
Wait, so insurance doesn't even cover 100% of the costs? So when you hear about those people who get lumped with $100k medical bills they still have to pay like $20k of that on top of your insurance? What happens if you can't afford the remaining percentage?
I can tell you all the market for devs is white hot at the moment. I mean it was never cold, but right now seems to be insane. If the work-from-home thing has given you thoughts about what you like, now is the time to go. I see very few firms insisting on onsite work though, having interviewed with quite a few over the last few weeks. Even guys that I know would rather have people in the office and would pay them ver…
Im quitting and not looking for another job. Gonna use the savings to take a gap year, or a couple, work on some stuff I want maybe. Maybe more involvement in OSS is coming too? I've never had a gap year, it was all school, then immigration, work, university, more work. Any holiday time you fly back home. I kept hearing its not unusual for people in the west to take gap years, so thats what Im doing. edit: thank you…
>I kept hearing its not unusual for people in the west to take gap years, so thats what Im doing. You hear a heck of a lot more about it on HN than happens in reality. Maybe I don't hang out with the trust fund crowd enough but I don't know ANYONE who's taken a "gap year" where they weren't doing something for ~40hr/wk in order to make a buck. I know a few people who didn't jump right into career stuff after college…
I'm not sure that's a fair characterization of people taking a gap year, especially people in tech. The industry pays well relatively early and there is a surplus of jobs. If you keep your expenses low relative to your salary, don't let your lifestyle inflate beyond your means, and are fortunate enough not to be burdened with debt, health problems, or other large expenses, a gap year seems completely doable.
I think failure to save money is by far the most likely reason sabbaticals are uncommon, though I've been told by hiring managers they're more common in tech than you'd think. There's also probably some stigma against being unemployed, especially in professional circles, as well as fear of the dreaded "resume gap." As far as I can tell, that concern is fairly overblown for those in tech as well.
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In Germany, gap years after school or sometimes university are pretty common (at least for the middle class). They do often work, but rarely in a field related to what they studied or want to do. Instead, it’s travel-financing jobs. It used to be that it was more a thing for women, but that probably changed since draft was abandoned (before that the gap year for men would usually have been military service or alterna…
Are you sure about middle class O_o Higher-middle and upper class more likely? Kids which need to earn their money usually go straight into apprenticeship or university and earn money promptly.
In the UK "upper class" is used almost exclusively for aristocrats. No matter how rich you are, unless there is a viable way for you to hold a title (e.g. Earl), you will not be considered upper class.
Middle class is basically anyone who does knowledge work and has aspirations of home ownership.
Your description of "Kids which need to earn their money usually go straight into apprenticeship or university and earn money promptly" would be very likely to be working class kids in the UK i.e. unlikely to be middle class.
Im quitting and not looking for another job. Gonna use the savings to take a gap year, or a couple, work on some stuff I want maybe. Maybe more involvement in OSS is coming too? I've never had a gap year, it was all school, then immigration, work, university, more work. Any holiday time you fly back home. I kept hearing its not unusual for people in the west to take gap years, so thats what Im doing. edit: thank you…
>I kept hearing its not unusual for people in the west to take gap years, so thats what Im doing. You hear a heck of a lot more about it on HN than happens in reality. Maybe I don't hang out with the trust fund crowd enough but I don't know ANYONE who's taken a "gap year" where they weren't doing something for ~40hr/wk in order to make a buck. I know a few people who didn't jump right into career stuff after college…
It's sad really. As a young person this is the time to be able to do it. Often as you get older life gets in the way. I've been wanting to do it ever since I found out about it but every time something else has gotten in the way. If you're young and reading this, and everything has aligned for you, take a gap year or two.