Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

481–490 of 521 posts

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#481

Post by burntoutfire »

wiz21c wrote: post #431
wufufufu wrote: post #384

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is school going for you?

It's actually engineering (data sciences orientation). It's going OK but requires a huge effort (I'm way above the age at which you can ingest so much maths). So I have to be careful not to burn out again. But the deal is different: I work for me, I'll most likely succeed (I've made it through most of the exams with very good gradeq; I'm on the thesis right now), I don't have a toxic boss. So it's not exactly like a…

If you don't mind me asking, what's your plan for after you get the degree?

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#483

Post by ryandrake »

yCombLinks wrote: post #420
ajkjk wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a three year gap in my resume and getting a good tech job afterwards was EASY. If anything it made me more employable because people tend like people who do more than write code all day. (Of course the lack of career progression was probably a net disadvantage in terms of raw money-making ability, but I don't care about that). Incidentally I like to also tell people who are a bit behind the times that these da…

I think of tattoos completely differently than you. I only have one(small, not visible). I view it more as a group identification than any sort of interesting personality. I've met plenty of boring people covered in tats. I also know and spend time with several interesting people covered in tats. It's more of a social identifier.

Since tattoos are so mainstream and common now, they probably send the opposite signal today than they did in the past. When I meet people under 40 or so -without- tattoos, my first impression is they might be more interesting, trend-bucking, counterculture, free thinking, etc.

Obviously tattoo/no tattoo is a bad, low-signal way to size someone up, just pointing out the signal itself has phase-inverted from say 20 years ago.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#484

Post by ajkjk »

inkblotuniverse wrote: post #401
ajkjk wrote: post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a three year gap in my resume and getting a good tech job afterwards was EASY. If anything it made me more employable because people tend like people who do more than write code all day. (Of course the lack of career progression was probably a net disadvantage in terms of raw money-making ability, but I don't care about that). Incidentally I like to also tell people who are a bit behind the times that these da…

Tattoos, piercings, and a quirky style signal you're the right kind of (cultural) drone. (A corporate wageslave could run away and integrate somewhere else; better to brand them with distinctive, permanent markers.)

I don't know how you got that from my post, but I can assure you that you have misunderstood.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#485

Post by gniv »

coffeefirst wrote: post #57

A lot of stuff going on here. 1. You're clearly NOT incompetent. If you were, you couldn't possibly hold the web and mobile platform together entirely on your own for that long AND handle every on call incident. 2. The thing that surprised me most about burnout was the physical symptoms. You've got them. It only gets worse from here if you keep doing what you're doing. 3. It makes perfect sense to me that you don't f…

> 3. If possible, take some time off between the old job and the new job just to take care of yourself.

This is almost always possible. Even if the recruiter pushes back, it's usually the easiest thing to negotiate.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#486

Post by finikytou »

frading wrote: post #231
finikytou wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

trust me they care. especially in a fast moving technology space like cloud, k8s, ML. if you are hired for COBOL yes sure a gap wont matter

Trust me they don't. I've had all sorts of gaps in my career. 6 months, 1 year and more, to explore different domains. I'm in computer graphics/front end, pretty fast paced. Nobody ever asked. Please, never feel guilty about taking a single month off. If your body needs rest, you need to listen to it.

for a position that is well paid there is competition. it is a risk to take someone who took a year off. any kind of manager will think that way. obviously if the pay is low and the tech is not changing every month then it is not a problem

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#487

Post by coffeefirst »

gniv wrote: post #485
coffeefirst wrote: post #57

A lot of stuff going on here. 1. You're clearly NOT incompetent. If you were, you couldn't possibly hold the web and mobile platform together entirely on your own for that long AND handle every on call incident. 2. The thing that surprised me most about burnout was the physical symptoms. You've got them. It only gets worse from here if you keep doing what you're doing. 3. It makes perfect sense to me that you don't f…

> 3. If possible, take some time off between the old job and the new job just to take care of yourself. This is almost always possible. Even if the recruiter pushes back, it's usually the easiest thing to negotiate.

Oh yeah, usually the issue wouldn't be the offer but something like health insurance.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#490

Post by pintxo »

vkou wrote: post #190
pintxo wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take: payment is not based on created value, but on competition for the job. The more competition, the lower the salary an employer can get away with.

> My take: payment is not based on created value, but on competition for the job. The more competition, the lower the salary an employer can get away with. And yet, for the past two years, just about every store you'll ever go to has a 'Sorry, we're shortstaffed' sign in the window.

If there's zero offerings/competition, the job can't be filled. If they increase salary, there would be competition.
Post reply on HN