Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#51

Post by rotrot » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

I'd recommend pivoting into security engineering. Security engineering, even at big tech companies, can be fulfilling as you are often protecting dissidents, journalists, and human rights activists from surveillance. Even at companies like facebook, you can work on protecting dissidents [2] while contributing very little to the company's ad business. There are also opportunities that pay well at non-profits like Amnesty Tech as well [1]. The challenges are surprisingly technical and your adversaries and coworkers are some of the most talented computer scientists in the world [3]. It also surprisingly comes with around a ~25% pay raise from SWE (I make $750k TC as an L6) as there are so few people interested in it. Switching into security engineering was the best decision I made and I now work with an almost completely clean conscious.

[1] https://www.amnesty.org/en/tech/

[2] https://citizenlab.ca/2019/11/whatsapp-attributes-hack-of-14...

[3] https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-deep-dive-i...

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#52

Post by speedgoose » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:30 PM UTC

It’s not only you. I worked in a non profit research organisation for a few years and it was great, but I switched to a for profit health care company to change environment and have experience outside the research world. It was not challenging but stressful, and I couldn’t care less about the talks about profitability and shareholders. I looked at the job market for a year and everything was the same or worse than my company. So I got in contact with my non profit research organisation again and they hired me a second time. Work is fun again.

Research is not for everyone but you could consider it.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#53

Post by FinanceAnon » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

I think a lot of people feel like that - at least from time to time. It's not easy to find meaning in modern society and the corporate world.

I just shut it down while working and think what I want to achieve and do outside of work. Alternatives, are not really that much more meaningful. Even traveling gets boring after a while.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#54

Post by siva7 » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

elephanlemon wrote: post #36

Don’t agree with most of these comments. Not wanting to work at a company that makes some uninteresting business product just a little more profitable does not mean that you are depressed. Working at a place like that can certainly make you depressed though! To the OP, I think you have a few options. On one hand you can keep taking short jobs / consulting or try to build some sort of simple SaaS business that you can…

Basing your happiness from your work life is a recipe for unhappiness. You will always find something to nitpick about

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#55

Post by psyc » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

As a single with no children I don’t need to work much, so I don’t. This lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but I’m pretty sure it’s for me. There’s a looong list of things I like to do with my time other than paid work.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#56

Post by hardlianotion » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

Maybe try the Peace Corps and see if you can apply your skills there for a year or two. Might give some ideas or perspective.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#57

Post by electrogas » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

Find a university research project that needs some help. Pay will be low but there will be many opportunities to get ideas that will help them. And all the grad students will go on to greater things and pretty soon you'll have a pretty high powered network of people who know your value.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#58

Post by azhu » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

wahnfrieden wrote: post #20

siva7 wrote: post #8

Yes, it is you (and few others). What you are experiencing is best described as depression. Been in a similar situation as you once. Of course the most important step is acknowledging that you need help otherwise that feeling will persist. Sometimes the source of the depression has not so much to do with your work life but has deeper roots.

This is a neoliberal take. Consider the deeper roots may be part of the system you’re absolving of responsibility, whether out of your own optimism or realism

+1. Personal roots always lead to the environment around a person. How someone responds plays a role in the result, but that absolutely should not obscure the fact that the circumstances are an enormous factor.

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#59

Post by taf2 » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

“ People who have really great jobs(not talking about money ofc), how did you find them?”

Sticking with it for more than 5 years… the jobs ended up being great

Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or do 99% of SWE jobs offers seem completely pointless?

#60

Post by lol_what » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

colordrops wrote: post #14

siva7 wrote: post #8

Yes, it is you (and few others). What you are experiencing is best described as depression. Been in a similar situation as you once. Of course the most important step is acknowledging that you need help otherwise that feeling will persist. Sometimes the source of the depression has not so much to do with your work life but has deeper roots.

I wouldn't be so quick to call it depression. This person is seeing a truth about the state of affairs in the corporate world and hasn't yet figured out how to integrate that truth and become functional in our broken system.

doing mostly 'cog in a machine' type of work in order to make enough money to be safe and have some extra for fun and future planning is a core part of nearly every human life on the planet and most people get on fine with it, without wanting to kill themselves.

in fact for most people the situation is significantly worse, OP is in a privileged position in a relatively well paid industry with relatively non-menial work and is still complaining. there is no other way around it, there is something wrong with OP.

and before all of this corporate stuff developed, people were mostly farming all day which is hardly an improvement.

depression need not enter the picture. imo being a privileged baby having way too high expectations of what life is supposed to give you is all explanation necessary in this case. imo OP needs to stop being a baby and grow up. this might be caused by reading too much about how awesome other people have it and being jealous / not able to cope that OP is not in the same situation, but whatever the cause, the effect is obvious.