4 ms·

This is a horrible comment. There is 100x more to a career than living a comfortable existence. Personally, I want to feel purposeful at work and that I am con

by dikdik 11y ago

This is a horrible comment. There is 100x more to a career than living a comfortable existence. Personally, I want to feel purposeful at work and that I am contributing to a better world. I also absolutely require regular challenges or I end up severely depressed. Also, I have undertaken extensive education partially as a way of raising my standard of living and having a more enjoyable life outside of work. THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE! Yea, it's not always going to be a party, but there's a hell of a lot more to it than sitting in air conditioning. And you're allowed to demand a hell of a lot out of your career as long as you are willing to put in the work to get it. My search for a challenging and intrinsically and extrinsically rewarding career brought me to study the life sciences. Then I ended up in a healthcare company doing menial crap and then a graduate degree in bioinformatics. I'm looking through job-ad after job-ad, and while the occasional one looks challenging I am absolutely terrified that I am going to end up as a desk-monkey who doesn't interact with people and again gets no challenges. I hope I am wrong and I can make this career work for me, but I am already looking at applying to medical school in a year if can't find a challenging and decently rewarding job in bioinfo. Sucks, because I had originally intended on being a doctor when I was in undergrad but went in another direction because I wasn't 100% sure about it at the time. Unfortunately, I am 100% sure I do not enjoy being a desk jockey.

lgieron 11y ago
> This is a horrible comment. There is 100x more to a career than living a comfortable existence. I thought so too. However, the funny thing with market economy is that it IS pretty efficient, so jobs that are regarded as satisfying and challenging are approached by so many talented people that they don't have to pay very well and the conditions are usually not great. The solution is to either accept that the role of a career is to get to you to early retirement ASAP (Mr Money Mustache style) or to get excited about something that most people don't care about.
- user24 11y ago
  > jobs that are regarded as satisfying and challenging are approached by so many talented people that they don't have to pay very well and the conditions are usually not great. Agree! If I could be a florist on a developers salary I would jump at it and never look back.
- dikdik 11y ago
  Yes, I am beginning to realize that a lot of people actually don't want to bang their heads against the wall regularly at work. I do, though :/ Solving an insanely hard problem I have struggled with for days, weeks, or months is the most satisfying thing I've ever experienced.
forgetsusername 11y ago
>Personally, I want to feel purposeful at work and that I am contributing to a better world. And yet you are depending on your employer to provide you with this? >but I am already looking at applying to medical school in a year if can't find a challenging and decently rewarding job in bioinfo I see you running into the same issue. Just because you've received "an education" doesn't entitle you to a glamorous, exciting job. You'll probably have to make that yourself.
- dikdik 11y ago
  They don't owe me a purposeful, challenging job with a livable wage you are ABSOLUTELY right. However, I don't owe anyone 40+ hours a week when I get nothing out of it but the ability to pay rent and eat. I am okay with dying. I don't see a point in living a life where I spend my days contributing to a company that does nothing for the world and I am bored out of my mind. I would rather work at McDonald's if that's the case. I am being serious! Money is only a secondary goal. My ultimate goal is to work for myself and I will at some point. Hopefully that means starting a company focused on genomics, big data, or healthcare, but if not I will buy a gas station and run it myself.
kaitai 11y ago
THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE! And you're allowed to demand a hell of a lot out of your career as long as you are willing to create it. No one will ever just give you an interesting career tailor-made for you. Find out what is interesting, fulfilling, and challenging, and make that your career over time. You start in your company doing menial crap but then move to interesting crap over time, by being intentional about what the company needs, what you need, and how you can leverage one to get the other.
- dikdik 11y ago
  I spent 4 years in a healthcare company in a job that REQUIRED a BS in the life sciences. I never had single day where I was challenged by the goals set by my managers. For 2 years I doubled those goals every single month, some days I was able to quadruple those goals. I was the highest performing one in the department, I asked regularly for new "opportunities" only to get more crap that would not have been challenging for me at the age of 15. I am sorry that doesn't fit with your world view, it was the worst experience I have ever had and I won't go into another job where they promise me career growth, opportunities, and challenges after I "prove myself." I've already wasted a HUGE amount of time, the past 4 years have been extremely inefficient compared to what I could have been learning in a challenging job. The only reason I went to college was because I thought it would lead to a job that was actually challenging. My parents never had those, they don't have beyond a high school education. So fuck me for believing education could lead to a challenging job (and you better believe I am prepared for extensive work on top of my education). I've been working since I was 15, I had a full-time job the last half of my senior year in high-school as a stock room manager and yet I still have never had a regularly challenging job. I have never had less than a stellar performance review. BUT, all my experience isn't the right experience. It seems I am assumed to be borderline mentally-retarded on anything I have not done 100x before.
kendallpark 11y ago
> I hope I am wrong and I can make this career work for me, but I am already looking at applying to medical school in a year if can't find a challenging and decently rewarding job in bioinfo. Sucks, because I had originally intended on being a doctor when I was in undergrad but went in another direction because I wasn't 100% sure about it at the time. Unfortunately, I am 100% sure I do not enjoy being a desk jockey. Do it. I'm a programmer in my first year of med school. Love every single day. Beats sitting in a chair from 9-5 pounding in to a computer. FWIW I still do a ton of programming on my own. Also, the field needs more doctor-programmers. You'll find boundless areas to apply your CS skills. Plus, if you don't try, I think you'll always wonder: what if?
- laxatives 11y ago
  How did you make this transition? Did you take the necessary course work in school, or take time off of work? Where do you get meaningful recommendations after leaving school?
rifung 11y ago
While I agree with many of your feelings, I think you should try to think of this in a more positive way. Many other people go into med school without really having any professional experience at all or knowing what they are signing up for. You on the other hand now can be pretty confident that if you do go to med school, it's what's best for you.

by dikdik 11y ago

lgieron 11y ago

> This is a horrible comment. There is 100x more to a career than living a comfortable existence. I thought so too. However, the funny thing with market economy is that it IS pretty efficient, so jobs that are regarded as satisfying and challenging are approached by so many talented people that they don't have to pay very well and the conditions are usually not great. The solution is to either accept that the role of a career is to get to you to early retirement ASAP (Mr Money Mustache style) or to get excited about something that most people don't care about.

user24 11y ago
> jobs that are regarded as satisfying and challenging are approached by so many talented people that they don't have to pay very well and the conditions are usually not great. Agree! If I could be a florist on a developers salary I would jump at it and never look back.
dikdik 11y ago
Yes, I am beginning to realize that a lot of people actually don't want to bang their heads against the wall regularly at work. I do, though :/ Solving an insanely hard problem I have struggled with for days, weeks, or months is the most satisfying thing I've ever experienced.

forgetsusername 11y ago

>Personally, I want to feel purposeful at work and that I am contributing to a better world. And yet you are depending on your employer to provide you with this? >but I am already looking at applying to medical school in a year if can't find a challenging and decently rewarding job in bioinfo I see you running into the same issue. Just because you've received "an education" doesn't entitle you to a glamorous, exciting job. You'll probably have to make that yourself.

dikdik 11y ago
They don't owe me a purposeful, challenging job with a livable wage you are ABSOLUTELY right. However, I don't owe anyone 40+ hours a week when I get nothing out of it but the ability to pay rent and eat. I am okay with dying. I don't see a point in living a life where I spend my days contributing to a company that does nothing for the world and I am bored out of my mind. I would rather work at McDonald's if that's the case. I am being serious! Money is only a secondary goal. My ultimate goal is to work for myself and I will at some point. Hopefully that means starting a company focused on genomics, big data, or healthcare, but if not I will buy a gas station and run it myself.

kaitai 11y ago

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE! And you're allowed to demand a hell of a lot out of your career as long as you are willing to create it. No one will ever just give you an interesting career tailor-made for you. Find out what is interesting, fulfilling, and challenging, and make that your career over time. You start in your company doing menial crap but then move to interesting crap over time, by being intentional about what the company needs, what you need, and how you can leverage one to get the other.

dikdik 11y ago
I spent 4 years in a healthcare company in a job that REQUIRED a BS in the life sciences. I never had single day where I was challenged by the goals set by my managers. For 2 years I doubled those goals every single month, some days I was able to quadruple those goals. I was the highest performing one in the department, I asked regularly for new "opportunities" only to get more crap that would not have been challenging for me at the age of 15. I am sorry that doesn't fit with your world view, it was the worst experience I have ever had and I won't go into another job where they promise me career growth, opportunities, and challenges after I "prove myself." I've already wasted a HUGE amount of time, the past 4 years have been extremely inefficient compared to what I could have been learning in a challenging job. The only reason I went to college was because I thought it would lead to a job that was actually challenging. My parents never had those, they don't have beyond a high school education. So fuck me for believing education could lead to a challenging job (and you better believe I am prepared for extensive work on top of my education). I've been working since I was 15, I had a full-time job the last half of my senior year in high-school as a stock room manager and yet I still have never had a regularly challenging job. I have never had less than a stellar performance review. BUT, all my experience isn't the right experience. It seems I am assumed to be borderline mentally-retarded on anything I have not done 100x before.

kendallpark 11y ago

> I hope I am wrong and I can make this career work for me, but I am already looking at applying to medical school in a year if can't find a challenging and decently rewarding job in bioinfo. Sucks, because I had originally intended on being a doctor when I was in undergrad but went in another direction because I wasn't 100% sure about it at the time. Unfortunately, I am 100% sure I do not enjoy being a desk jockey. Do it. I'm a programmer in my first year of med school. Love every single day. Beats sitting in a chair from 9-5 pounding in to a computer. FWIW I still do a ton of programming on my own. Also, the field needs more doctor-programmers. You'll find boundless areas to apply your CS skills. Plus, if you don't try, I think you'll always wonder: what if?

laxatives 11y ago
How did you make this transition? Did you take the necessary course work in school, or take time off of work? Where do you get meaningful recommendations after leaving school?

rifung 11y ago

While I agree with many of your feelings, I think you should try to think of this in a more positive way. Many other people go into med school without really having any professional experience at all or knowing what they are signing up for. You on the other hand now can be pretty confident that if you do go to med school, it's what's best for you.