shruubi: If you want to share some more about the kind of development work you have been doing, and what you'd like to be doing, perhaps we can give you some co

shruubi: If you want to share some more about the kind of development work you have been doing, and what you'd like to be doing, perhaps we can give you some concrete ideas for locations, companies, OSS projects, etc. that you should check out. A few observations from my career so far (20 years in): * Going for a Master's degree in CS can seriously improve your job prospects, and should make you a genuinely more awesome developer. (I'm not saying it's a necessary or sufficient requirement for awesomeness, but it's usually very beneficial.) Continuing on to a PhD in CS? Not so much :) * Getting a Master's degree at a good CS university is an awesome path towards very cool jobs. The way I've seen that work is that those departments have CS professors who often look to commercialize their ideas (at least that's what I've seen with database research), and they try to recruit their more promising Master's / PhD students, especially if they were already working on the academic version of the project. * I work remotely doing mainly C++ development, but I've found remote, well-paying C++ jobs are somewhat rare. But if you can build up some interest and skills in web development, it shouldn't be difficult to find a fully remote job that pays way, way more than a supermarket job would. * This one is slightly depressing, but I'd be remiss to not mention it. You need to consider the ticking clock. As you get older you'll find it takes more time and effort to develop expertise in new languages, frameworks, etc. And doubly so if you meet the right special someone and have a family. So if you're looking to better situate yourself for work that's more interesting and/or pays better, you should get moving on that plan ASAP. * +1 on what everyone said about OSS involvement. ESPECIALLY if for whatever reason you're unable to leave your current job and location.