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Quit my first job (software engineer) after 5 months. I was burned out, not only from the work, but from spending my entire life following orders - from school

Quit my first job (software engineer) after 5 months. I was burned out, not only from the work, but from spending my entire life following orders - from school to the workplace. So I quit my job after 5 months despite the fact that that's considered sacrilege, with maybe $13k in my bank account. I spent the next 3 months pursuing nothing but my hobby at the time (music production). The first month was possibly the best month of my entire life. It was the first time I truly felt free - no homework, no stress of finding a job, no having to be in an office from 9:30-5:30 M-F. Then I ran out of money, so I had to start applying for jobs again. Ended up getting a much better job (both pay-wise and quality-wise), so it worked out. Now I'm burned out again and completely sick of working in this industry. The day-to-day work is boring as hell, and I couldn't care less about Javascript frameworks. I hate having to spend the bulk of my waking hours in the prison of an office. But I continue working because I'm saving a lot of money every month. Currently have almost $100k in the bank. After this job, I'm going to take at least a good year off to do what I want to do, not what the labor markets force me to. I have a lot of passion in certain areas that I'm not able to devote full attention to due to work. I want to have a much greater positive impact on the world than being some menial code monkey working on proprietary software or a corporate Kool-Aid drinking cock sucker. I've realized that I will never be happy in a traditional job. Being subservient and following orders is not in my nature.

demonshalo 9y ago
Watch Rick and Morty's S3 E3.
peterwwillis 9y ago
I suggest having a plan before you take the year off. Doing what you want to do is fun, but not rewarding if there is no goal or plan to meet it. You burn a year and a bunch of cash and end up back where you started, thinking about how you could have used the time better.
- AnonyBrah 9y ago
  Definitely, that's great advice.
adamzerner 9y ago
Do you enjoy coding when you do it for fun outside of work? If so, what about doing freelance work where you either work by yourself, or with people you actually enjoy working with?
- AnonyBrah 9y ago
  Not anymore. It's not that I don't like coding, it's more that the most important problems to me right now that I want to work on are all non-coding problems. What I'm most passionate about right now is ending wage slavery, and I think the first step to getting us there is implementing a universal basic income. So I'm more interested in political activism.
  - thesagan 9y ago
    DUDE. Me too. Looking at the latest wealth distribution data, the wage slavery thing is getting out of hand and we have a growing population without the infrastructure necessary for it. Yet we have the resources to tackle the problem if appropriate attention were given to it. I'd absolutely love to find a way to break into community organization while also feeding myself, because I see a lot of work that must happen but it's not compensated work at the moment. Lots of urgent needs don't have "market demand" right now because those needs don't have dollars behind them. (And the dollars are increasingly flowing away from needs of the masses and into the wants of the 0.1% as I'm sure you know)
emerongi 9y ago
I can relate. I took a year off university for medical reasons and am not sure whether to return. I felt miserable in uni, but I got a decent job right now and am truly happy for probably the first time in my life. On the other hand I would be putting my future in jeopardy by not getting a degree. I'm not sure wtf to do to be honest. School has not been my thing since like 9th grade, I barely even attended the last grade. I think the system just totally started grinding my gears and now uni feels similar.
- AnonyBrah 9y ago
  School is terrible, similar to a labor camp. I was lucky to find a subject that was interesting and easy enough to where I could cruise through, yet demands enough respect to get me interviews.
  - relics443 9y ago
    I completely get the gist of what you're saying, but you've mentioned labor camps a few times. Not sure if you mean for it to be a literal comparison, but I'd find it very difficult to argue that school or work is the equivalent to somewhere where you are forced into doing backbreaking work. That's besides for the physical abuse and risk of murder that often accompanies it.
- dilemma 9y ago
  School is horrible but make sure to get your degree. It's a requirement for various things, for example moving abroad, and not having it would limit your future in many ways.
  - richev 9y ago
    I can attest to that - you never know what doors you might want to walk through in the future that require a degree to open (or are a lot easier to open if you have a degree). Examples... 1) I moved from the UK to Australia last year. Having a degree made it a lot easier for me to get the requisite number of 'points' on their visa system. 2) A friend (from University) who just got a government job in Canada, had to dig out his degree certificate for job application process. We graduated back in 1996 (21 years ago! gulp).
drdeadringer 9y ago
Can you talk a little more about "the prison of an office" and why you consider an office this way? You say that you're tired of taking orders, and I can relate to this... but do you feel so oppressed from above that you absolutely must be "butt in seat" at 9:00 AM Or Else Death? I felt this way when I was younger fresh out of university and not so much anymore, and I don't believe I've become Institutionalized to such a Prison.
- AnonyBrah 9y ago
  I don't understand how people manage to be in an office with their boring-ass jobs from 9-5 Monday through Friday till eternity (excluding their measly 2-3 weeks of vacation). I honestly think most people lack consciousness. For one, it's boring, monotonous, and soul-sucking. Which might be manageable, except with commuting and such you're looking at 9 hours/day wasted, and the bulk of your mental energy drained. Add in cooking, errands, gym, showering, and decompression time, and you have very little productive free time to do anything else. (Most people are ok with this because they have little ambition outside their jobs) Most software engineering jobs are boring and unfulfilling. Very few of us are actually working on groundbreaking, interesting stuff (eg. augmented reality, blockchain), and the harsh reality is that the more interesting the work - the worse the compensation and working conditions tend to be because everyone wants those jobs (see videogame industry). Most of us are doing menial work for for-profit businesses. Developers these days debate endlessly over programming languages and frameworks rather than the actual problems that are being solved because they're all working on the same boring shit. Corporations are the worst because you're literally a cog in the machine and completely replaceable (unless you're a highly valued expert). I prefer startups because at least I feel more valuable, even if at the end of the day I'm still replaceable and my stock options are pathetically low. I hate the authoritarian, hierarchical power structure of companies though. Funny how we claim to value democracy and say "don't tread on me", yet the bulk of our lives are spent working under tyrannical power structures within companies. Software engineering itself has become a commodity, and going forward this is only going to be more and more the case as every college graduate realizing that there are no good jobs in their major start flooding into the industry, driving down compensation and increasing employer demands. The interview process in this industry is downright obnoxious and absurd, and is a reflection of the oversupply of job seekers relative to jobs (contrary to tech industry propaganda, where Google only hires the top 2% based on esoteric algorithms trivia questions and then turns around and claims there's a developer shortage). The whole "butt in seat" 10-5pm obsession is stupid and ridiculous. We're not manual laborers - productive mind work doesn't necessarily follow a 10-5pm schedule. If I can get all my work done by 2pm, why can't I just leave? (Sure there are a few companies that claim to allow that, but in my experience, perceptions tends to matter at these companies more than your actual contribution) It's sad that labor had to fight so hard and literally shed blood for the 40 hour work week that we now take for granted, yet we're now so complacent that we put up with it or don't even realize that we're wage slaves. If there's one thing I'd like to dedicate my life to, it's to ending wage slavery. I see universal basic income as the first step. (Sorry I kind of got carried away in this response)
contingencies 9y ago
I couldn't care less about Javascript frameworks A lot of us have had that experience! I've realized that I will never be happy in a traditional job. Being subservient and following orders is not in my nature. This is a good thing to realise, but on the flip side do be aware that it's possible to work with a team without being subjected to a top-down, prescribed style of management. A collaborative team environment can be sought or created, and you can achieve a lot more a lot quicker with a good team than alone. Best of luck finding your groove.
- AnonyBrah 9y ago
  Definitely, and that's a great point. My current job used to be pretty good in that nature, but it's recently gotten worse with the hiring of an authoritarian person at the top and the politically-oriented sycophants coming out of the woodworks to entrench their own power, but I'm doing what I can to keep the work environment democratic like it used to be.

demonshalo 9y ago

Watch Rick and Morty's S3 E3.

peterwwillis 9y ago

I suggest having a plan before you take the year off. Doing what you want to do is fun, but not rewarding if there is no goal or plan to meet it. You burn a year and a bunch of cash and end up back where you started, thinking about how you could have used the time better.

AnonyBrah 9y ago
Definitely, that's great advice.

adamzerner 9y ago

Do you enjoy coding when you do it for fun outside of work? If so, what about doing freelance work where you either work by yourself, or with people you actually enjoy working with?

AnonyBrah 9y ago
Not anymore. It's not that I don't like coding, it's more that the most important problems to me right now that I want to work on are all non-coding problems. What I'm most passionate about right now is ending wage slavery, and I think the first step to getting us there is implementing a universal basic income. So I'm more interested in political activism.
- thesagan 9y ago
  DUDE. Me too. Looking at the latest wealth distribution data, the wage slavery thing is getting out of hand and we have a growing population without the infrastructure necessary for it. Yet we have the resources to tackle the problem if appropriate attention were given to it. I'd absolutely love to find a way to break into community organization while also feeding myself, because I see a lot of work that must happen but it's not compensated work at the moment. Lots of urgent needs don't have "market demand" right now because those needs don't have dollars behind them. (And the dollars are increasingly flowing away from needs of the masses and into the wants of the 0.1% as I'm sure you know)

emerongi 9y ago

I can relate. I took a year off university for medical reasons and am not sure whether to return. I felt miserable in uni, but I got a decent job right now and am truly happy for probably the first time in my life. On the other hand I would be putting my future in jeopardy by not getting a degree. I'm not sure wtf to do to be honest. School has not been my thing since like 9th grade, I barely even attended the last grade. I think the system just totally started grinding my gears and now uni feels similar.

AnonyBrah 9y ago
School is terrible, similar to a labor camp. I was lucky to find a subject that was interesting and easy enough to where I could cruise through, yet demands enough respect to get me interviews.
- relics443 9y ago
  I completely get the gist of what you're saying, but you've mentioned labor camps a few times. Not sure if you mean for it to be a literal comparison, but I'd find it very difficult to argue that school or work is the equivalent to somewhere where you are forced into doing backbreaking work. That's besides for the physical abuse and risk of murder that often accompanies it.
dilemma 9y ago
School is horrible but make sure to get your degree. It's a requirement for various things, for example moving abroad, and not having it would limit your future in many ways.
- richev 9y ago
  I can attest to that - you never know what doors you might want to walk through in the future that require a degree to open (or are a lot easier to open if you have a degree). Examples... 1) I moved from the UK to Australia last year. Having a degree made it a lot easier for me to get the requisite number of 'points' on their visa system. 2) A friend (from University) who just got a government job in Canada, had to dig out his degree certificate for job application process. We graduated back in 1996 (21 years ago! gulp).

drdeadringer 9y ago

Can you talk a little more about "the prison of an office" and why you consider an office this way? You say that you're tired of taking orders, and I can relate to this... but do you feel so oppressed from above that you absolutely must be "butt in seat" at 9:00 AM Or Else Death? I felt this way when I was younger fresh out of university and not so much anymore, and I don't believe I've become Institutionalized to such a Prison.

AnonyBrah 9y ago
I don't understand how people manage to be in an office with their boring-ass jobs from 9-5 Monday through Friday till eternity (excluding their measly 2-3 weeks of vacation). I honestly think most people lack consciousness. For one, it's boring, monotonous, and soul-sucking. Which might be manageable, except with commuting and such you're looking at 9 hours/day wasted, and the bulk of your mental energy drained. Add in cooking, errands, gym, showering, and decompression time, and you have very little productive free time to do anything else. (Most people are ok with this because they have little ambition outside their jobs) Most software engineering jobs are boring and unfulfilling. Very few of us are actually working on groundbreaking, interesting stuff (eg. augmented reality, blockchain), and the harsh reality is that the more interesting the work - the worse the compensation and working conditions tend to be because everyone wants those jobs (see videogame industry). Most of us are doing menial work for for-profit businesses. Developers these days debate endlessly over programming languages and frameworks rather than the actual problems that are being solved because they're all working on the same boring shit. Corporations are the worst because you're literally a cog in the machine and completely replaceable (unless you're a highly valued expert). I prefer startups because at least I feel more valuable, even if at the end of the day I'm still replaceable and my stock options are pathetically low. I hate the authoritarian, hierarchical power structure of companies though. Funny how we claim to value democracy and say "don't tread on me", yet the bulk of our lives are spent working under tyrannical power structures within companies. Software engineering itself has become a commodity, and going forward this is only going to be more and more the case as every college graduate realizing that there are no good jobs in their major start flooding into the industry, driving down compensation and increasing employer demands. The interview process in this industry is downright obnoxious and absurd, and is a reflection of the oversupply of job seekers relative to jobs (contrary to tech industry propaganda, where Google only hires the top 2% based on esoteric algorithms trivia questions and then turns around and claims there's a developer shortage). The whole "butt in seat" 10-5pm obsession is stupid and ridiculous. We're not manual laborers - productive mind work doesn't necessarily follow a 10-5pm schedule. If I can get all my work done by 2pm, why can't I just leave? (Sure there are a few companies that claim to allow that, but in my experience, perceptions tends to matter at these companies more than your actual contribution) It's sad that labor had to fight so hard and literally shed blood for the 40 hour work week that we now take for granted, yet we're now so complacent that we put up with it or don't even realize that we're wage slaves. If there's one thing I'd like to dedicate my life to, it's to ending wage slavery. I see universal basic income as the first step. (Sorry I kind of got carried away in this response)

contingencies 9y ago

I couldn't care less about Javascript frameworks A lot of us have had that experience! I've realized that I will never be happy in a traditional job. Being subservient and following orders is not in my nature. This is a good thing to realise, but on the flip side do be aware that it's possible to work with a team without being subjected to a top-down, prescribed style of management. A collaborative team environment can be sought or created, and you can achieve a lot more a lot quicker with a good team than alone. Best of luck finding your groove.

AnonyBrah 9y ago
Definitely, and that's a great point. My current job used to be pretty good in that nature, but it's recently gotten worse with the hiring of an authoritarian person at the top and the politically-oriented sycophants coming out of the woodworks to entrench their own power, but I'm doing what I can to keep the work environment democratic like it used to be.