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I feel so sorry for you. Life is so very brief to be working on something you don’t like. I look forward to going to work every (week) day. I work in a differe

I feel so sorry for you. Life is so very brief to be working on something you don’t like. I look forward to going to work every (week) day. I work in a different corner of the development biz doing computer vision, graphics and new products for companies. This week I’m working on “reading” test strips for a new medical device. Last month I was working on the graphics for a landing radar. At the risk of of telling you to “eat what I do and you’ll be as tall as I am”, I think you might find more developer happiness if you can get off the rails of business/web development and instead, work for small companies on desktop and/or embedded products. I think the key is working for small or tiny companies. Heck, maybe working just for a tiny company might make using your skills fun again. In a tiny company you get to wear a lot of hats so you learn things and use new technologies.

TeMPOraL 8y ago
Not the OP, but regarding the "eat what I do" - how do I get your food? How do I get to work on medical test strips, or landing radars?
- exikyut 8y ago
  Not the GP, but regarding tiny companies, I wanted to link this, which resonates strongly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17236637 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17236637 It seems that everything's relative and being the near-smartest person in the room can be a tactical advantage.
- chrisbennet 8y ago
  That is a difficult question to answer. I mean, I get my work through reputation [1] & luck and 30 years experience but that isn't actionable advice for you. I would say that the trick to getting into work that puts the most "happiness under the curve" is to find a small company [2] that really needs you. Look for that advertisement on Craig's list, talk to your friends, develop a skill that you can leverage. [3] [1] As I tell people: "People know my reputation - and yet they hire me anyway." [2] The last company I worked at before going independent consisted of 3 people. The owner/engineer and 2 software devs. [3] "Develop a skill you can leverage": By that I mean, start to learn something that you want to work with and then find a place to work at that will let you really learn it. For example, suppose you want to work with the Internet Of Things stuff; get a development board and do an IOT project with something like C++ and leverage your existing skill set (Javascript, Web stuff). Then take that little bit of IOT stuff and try to get a job doing IOT and then maybe C++ embedded. Does that make sense?
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    So no royal road, just working well and actively steering towards working on the things of interest :). Thanks for sharing.

TeMPOraL 8y ago

Not the OP, but regarding the "eat what I do" - how do I get your food? How do I get to work on medical test strips, or landing radars?

exikyut 8y ago
Not the GP, but regarding tiny companies, I wanted to link this, which resonates strongly: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17236637 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17236637 It seems that everything's relative and being the near-smartest person in the room can be a tactical advantage.
chrisbennet 8y ago
That is a difficult question to answer. I mean, I get my work through reputation [1] & luck and 30 years experience but that isn't actionable advice for you. I would say that the trick to getting into work that puts the most "happiness under the curve" is to find a small company [2] that really needs you. Look for that advertisement on Craig's list, talk to your friends, develop a skill that you can leverage. [3] [1] As I tell people: "People know my reputation - and yet they hire me anyway." [2] The last company I worked at before going independent consisted of 3 people. The owner/engineer and 2 software devs. [3] "Develop a skill you can leverage": By that I mean, start to learn something that you want to work with and then find a place to work at that will let you really learn it. For example, suppose you want to work with the Internet Of Things stuff; get a development board and do an IOT project with something like C++ and leverage your existing skill set (Javascript, Web stuff). Then take that little bit of IOT stuff and try to get a job doing IOT and then maybe C++ embedded. Does that make sense?
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  So no royal road, just working well and actively steering towards working on the things of interest :). Thanks for sharing.