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Ask HN: How to find a developer job when your heart isn't really in it?
I have been funemployed for about 6 months now, and enjoy it very much, never been happier. I've had lots of time to read, tinker, relax, and enjoy a stress free no BS life: no pointless meetings, no politics, no arbitrary deadlines, no emergencies. Only good fun, family time, and health.
I have to start looking for a job again soon because money is running low, but I can't get excited about any job listing I come across. If it were up to me, I'd stay unemployed for ever. I love programming on my own time, not so much for work.
I enjoy programming as a craft. However, there is nothing "exciting", "revolutionary", or "passionate" about writing yet another CRUD app, maintaining your legacy code, or yet another crypto/blockchain app.
Most (all?) employers expect you to live and breathe your job, and working as hard as if it were your own company. But I don't feel this way: I chose to be an employee because I don't have the desire or stamina to start my own thing. And to be honest: I don't care about your made-up deadline or self-imposed constraints. Why do we (file and rank) all pretend to care so much about the owners' and the investors' bottom line?
I'm an average developer, I don't suck but I'm not amazing either: I've only every worked for companies you've never heard of and would never pass the interviews for the big names, I don't want to relocate to the US anyway. I have 6 years of experience, got better at programming with every job but never promoted, never interviewed candidates, and not interested in management (too much stress and overtime).
How do people here reconcile your need for income with the daily office grind?
How do you apply and interview well when all you really want is to do your job 40 hours a week at most so you can afford a living and not think about it outside of these 40 hours? Obviously no employer wants to hear that.
Not to be dramatic: how do you survive the trenches without dying a little bit inside every day?
- ainiriand 8y agoJust a general advice: Only do what you are passionate about. You are not fair with your employer if you are there just because of the pay and producing subpar results because of a lack of commitment.
- ironan 8y agoI agree, how do you do it in practice though? I can't believe most people are passionate with what they do for money so where does that leave us? I would never write code for any company if I didn't have bills to pay but that's the best skill I have to offer, and I need to make a living.
- anoncoward111 8y agoIntense meditation and patience and rationalization are the only ways to get through a job you really don't feel inspired by. If you are lucky, sometimes you get paid to do meaningful work for a company. But until that happens, you either slog through it, or lower your expenses enough to retire.
- foldr 8y ago99% of the planet are doing jobs they're not "inspired" by. It doesn't take special skills or techniques to get through it.
- slipwalker 8y agoWhy do we (file and rank) all pretend to care so much about the owners' and the investors' bottom line? paycheck. We dance to the music, and get payed...
- buffaloo 8y agoFreelance. Only take jobs that interest you. Work on your terms.
- ironan 8y ago> Freelance. Only take jobs that interest you. Work on your terms. Isn't that another side of the same coin? It's still the same kind of work, just a different pay arrangement and rules for separation. Did you find that a job not inspiring as an employee became more bearable as a feelancer/contractor?
- seekingcharlie 8y agoLeft-field comment here but can you talk to or get closer to the users of whatever product you are working on, so that you can hear how your work is actually helping someone? That CRUD app might be saving someone money, time, and truly improving their life, and hearing that directly from the user is going to be a lot more fulfilling.
- gargravarr 8y agoI decided to get out of development and go for more of an Ops role - officially I started as DevOps, but have slowly moved into the company's SysAdmin role, which I enjoy much, much more than writing code, and there is plenty for me to do. Basically, I took a step back and asked myself what I would enjoy doing. Where I am, I got carte blanche to build the systems as I wanted (new company, startup) so I've got the opportunity to build things I've often thought would be possible. Granted, such jobs are few and far between, and for the most part jobs do involve a lot of pre-existing code and infrastructure. But maybe you could find a job bringing the legacy architecture into the 21st century rather than just keeping it ticking along?
- ironan 8y agoHow did you make the transition? I don't like frontend but enjoy SysAdmin type of tasks and do it for fun on my own. I don't feel like I know enough to apply for SRE positions but DevOps or SysAdmin would be doable.
- cimmanom 8y agoThere are plenty of employers out there who don't expect or demand "passion" from their employees - especially outside the startup bubble. Look for established businesses whose core isn't tech.