6 ms·
I'm struggling to get away from being a developer. I left a comfortable, but low-paying job because there was no future and no promotions or job changes in sigh
by Kluny 8y ago
I'm struggling to get away from being a developer. I left a comfortable, but low-paying job because there was no future and no promotions or job changes in sight. I want to work with people, not code. I hate being by myself in front of a computer all day.
That led to my current job, where I'm paid twice as much but not really measuring up to their expectations. I'm still by myself in front of a computer all day. I can't see myself getting promoted given how unimpressed they are with my performance.
I had a chance to get some experience doing something other than programming, so I took it - a 20-hours-a-week contract as volunteer coordinator on a political campaign, which I absolutely love, but now I'm stressed and running for my life all the time because I'm working every hour that I'm awake (and sometimes waking up in the middle of the night to add more stuff to my todo list).
I'm in trouble at my day job because my performance there has gotten worse, and expect to be fired soon. And now I'm worried that I'm doing badly at the second job as well, because I keep on forgetting things and making mistakes. It's too much and I'm miserable.
- cityzen 8y agoLet me ask you this... what would you do if your employer fired you right now? Would you be homeless? What's really at stake here? You will NEVER have the time to put towards the work you love if you spend the majority of your time doing work you don't care about. It's really a disservice to you and your employer to be in this situation. Have you tried to communicate with them? Do they do any kind of employee reviews? Not being funny, but are you scared to stir the pot a bit and tell them you're just not happy? Why not talk to your non-profit client and tell them you're leaving your job and want to get involved on a bigger scale. Ask if they know people that could use your talents. Life is short, sitting in front of a computer being miserable is no way to spend that precious time.
- Kluny 8y agoI need the last paycheck. So I'm sticking it out to the end of the month. But if I don't get fired, I'm going to ask for a leave of absence, or quit. But I'm still worried about what happens next. Rent in my city is expensive, and salaries are comparatively low. The political job pays decently, for the city, but even if I can find a similar full time job after election season, I'll be paying a little over half my salary in rent. So that tells me that I'm probably going to be leaving town soon, leaving my local network, and facing more instability and turmoil... no matter where I look, I don't see a peaceful settled life in my future for a long time.
- abledon 8y agoRent too high? Move in with more roommates. Or find a cheaper area to live. Also eliminate expensive hobbies, replace with free ones like hiking or community activities, cook all your food yourself, use lots of staple ingredients.
- ryandrake 8y agoIf you want to stay in technology but not actually write code, give Product Management or Project Management a try. You’ll make less money than a similar level engineer, but your job will rely more on communication and relationship building, which is fun if you’re an extrovert! You can code on your spare time to keep your skills sharp if it’s still moderately interesting to you.