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For the over the decade I've been a software engineer I've always strived to work in products with a value proposition for the end user that I can understand.
by fsloth 8y ago
For the over the decade I've been a software engineer I've always strived to work in products with a value proposition for the end user that I can understand.
I can't understand how anyone could work without this understanding and not get their soul crushed. Maybe I'm just sensitive or underpaid.
- isodude 8y agoSometimes your don't have the luxury to choose your work.
- enraged_camel 8y agoYes, but this is a much more rare scenario for techies than other white collar professionals.
- isodude 8y agoWell that depends doesn't it. If you got skill and motivation to choose between gigs, that's fine, you'll most likely just start your own if you don't find anything fitting. Those you hear alot about. Succeeding is not easier in tech than anything else, given that success means doing exactly what you want and feeling good about it. I do interview people and try to find techies that fit in our org, but it's tough even if there's available people.
- prolikewh0a 8y agoThis is being said for Programmers, yet a good portion of HN goes out of their way to tell poor people they can just get a new job. Very contradictory!
- isodude 8y agoI guess you can't talk for everybody (which happens a lot in the comments for what I've seen, HN does this, HN does that). The commenters here may be very biased though. To be clear this article seems to refer to SF workers, but I guess the same applies there even if the pay is fat. You need to generate cash to pay for the hefty rents. I should add a disclaimer here that this is just an assumption based on what I've read though. Maybe someone could chime in on how easy it is to get a job with good morale in SF? I would imagine that it's like looking at the trees but only seeing the forest.
- jimktrains2 8y ago> For the over the decade I've been a software engineer I've always strived to work in products with a value proposition for the end user that I can understand. > I can't understand how anyone could work without this understanding and not get their soul crushed. Maybe I'm just sensitive or underpaid. Well, if someone's paying you, there is always a value proposition for the end user :) More to what I think your point is, though, most people do not view themselves through the lens of their work. I don't see myself as a guy who writes ecommerce software; I see myself as a spouse, father, child, uncle, and someone always trying new things and expand my horizons. Ecommerce just pays the bills and enables that all to happen.
- rhodysurf 8y agoI enjoy my job (a lot), but I work to live, not live to work. As long as my job pays me well enough and I am only work ~40 hours a week with a flexible schedule I could care less what I am programming most of the time. My passions can live in my free time.
- MrEfficiency 8y agoSimilar, I make a pretty boring product, but at home I'm building a dishwasher, a finance app, and I run a popular website. I wouldnt work for a defense contractor, but I have a high paying, 'boring' day job.
- Ocerge 8y agoI left a job partly because I felt too dumb to understand the use cases for the product I was writing code for (extremely high-end Test & Measurement). It's very uncomfortable. Maybe not the same kind of "understanding", but this kind of thing can extend beyond morals, at least in my experience.