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What's the best alternative? Personally, I can't think of a job that I would enjoy more than software development, even with the downsides that come with a lot

What's the best alternative? Personally, I can't think of a job that I would enjoy more than software development, even with the downsides that come with a lot of the big tech companies. And obviously the benefits are better than pretty much any other industry. If your biggest concern in your job is an open office, and dealing with things like stand-ups, you are in a pretty great position compared to pretty much everyone else in the world. Whenever I talk to my friends doing work in the trades, or truck driving or something I am incredibly glad that I chose to go into software.

existencebox 8y ago
I'm consistently envious of my friends in Civil Engineering. I'm sure it's a grass-is-greener situation, but they seem to have "Decent Pay" but in a far greater range of COLs, and with a far more entrenched expectation of long term job stability. (One friend's employer still offers pensions, which is like seeing someone driving a horse and buggy in tech) I certainly hear a range of complaints as well, largely around funding and political angles, but for the most part the things that I find most painful about tech (work/life balance, high stress, long-term stability and career growth) seem less prevalent. Additionally, I also don't see civil engineering becoming quite as commoditized towards "assembly line" work as a lot of CS often seems to resemble, but again, this just based off the stories they tell me so I'm waiting for another rail/harbor eng to come in and tell me why it's just as miserable :) I say all this because, as slim as the article was, you would not imagine how much "just listen to your programmers" resonates with me. I've convinced multiple coworkers to nickname me Cassandra for the number of times I've precisely identified risk factors long before they were felt, and often even when management makes soothing and affirming noises, having action result from that is a rarity. I've certainly spent more time in the last 5 years of my career "learning how to manage up" than learning how to do anything tech-related. Personal theory: It seems part-and-parcel with the pathology I've seen for corps to be very averse to promote from within the ranks to management.

existencebox 8y ago

I'm consistently envious of my friends in Civil Engineering. I'm sure it's a grass-is-greener situation, but they seem to have "Decent Pay" but in a far greater range of COLs, and with a far more entrenched expectation of long term job stability. (One friend's employer still offers pensions, which is like seeing someone driving a horse and buggy in tech) I certainly hear a range of complaints as well, largely around funding and political angles, but for the most part the things that I find most painful about tech (work/life balance, high stress, long-term stability and career growth) seem less prevalent. Additionally, I also don't see civil engineering becoming quite as commoditized towards "assembly line" work as a lot of CS often seems to resemble, but again, this just based off the stories they tell me so I'm waiting for another rail/harbor eng to come in and tell me why it's just as miserable :) I say all this because, as slim as the article was, you would not imagine how much "just listen to your programmers" resonates with me. I've convinced multiple coworkers to nickname me Cassandra for the number of times I've precisely identified risk factors long before they were felt, and often even when management makes soothing and affirming noises, having action result from that is a rarity. I've certainly spent more time in the last 5 years of my career "learning how to manage up" than learning how to do anything tech-related. Personal theory: It seems part-and-parcel with the pathology I've seen for corps to be very averse to promote from within the ranks to management.