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There's an advice that I tend to give to my younger colleagues who ask about this stuff: love your profession, not your job. I love my profession -- I wanted t

by alxlaz 8y ago

There's an advice that I tend to give to my younger colleagues who ask about this stuff: love your profession, not your job. I love my profession -- I wanted to be an engineer for as long as I can remember. But that doesn't mean I loved every engineering job I've ever held. If a job makes you dislike what you do to the point where you stop cultivating your abilities, I think you should leave it as soon as you can.

midgetjones 8y ago
That's fantastic advice. I think it's a case of caring about the right things, and learning when to let go/not take things personally. On a slight tangent, I've always found that hobbies - and treating programming as one of them - always helps me disassociate from thinking about my own achievements as only being work-related. I've tried so many things, just because they interested me, and got fairly good at some of them. Sometimes it might be a craft, another time it might be learning a new programming language, or a piece of software I don't know well enough. The ones I don't enjoy so much fall by the wayside (life drawing, golang, philosophy, whittling, many more), but some chance subjects have directly led to better jobs (ruby, elixir), some have made me a better programmer, and anything else I can at least say has made me a more rounded and knowledgable person, and hopefully more employable because of it.
sdoering 8y ago
Great advice. I would only add to that, that not only can your "job make you dislike what you do", but also the environment you do your job in. Yes - some parts of any job suck. Some parts have to be dealt with and one needs to have at least some kind of tolerance for frustration. But there is a threshold. If the job, the people, the culture around you do not show that they respect and value you, but only the bottom line they can grind you down for: Get out.
- alxlaz 8y ago
  > I would only add to that, that not only can your "job make you dislike what you do", but also the environment you do your job in. Yeah, I meant "your job" in the generic way, including everything there is about it. Where you work, who you work with, what you do, for whom etc. Every aspect of professional life includes things that we'd rather not deal with. Programming? You're gonna have to write boring boilerplate code sometimes. Poor tooling? You're going to have to convince management to give you the budget you need to fix it, and that's going to involve a lot of politics. Meetings? Some of them are going to be a waste of time but you'll have to attend them. Volunteering projects? Some are genuine, some are there only because someone has some KPIs to meet. These are things that you're going to have to deal with anywhere you go. Things that you don't have to deal with anywhere you go, however, include stuff like abusive behaviour, regular and unpaid overtime with an expectation that "everyone loves what they do and works 60-hour weeks here", or poor working conditions that take a toll on your health. That's stuff that no one should "deal" with (except, you know, by leaving).
gerbilly 8y ago
Whenever I get too worked up about how decisions are made in my group, I like to think of all the IT departments there are in my city, in the world even. I don't care about what decisions are being made in those places, so I shouldn't get too worked up about decisions being made where I work either. If, after giving my recommendations, and making my arguments, people still decide to do risky dumb things with infrastructure, I don't let it bother me anymore.
- alexktz 8y ago
  I love this perspective and will adopt it into my own.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  I do the same but there is a certain emotional numbness to it. On the one hand it’s good to say “fuck it” but on the other hand it doesn’t feed your soul.
- mvindahl 8y ago
  At one time I was contracting at a place where every process was broken, from IT to management to testing. It wasn't really a place that attracted talented developers. There were a some developers that were talented and a lot which were mediocre or had given up along the way. Development progressed at the pace of syrup. They paid on time, though. Anyway, being a professional, I put in my hours and did my best to contribute until the contract ran out. But I also stuck a post-it note to the bottom of my screen with my all-time favourite Polish phrase: "Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy". Literally: "Not my circus, not my monkeys.". I.e. the inherent brokenness wasn't my problem to fix.
  - tonyedgecombe 8y ago
    It's a much easier to remain detached when you are a contractor, you just need to remember you won't be there in a month or two.
    - maxxxxx 8y ago
ptidhomme 8y ago
Totally agree. I always say that whatever you do as a job, you should capitalize on youself. Figure out what is your vision on the purpose of your job and how it integrates with the perspective of your own professional goals. Then push it as much as you can, thereby building up experience on the path to these goals. If you find an dead end, seek antoher job. Many times have I confronted my own vision against that of (or lack therof) my hierarchy, and the undertaking of proving my point earned me a great deal of experience, regardless of the outcome (which, over time, has been largely positive, i.e. my vision proven right).
gagege 8y ago
Yes, I should leave this job and probably this profession. But I don't know what I could do instead that would provide the same immediate benefits, pay, and perks that this job does. So, I'm rolling along and spending all my other time with my family and working on writing.
snarf21 8y ago
Good stuff. The one thing that has made me happier as I age is treating a job as just an income source. I design board games as a hobby and can take pride in that work without all of the nonsense of pointless meetings and political games.

by alxlaz 8y ago

midgetjones 8y ago

That's fantastic advice. I think it's a case of caring about the right things, and learning when to let go/not take things personally. On a slight tangent, I've always found that hobbies - and treating programming as one of them - always helps me disassociate from thinking about my own achievements as only being work-related. I've tried so many things, just because they interested me, and got fairly good at some of them. Sometimes it might be a craft, another time it might be learning a new programming language, or a piece of software I don't know well enough. The ones I don't enjoy so much fall by the wayside (life drawing, golang, philosophy, whittling, many more), but some chance subjects have directly led to better jobs (ruby, elixir), some have made me a better programmer, and anything else I can at least say has made me a more rounded and knowledgable person, and hopefully more employable because of it.

sdoering 8y ago

Great advice. I would only add to that, that not only can your "job make you dislike what you do", but also the environment you do your job in. Yes - some parts of any job suck. Some parts have to be dealt with and one needs to have at least some kind of tolerance for frustration. But there is a threshold. If the job, the people, the culture around you do not show that they respect and value you, but only the bottom line they can grind you down for: Get out.

alxlaz 8y ago
> I would only add to that, that not only can your "job make you dislike what you do", but also the environment you do your job in. Yeah, I meant "your job" in the generic way, including everything there is about it. Where you work, who you work with, what you do, for whom etc. Every aspect of professional life includes things that we'd rather not deal with. Programming? You're gonna have to write boring boilerplate code sometimes. Poor tooling? You're going to have to convince management to give you the budget you need to fix it, and that's going to involve a lot of politics. Meetings? Some of them are going to be a waste of time but you'll have to attend them. Volunteering projects? Some are genuine, some are there only because someone has some KPIs to meet. These are things that you're going to have to deal with anywhere you go. Things that you don't have to deal with anywhere you go, however, include stuff like abusive behaviour, regular and unpaid overtime with an expectation that "everyone loves what they do and works 60-hour weeks here", or poor working conditions that take a toll on your health. That's stuff that no one should "deal" with (except, you know, by leaving).

gerbilly 8y ago

Whenever I get too worked up about how decisions are made in my group, I like to think of all the IT departments there are in my city, in the world even. I don't care about what decisions are being made in those places, so I shouldn't get too worked up about decisions being made where I work either. If, after giving my recommendations, and making my arguments, people still decide to do risky dumb things with infrastructure, I don't let it bother me anymore.

alexktz 8y ago
I love this perspective and will adopt it into my own.
maxxxxx 8y ago
I do the same but there is a certain emotional numbness to it. On the one hand it’s good to say “fuck it” but on the other hand it doesn’t feed your soul.
mvindahl 8y ago
At one time I was contracting at a place where every process was broken, from IT to management to testing. It wasn't really a place that attracted talented developers. There were a some developers that were talented and a lot which were mediocre or had given up along the way. Development progressed at the pace of syrup. They paid on time, though. Anyway, being a professional, I put in my hours and did my best to contribute until the contract ran out. But I also stuck a post-it note to the bottom of my screen with my all-time favourite Polish phrase: "Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy". Literally: "Not my circus, not my monkeys.". I.e. the inherent brokenness wasn't my problem to fix.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  It's a much easier to remain detached when you are a contractor, you just need to remember you won't be there in a month or two.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago

ptidhomme 8y ago

Totally agree. I always say that whatever you do as a job, you should capitalize on youself. Figure out what is your vision on the purpose of your job and how it integrates with the perspective of your own professional goals. Then push it as much as you can, thereby building up experience on the path to these goals. If you find an dead end, seek antoher job. Many times have I confronted my own vision against that of (or lack therof) my hierarchy, and the undertaking of proving my point earned me a great deal of experience, regardless of the outcome (which, over time, has been largely positive, i.e. my vision proven right).

gagege 8y ago

Yes, I should leave this job and probably this profession. But I don't know what I could do instead that would provide the same immediate benefits, pay, and perks that this job does. So, I'm rolling along and spending all my other time with my family and working on writing.

snarf21 8y ago

Good stuff. The one thing that has made me happier as I age is treating a job as just an income source. I design board games as a hobby and can take pride in that work without all of the nonsense of pointless meetings and political games.