5 ms·

Getting paid $300k / year to work on CRUD apps seems pretty nice to me.

brailsafe 7y ago
Working in easy or boring stuff for a lot of money is nice if you need it, but miserable if you're an intrinsically motivated person.
- tyrust 7y ago
  One can exercise motivation outside of work.
  - ronyfadel 7y ago
    It’s hard to do when you get home with 0 brain power left after working for 8-10 hours straight doing mind-numbing work
    - brailsafe 7y ago
      Even more so if you're already at home.
    - wolco 7y ago
      But if you are over qualified your effort is lower. Working at a startup I felt I had nothing left in the tank compared to corporate job that I could checkout easily at the end of the day go home and write more code.
  - brailsafe 7y ago
    No doubt, that's how most people do it. But ideally you don't want your life to be one of hating most of what you're doing and then just compensating for it in a way that keeps the feedback loop working.
  - marcinzm 7y ago
    Why be unhappy for 8+ hours a day? Life is short enough as it is, sacrificing 1/4 of it seems rather silly to me unless you have to.
- _se 7y ago
  Being bored for 10 hours a day when you have the capability to do so much really is terrible. Couldn't agree with you more.
  - khabibthyme 7y ago
    Having worked in startups for most of my career, I see a lot of engineers who yo-yo between high paid, boring jobs in FAANG-esque companies and burnout-inducing early stage gigs.
    - dropit_sphere 7y ago
      Which is a really weird situation when you think about it! This gives credence to the theory I've heard that corporate jobs are "unsustainable" in that they will only hire "smart" people, but actively make their employees dumber. Whether that's the particular mechanism or not, I think this bears investigation.
    - miguelmota 7y ago
      I love working at startups and hated working at a large company. You learn 10x more in a fast paced environment where you get a chance to work on a little bit of everything and talking to partners and investors compared to a large scale company where you’re tweaking a small area of the company. Startups are obviously not for everyone and I know plenty of people that prefer the corporate environment either because they like the stability, hours, or the salary.
  - brailsafe 7y ago
    I'm kind of in this situation now, and it doesn't feel super great to be sort of trapped in a golden handcuffs kind of situation. The effect would be less intense if it weren't an entirely mental exercise.
    - joncrane 7y ago
      I have two thoughts: 1) I generally take the higher paying gigs but mostly so I can accelerate retirement 2) Even in the crappiness of high paying jobs (I often think I'm essentially being bribed to put up with all the BS) I can generally maneuver myself into doing interesting work. It takes about 1.5 years of concerted effort, but once I understand how stuff works, I can generally start nudging stuff in the right direction, and can eventually find some form of fulfillment amongst the BS.
- TrackerFF 7y ago
  Well, that's how it is, and that's how it's been for decades. Entire industries are taking the "best and the brightest", and wasting them on some of the most menial jobs imaginable.
- Galaco 7y ago
  If you already do this every day for 1/10th of that compensation with no way out, the misery and boredom are already the norm.
  - brailsafe 7y ago
    That's a part of my point. The compensation is arbitrary past a certain point where your actual needs are met, unless you're driven by the stuff you exchange the money for. For myself, it's evident even in the post necessity phase where I know I still need to bank some cash to be able to assume some future volatility, but am not in the market for anything out of my reach to buy, so the money stops having tangible value.
    - mistahenry 7y ago
      > so the money stops having tangible value I couldn’t agree with this sentiment more. My current job isn’t the highest paying job I’ve ever had (or could currently get). But the value in what I’m learning and exposed to keeps increasing over time. I am not the smartest person in the room and super happy about that
blondin 7y ago
wait what?! where are you getting these numbers from?
- lonelappde 7y ago
  levels.fyi. Unlikely OP earned only $300K/yr
  - speedgoose 7y ago
    I should move to USA. Reads the news I will stay where I live.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
akhilcacharya 7y ago
(It was probably a lot more than that)
- mav3rick 7y ago
  (Who knew you have to pay top dollar for talented people)

Working in easy or boring stuff for a lot of money is nice if you need it, but miserable if you're an intrinsically motivated person.

tyrust 7y ago
One can exercise motivation outside of work.
- ronyfadel 7y ago
  It’s hard to do when you get home with 0 brain power left after working for 8-10 hours straight doing mind-numbing work
  - brailsafe 7y ago
    Even more so if you're already at home.
  - wolco 7y ago
    But if you are over qualified your effort is lower. Working at a startup I felt I had nothing left in the tank compared to corporate job that I could checkout easily at the end of the day go home and write more code.
- brailsafe 7y ago
  No doubt, that's how most people do it. But ideally you don't want your life to be one of hating most of what you're doing and then just compensating for it in a way that keeps the feedback loop working.
- marcinzm 7y ago
  Why be unhappy for 8+ hours a day? Life is short enough as it is, sacrificing 1/4 of it seems rather silly to me unless you have to.
_se 7y ago
Being bored for 10 hours a day when you have the capability to do so much really is terrible. Couldn't agree with you more.
- khabibthyme 7y ago
  Having worked in startups for most of my career, I see a lot of engineers who yo-yo between high paid, boring jobs in FAANG-esque companies and burnout-inducing early stage gigs.
  - dropit_sphere 7y ago
    Which is a really weird situation when you think about it! This gives credence to the theory I've heard that corporate jobs are "unsustainable" in that they will only hire "smart" people, but actively make their employees dumber. Whether that's the particular mechanism or not, I think this bears investigation.
  - miguelmota 7y ago
    I love working at startups and hated working at a large company. You learn 10x more in a fast paced environment where you get a chance to work on a little bit of everything and talking to partners and investors compared to a large scale company where you’re tweaking a small area of the company. Startups are obviously not for everyone and I know plenty of people that prefer the corporate environment either because they like the stability, hours, or the salary.
- brailsafe 7y ago
  I'm kind of in this situation now, and it doesn't feel super great to be sort of trapped in a golden handcuffs kind of situation. The effect would be less intense if it weren't an entirely mental exercise.
  - joncrane 7y ago
    I have two thoughts: 1) I generally take the higher paying gigs but mostly so I can accelerate retirement 2) Even in the crappiness of high paying jobs (I often think I'm essentially being bribed to put up with all the BS) I can generally maneuver myself into doing interesting work. It takes about 1.5 years of concerted effort, but once I understand how stuff works, I can generally start nudging stuff in the right direction, and can eventually find some form of fulfillment amongst the BS.
TrackerFF 7y ago
Well, that's how it is, and that's how it's been for decades. Entire industries are taking the "best and the brightest", and wasting them on some of the most menial jobs imaginable.
Galaco 7y ago
If you already do this every day for 1/10th of that compensation with no way out, the misery and boredom are already the norm.
- brailsafe 7y ago
  That's a part of my point. The compensation is arbitrary past a certain point where your actual needs are met, unless you're driven by the stuff you exchange the money for. For myself, it's evident even in the post necessity phase where I know I still need to bank some cash to be able to assume some future volatility, but am not in the market for anything out of my reach to buy, so the money stops having tangible value.
  - mistahenry 7y ago
    > so the money stops having tangible value I couldn’t agree with this sentiment more. My current job isn’t the highest paying job I’ve ever had (or could currently get). But the value in what I’m learning and exposed to keeps increasing over time. I am not the smartest person in the room and super happy about that

blondin 7y ago

wait what?! where are you getting these numbers from?

lonelappde 7y ago
levels.fyi. Unlikely OP earned only $300K/yr
- speedgoose 7y ago
  I should move to USA. Reads the news I will stay where I live.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

akhilcacharya 7y ago

(It was probably a lot more than that)

mav3rick 7y ago
(Who knew you have to pay top dollar for talented people)