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It sounds like you are not working in a field that is intrinsically motivating to you. Perhaps you should find an employer with a product whose end value you ca

by fsloth 6y ago

It sounds like you are not working in a field that is intrinsically motivating to you. Perhaps you should find an employer with a product whose end value you can appreciate? For example I work in CAD. I'm just a software engineer. But the products we make help engineering companies design huge beautiful monsters of steel an concrete. Sure, they are not rockets, but they are things that impact peoples lives. Working on a product, that have users who you appreciate is intrinsically satisfying. At least to me. I feel the code I write is kind of meaningless, but the work my users do is not. Hence I find meaning in their constributions.

y-c-o-m-b 6y ago
> Perhaps you should find an employer with a product whose end value you can appreciate? If only it were that simple. Sometimes the stars align and that happens yes, but for many people - especially those of us with families that can't just up and move somewhere else - it's not reality. Let's say you reside in an area with such a job to begin with. First your resume has to be looked at, so let's assume it makes it through the various automated filters. Then it gets picked up by an actual person who glances at it for maybe 1-2 minutes tops and throws you into the "to be considered" pile. Next your resume is competing against a relatively large pool of other resumes. If it makes it through that, you then have to captivate the recruiting/hiring manager enough to move to the next step. Now you're at the dreaded technical interview where all sorts of shit can go wrong (especially since this is a highly sought position); maybe you're a little too slow at figuring something out, maybe you're not a good "cultural fit", maybe they don't like the way you look or dress, maybe you're a genius but your communication skills are abysmal etc. If you somehow make it through that garbage disposal unit then you have to talk to some manager who gauges your personality and how you handle stress; room for more screwing up. You make it through all that, but wait! You're still competing with 10 other folks that are just as good if not better than you. You get lucky and make it and get an offer letter - but the pay is dreadful and doesn't match the cost of living. Now what?
- fsloth 6y ago
  Sure, family comes first. My intent was to imply that the space of meaningful work is plausibly a lot larger than space vehicles. My intent was not to imply that an employee can always utilize complete deterministic agency in their career path.

by fsloth 6y ago

y-c-o-m-b 6y ago

> Perhaps you should find an employer with a product whose end value you can appreciate? If only it were that simple. Sometimes the stars align and that happens yes, but for many people - especially those of us with families that can't just up and move somewhere else - it's not reality. Let's say you reside in an area with such a job to begin with. First your resume has to be looked at, so let's assume it makes it through the various automated filters. Then it gets picked up by an actual person who glances at it for maybe 1-2 minutes tops and throws you into the "to be considered" pile. Next your resume is competing against a relatively large pool of other resumes. If it makes it through that, you then have to captivate the recruiting/hiring manager enough to move to the next step. Now you're at the dreaded technical interview where all sorts of shit can go wrong (especially since this is a highly sought position); maybe you're a little too slow at figuring something out, maybe you're not a good "cultural fit", maybe they don't like the way you look or dress, maybe you're a genius but your communication skills are abysmal etc. If you somehow make it through that garbage disposal unit then you have to talk to some manager who gauges your personality and how you handle stress; room for more screwing up. You make it through all that, but wait! You're still competing with 10 other folks that are just as good if not better than you. You get lucky and make it and get an offer letter - but the pay is dreadful and doesn't match the cost of living. Now what?

fsloth 6y ago
Sure, family comes first. My intent was to imply that the space of meaningful work is plausibly a lot larger than space vehicles. My intent was not to imply that an employee can always utilize complete deterministic agency in their career path.