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> But I haven’t heard from you is that you have tried to adjust to the market. Modern market seems to ask from programmers something other than programming. Pe

by avmich 5y ago

> But I haven’t heard from you is that you have tried to adjust to the market. Modern market seems to ask from programmers something other than programming. Peter Norvig in the interview to Lex Fridman mentioned that today software is made of building blocks from Internet, not designed from requirements as it used to. For some reasons companies prefer to endlessly lose in dependencies wars rather than have good arguments for why something is developed and something is taken from outside. The OP problem is rather pervasive, there are some pretty good specialists who can't find a position in months and years because market requirements seems to be rather odd. People who obviously can program and have experience solving problems for business find themselves expected to know technologies du jour when those could be some questionable rehashes of ideas of previous years. > if you want to get paid what programmers get paid these days The problem is today's programmers are paid for knowing - preferably early - the hot technologies instead of analyzing and solving the problems with good tools. If a person has enough experience, he may understandably question the kind of a hamster race, so these modern technologies look poor for him.

tomcam 5y ago
But that’s how the market works. I have been making bets on what technology would be useful for the last 35 years. There was no one to help me forecast it. I just do things like read hacker news and similar publications. By sticking to the basics while also focusing on areas that I liked I did pretty well. We get paid more than average because there are risks. Also, I chose some hot technologies that I could tolerate because I understood that’s just where it is. I also learned algorithms on my own and understood when to apply them. If the market asked for hot technologies, you shouldn’t have to adapt. Otherwise you should accept a lower paying job.
- avmich 5y ago
  > But that’s how the market works. Yes, and that's the problem for programmers - those who'd prefer to solve problems better in the long run, which costs more in the short run. In other words, there are programmers, who don't see a point in learning something which isn't really novel and isn't really progressive, but which is required to get a job. Some go for lower salaries, those are sometimes much lower - that's why people with high salaries e.g. from FAANG can be seen as delusional about their actual skills when compared with someone 1/5 of their salaries and stronger design abilities. The problem - and the associated question - is what to do in the long-irrational market. One answer is known :) but it's not a particularly good one. Hope there are better ones - > I chose some hot technologies that I could tolerate because I understood that’s just where it is Sometimes market wants more than you could tolerate - emphasis on the last word.

by avmich 5y ago

tomcam 5y ago

But that’s how the market works. I have been making bets on what technology would be useful for the last 35 years. There was no one to help me forecast it. I just do things like read hacker news and similar publications. By sticking to the basics while also focusing on areas that I liked I did pretty well. We get paid more than average because there are risks. Also, I chose some hot technologies that I could tolerate because I understood that’s just where it is. I also learned algorithms on my own and understood when to apply them. If the market asked for hot technologies, you shouldn’t have to adapt. Otherwise you should accept a lower paying job.

avmich 5y ago
> But that’s how the market works. Yes, and that's the problem for programmers - those who'd prefer to solve problems better in the long run, which costs more in the short run. In other words, there are programmers, who don't see a point in learning something which isn't really novel and isn't really progressive, but which is required to get a job. Some go for lower salaries, those are sometimes much lower - that's why people with high salaries e.g. from FAANG can be seen as delusional about their actual skills when compared with someone 1/5 of their salaries and stronger design abilities. The problem - and the associated question - is what to do in the long-irrational market. One answer is known :) but it's not a particularly good one. Hope there are better ones - > I chose some hot technologies that I could tolerate because I understood that’s just where it is Sometimes market wants more than you could tolerate - emphasis on the last word.