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Hot take: I read what other people sre doing on HN and I feel like I'm an utterly mediocre dev who's just pushing features at work to make someone rich, and I c

Hot take: I read what other people sre doing on HN and I feel like I'm an utterly mediocre dev who's just pushing features at work to make someone rich, and I can't do much about it because I have a family relying on my income.

matt89 4y ago
I don't necessarily think that is such a hot take, but a feeling shared by many of us. And I think that this ties to the title of the post and general discussion - many people (myself included) feel bad when seeing other people achieve something great or extraordinary. It's so easy to diminish ones achievements, I often do it as well, sometimes without giving it too much thought. But I think its also easy to forget that people in social media (or in HN posts) usually just present the best parts of them. Nobody talks about his/hers bad sides or vices, so it's easy to think that all the other people are great and better than us. In reality most people - like you and me - are probably in the 80-90% of normal workers, be it IT or not, that achieve some successes in life and have some screw-ups as well. What we see in social media is a highly curate 5% of people that shine the spotlight on something great they did.
alickz 4y ago
You're not alone. Also when I see US dev salaries posted I feel like as a European I'm missing out big time.
- lr4444lr 4y ago
  On that latter point though, go look at a US metro region specific tax calculator for those salaries, then subtract an extra $200 a month (or $500 for families) for health insurance premiums, and look at average rent in those areas too. The differential is still there, but less than you probably thought.
  - cpsns 4y ago
    It's still easily twice what I am making in Canada and our wages are closer to America than Europe's are. The worst part for me is working directly with Americans and knowing they're getting paid for more for the same job.
cpsns 4y ago
I definitely feel this one. I often feel completely worthless as a developer when I read sites like HN. I can barely grasp a lot of the cool stuff people are doing. It makes me feel like I don't belong in the industry and seriously depresses me. It makes me think I really am an imposter. Why do I keep coming back if that's what it does to me? I don't know.

matt89 4y ago

I don't necessarily think that is such a hot take, but a feeling shared by many of us. And I think that this ties to the title of the post and general discussion - many people (myself included) feel bad when seeing other people achieve something great or extraordinary. It's so easy to diminish ones achievements, I often do it as well, sometimes without giving it too much thought. But I think its also easy to forget that people in social media (or in HN posts) usually just present the best parts of them. Nobody talks about his/hers bad sides or vices, so it's easy to think that all the other people are great and better than us. In reality most people - like you and me - are probably in the 80-90% of normal workers, be it IT or not, that achieve some successes in life and have some screw-ups as well. What we see in social media is a highly curate 5% of people that shine the spotlight on something great they did.

alickz 4y ago

You're not alone. Also when I see US dev salaries posted I feel like as a European I'm missing out big time.

lr4444lr 4y ago
On that latter point though, go look at a US metro region specific tax calculator for those salaries, then subtract an extra $200 a month (or $500 for families) for health insurance premiums, and look at average rent in those areas too. The differential is still there, but less than you probably thought.
- cpsns 4y ago
  It's still easily twice what I am making in Canada and our wages are closer to America than Europe's are. The worst part for me is working directly with Americans and knowing they're getting paid for more for the same job.

cpsns 4y ago

I definitely feel this one. I often feel completely worthless as a developer when I read sites like HN. I can barely grasp a lot of the cool stuff people are doing. It makes me feel like I don't belong in the industry and seriously depresses me. It makes me think I really am an imposter. Why do I keep coming back if that's what it does to me? I don't know.