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I would leave jobs that weren't working out sooner. When you have a good job, it's hard to leave. But there were times when I had a good position but didn't e

I would leave jobs that weren't working out sooner. When you have a good job, it's hard to leave. But there were times when I had a good position but didn't enjoy my job or wasn't very well thought of. It's easier to be a star when you are starting out, but when you get to middle or senior management you are much more likely to be controversial or get into difficult situations that your talent isn't going to save you from. Things aren't going well and you think, well I will just work hard or try to adjust to feedback. Sometimes it is best to just move on. My favorite jobs have been fun at the start and fun years later as well.

safetybox 3y ago
> Sometimes it is best to just move on. My favorite jobs have been fun at the start and fun years later as well. Why did you quit those?
em-bee 3y ago
i left two jobs that didn't work out. the problem is that the first one of those failed because i was working all alone, no team, and an overworked supervisor, and at the time i didn't know how to compensate for that (i didn't even know that it needed compensating). it took me years to understand that i am driven by human interaction. what i am struggling now is how to translate that into advice. i mean yes, i should have looked for jobs that do pair programming. but every personality is different. how would a 25 year old know if that advice applies. the best i can come up with is to try a few different jobs and pay attention what it is that that is fun. but even there you can mislead yourself. i did a programming internship while studying and figured that i hated 9-5 office work. then i did foss development with roxen and pike and i absolutely loved it. but i thought it was the programming language, when in truth it probably was that i was working closely with the people that used the website i built. so i stumbled from one experience to the next without really understanding what made work fun. i can work on side projects all alone for months at a time because i was solving problems for myself. or i can do the utmost boring work with a hands-on client. we worked together for 10 years. the most wonderful person i have ever worked with. working together made the dullest task enjoyable. i suppose the common element is that there was a need that had to be filled. in one case it was my own, in another it was someone elses. but how does that translate into actionable advice?
- nickd2001 3y ago
  "but how does that translate into actionable advice?" Perhaps, be aware of what you need in coworkers / end-users, and look for that? Something that many in the tech industry completely neglect, thinking it's all about tech. I think your comment is gold dust BTW, basically all of us need to figure out how to be HAPPY. And you've clearly stated what you need, which I think a lot of us need but don't always realise we do, which is to be important/helpful to other people. Much more important than making huge $$$$$$$$/ ££££££££££££ or being an expert in mega-cool-language-or-framework-X-which-will-inevitably-one-day-be-oboslete-however-much-we-pretend-it-wont

safetybox 3y ago

> Sometimes it is best to just move on. My favorite jobs have been fun at the start and fun years later as well. Why did you quit those?

em-bee 3y ago

i left two jobs that didn't work out. the problem is that the first one of those failed because i was working all alone, no team, and an overworked supervisor, and at the time i didn't know how to compensate for that (i didn't even know that it needed compensating). it took me years to understand that i am driven by human interaction. what i am struggling now is how to translate that into advice. i mean yes, i should have looked for jobs that do pair programming. but every personality is different. how would a 25 year old know if that advice applies. the best i can come up with is to try a few different jobs and pay attention what it is that that is fun. but even there you can mislead yourself. i did a programming internship while studying and figured that i hated 9-5 office work. then i did foss development with roxen and pike and i absolutely loved it. but i thought it was the programming language, when in truth it probably was that i was working closely with the people that used the website i built. so i stumbled from one experience to the next without really understanding what made work fun. i can work on side projects all alone for months at a time because i was solving problems for myself. or i can do the utmost boring work with a hands-on client. we worked together for 10 years. the most wonderful person i have ever worked with. working together made the dullest task enjoyable. i suppose the common element is that there was a need that had to be filled. in one case it was my own, in another it was someone elses. but how does that translate into actionable advice?

nickd2001 3y ago
"but how does that translate into actionable advice?" Perhaps, be aware of what you need in coworkers / end-users, and look for that? Something that many in the tech industry completely neglect, thinking it's all about tech. I think your comment is gold dust BTW, basically all of us need to figure out how to be HAPPY. And you've clearly stated what you need, which I think a lot of us need but don't always realise we do, which is to be important/helpful to other people. Much more important than making huge $$$$$$$$/ ££££££££££££ or being an expert in mega-cool-language-or-framework-X-which-will-inevitably-one-day-be-oboslete-however-much-we-pretend-it-wont