3 ms·

I work on web-adjacent-shit, mostly data processing stuff in Kafka that eventually ends up on the web. I don't get to recurse over JSON, occasionally I get to

I work on web-adjacent-shit, mostly data processing stuff in Kafka that eventually ends up on the web. I don't get to recurse over JSON, occasionally I get to design a system from scratch and that's more fun, but it's usually not more complicated than "draw boxes that point to other boxes and/or cylinders on screen". Sometimes I draw a picture of cloud. I like my job just fine, it's a decent job, and I like my managers and coworkers as well, but it's just disappointing that enthusiasm for math and theory is what got me to this stage of my career, but I never really got to use it, and I don't see that ever really changing for me. Maybe I will write a paper at some point at least.

andoando 3y ago
Yeah I am at the same place. Considering going for a phd because at this point I cant muster any kind of interest in corporate tech.
- tombert 3y ago
  From experience, that has its own share of frustrations as well. You get to work in theory and that’s fun, but if you decide to do a PhD while also working a desk job, I recommend you do not tell your employers. I made the mistake of telling an employer, and whenever I made any mistake in my work, no matter how small, the employer would immediately say that the PhD work is distracting me, and my focus not BigCo. My PhD is on an indefinite hiatus right now, because it’s something I am questioning the utility of right now.
  - andoando 3y ago
    That sucks. I cant imagine trying to work a job and do a phd at the dame time. That would take out any joy of it for me. I can definitely see a lot of utility depending on what you do research in. I bet a lot of ML doctoretes are making big bucks, but that's relatively niche.
    - tombert 3y ago
      The PhD I was doing was in formal methods, specifically in regards to timing semantics. I think it’s super neat, but sadly I am in a minority. ML is cool but I was never able to get super into it. I use ChatGPT but I never had a ton of desire to get into the guts of it. I was always more interested in discrete math and formal logic.
      - andoando 3y ago
        That sounds interesting, can you tell me a bit more? What does formal methods in regards to timing semantics mean? Im in the same boat. I like abstract logic/math and ML never caught much of my interest. I want to start applying but Im not even sure how to find departments that would fit what Im looking for. Maybe I need to take this more seriously and start reading papers and self study.

andoando 3y ago

Yeah I am at the same place. Considering going for a phd because at this point I cant muster any kind of interest in corporate tech.

tombert 3y ago
From experience, that has its own share of frustrations as well. You get to work in theory and that’s fun, but if you decide to do a PhD while also working a desk job, I recommend you do not tell your employers. I made the mistake of telling an employer, and whenever I made any mistake in my work, no matter how small, the employer would immediately say that the PhD work is distracting me, and my focus not BigCo. My PhD is on an indefinite hiatus right now, because it’s something I am questioning the utility of right now.
- andoando 3y ago
  That sucks. I cant imagine trying to work a job and do a phd at the dame time. That would take out any joy of it for me. I can definitely see a lot of utility depending on what you do research in. I bet a lot of ML doctoretes are making big bucks, but that's relatively niche.
  - tombert 3y ago
    The PhD I was doing was in formal methods, specifically in regards to timing semantics. I think it’s super neat, but sadly I am in a minority. ML is cool but I was never able to get super into it. I use ChatGPT but I never had a ton of desire to get into the guts of it. I was always more interested in discrete math and formal logic.
    - andoando 3y ago
      That sounds interesting, can you tell me a bit more? What does formal methods in regards to timing semantics mean? Im in the same boat. I like abstract logic/math and ML never caught much of my interest. I want to start applying but Im not even sure how to find departments that would fit what Im looking for. Maybe I need to take this more seriously and start reading papers and self study.