3 ms·

That's a great point about being _employed_ as an engineer, but the reality you describe is more tied to their 'mode' of work (ie, an employee at a certain type

That's a great point about being _employed_ as an engineer, but the reality you describe is more tied to their 'mode' of work (ie, an employee at a certain type of company) than to the field itself. There are horrible programming gigs out there, but there are also ways to achieve a happy career working in technology. Startups, independent work, searching hard for a good employer, and so on. I have been happy as an indie developer for a few years. I bill hourly so overtime is not a big deal, I have flexible hours, work from home, meet my clients for beer, etc. I think it compares favorably to most finance jobs. The income is a fair bit higher than most salaried positions, though I'm sure some finance gigs pay much more. Maybe one day I'll be in the soup line or in Dilbert hell, but so far it's been a great ride.

TriinT 17y ago
There are many ways of making a living as a techie. Working for certain kinds of companies is a sure way of being miserable, that is for sure. Going the other way and trying to become the next Gates / Bezos / Brin, etc is another way of being miserable because the odds are ridiculously slim. However, the area of chip design seems particularly unforgiving. I have seen people burning out very rapidly. Reminds me of that book "The Soul of a New Machine" -- you give your all when you're young, and then you find something else to do with what's left of your life...
- menloparkbum 17y ago
  I'm not sure why, but it seems like the jobs closer to the metal burn people out quickly. I know maybe a dozen people who worked in chip design and compiler design and by the time they were mid 30s, none of them were doing it anymore. Most of them are now in occupations unrelated to any sort of programming. Three of them did ok, financially, so they are pretty happy. The rest are quite bitter.
  - gustavo_duarte 17y ago
    Other interesting books, in addition to the excellent "Soul", are "Show Stopper!", which covers the development of Windows NT, "Microserfs" (fiction) by Douglas Coupland, and "Proudly Serving My Corporate Masters". These are centered on MS culture, but I think they are representative of the industry at large. NT in particular took a heavy toll, with apparently many divorces and strong burn out in the team. I think it has to do with the culture in many of the firms doing this type of development. Take bright motivated kids out of school, move them close to a corporate campus where they don't know anyone outside of work, work them 70 hours a week, burn out, discard. I'm not saying this is all by an evil design, it might just be the way things work out, but I have seen the bitter results as well. As to the nature of the work itself, I think close-to-the-metal work is a lot of fun. Too bad the work conditions are often rocky. I doubt you'd see the same burn out effect on those in sane work conditions.

TriinT 17y ago

There are many ways of making a living as a techie. Working for certain kinds of companies is a sure way of being miserable, that is for sure. Going the other way and trying to become the next Gates / Bezos / Brin, etc is another way of being miserable because the odds are ridiculously slim. However, the area of chip design seems particularly unforgiving. I have seen people burning out very rapidly. Reminds me of that book "The Soul of a New Machine" -- you give your all when you're young, and then you find something else to do with what's left of your life...

menloparkbum 17y ago
I'm not sure why, but it seems like the jobs closer to the metal burn people out quickly. I know maybe a dozen people who worked in chip design and compiler design and by the time they were mid 30s, none of them were doing it anymore. Most of them are now in occupations unrelated to any sort of programming. Three of them did ok, financially, so they are pretty happy. The rest are quite bitter.
- gustavo_duarte 17y ago
  Other interesting books, in addition to the excellent "Soul", are "Show Stopper!", which covers the development of Windows NT, "Microserfs" (fiction) by Douglas Coupland, and "Proudly Serving My Corporate Masters". These are centered on MS culture, but I think they are representative of the industry at large. NT in particular took a heavy toll, with apparently many divorces and strong burn out in the team. I think it has to do with the culture in many of the firms doing this type of development. Take bright motivated kids out of school, move them close to a corporate campus where they don't know anyone outside of work, work them 70 hours a week, burn out, discard. I'm not saying this is all by an evil design, it might just be the way things work out, but I have seen the bitter results as well. As to the nature of the work itself, I think close-to-the-metal work is a lot of fun. Too bad the work conditions are often rocky. I doubt you'd see the same burn out effect on those in sane work conditions.