HN Explorer

Ask HN: How to get into more specialized, interesting work?

8 points by non-entity ↗ HN
I dont want to spend the rest of my working life doing what I do now (basically just slapping together CRUD apps and loose integrations). It doesnt even feel like problem solving, someone else has solved the problem, I'm really just implementing it. Plus majority of the problems solved are even technical problems, but business problems (yes, I realize this is mostly just how the world works, but it's not even remotely intellectually stimulating)

I've worked professionally for around three years now and have programming as a hobby for years now. I know there's more interesting work out there. I've met people who's worked on cool things, occasionally see interesting looking positions while sifting through job boards, but I just feel like I've been so stagnant. I haven't learned anything on the job really and it's all been mostly easy. Theres plenty of things od like to get into, but the problem is all the relevant positions seem to require years and years of experience in whatever specialization they are that I will never get doing the grunt work I do now. I dont want to be stuck in 10 years working jobs I hate, throwing cookie cutter insert tech here apps to move data around.

I'm not really interested in ever pivting to a management role either, although that may be another depressing reality. I've tried venturing off and picking programming to as a hobby again, but I almost always give up out of lazieness, very quick loss of focus, etc. I can sit at work and daydream all day about cool projects to complete, but when the time comes, I nornally just pass outbofnwasye my time on something else. A lot of times there's shitton of boring, but relevant prerequisite knowledge I need, but dont feel like dredging through.

What can I do to make sure I'm not stuck doing this sort of mind-numbing work forever? I have no education and fear that other fields are less welcoming to hire people whos only relevant experience is some sad side projects.

5 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 22.1 ms ] thread
phaemon
Apply for the jobs. Your chances of getting it don't significantly improve after 50% of the requirements[1]. So, just choose something you're really interested in, spend a bit of time getting familiar with it, and then start applying. You'll quickly find out from interviews what you need to learn to get further. After that, the number of jobs you apply for is more of a factor than anything else.

(I didn't know this at the time, but trying this is how I got my first Linux sysadmin job)

[1] https://talent.works/2018/11/27/the-science-of-the-job-searc...

codingslave
Get a job at FAANG, then switch to an interesting position after. People go by brand name, so if you have a brand name, then they will hire you for something you may have no experience in.
abdullah_rm
or you can just work on some project that really interests you, and maybe it could turn to a company
muzani
You'll have to pick a specialization you want first. What do you think is interesting? AI? Wearables? Image processing? Content generation? Space colonies?

Then just start diving into that. There are communities around everything now. Get to know people there. Most of the time they'll pick someone who has genuine interest in a field, rather than someone looking to get paid, because it also affects the rate of learning. user experience, and stamina in problem solving.

badpun
Yep. I did that for computer vision. I was really interested in it and decided to take time off work to study (and get better at prerequisites - linear algebra, multivariable calculus etc.). After roughly six months of study, I got an offer for a remote job at a startup to be a computer vision researcher (granted, I also had Msc in machine learning/AI and some previous ML experience on my resume). I didn't end up taking it, as it was for half of what I was making as a regular software dev.

Now, I'm back to my old job and just saving money to retire early and not have to worry about money and jobs any more. To me, the theory and math side of computer vision research are super interesting - but the actual practice, i.e. implementing the models, seeing what works well, chasing bugs, library defects etc. is similarly tedious and tiring as the regular software job. The research job has the benefit of not having to work within a team (which, under scrum, I mostly hate), but it's not worth 50% pay cut to me. I suspect that may be the case for many "interesting" jobs - they pay less and also become way less interesting when you start doing them 40h/week.