Ask HN: Tired of software career. What now?
I work as a fullstack developer. Mostly doing frontend.
I’m sick of the mess of tooling, of the colleagues who code these giant spaghetti messes, I’m tired of standups. I’m tired of the codebase, and I don’t care about what we are building.
But most or all I’m tired of all the minutiae. I just feel like what we are working on, and how we are doing it, is boring as hell. There’s no intellectual stimulation.
Is it time to move jobs, or time to move careers?
What other careers are good for burnt out developers?
111 comments
[ 5.9 ms ] story [ 222 ms ] threadSpeaking from my own experience, the only times I've ever looked for a job that "made me feel whole" were also the times I felt like other important parts of my life were empty, and I was trying to compensate for that by finding some mythical job that would "complete me."
It's as big a mistake to ask that of a job as it is to ask it of a partner. If you don't show up to the situation already whole, no one person/thing else is going to fix that for you.
I doubt such thing is sustainable in average software dev gigs but I'll keep trying.
It is odd that we treat time like it is the most worthless thing when it is the most valuable thing we have.
I’d love a creative job. One where people give me open-ended problems or goals and I create, whether that be through logic or art, to arrive at a solution.
I spend almost all my spare time creating (via programming browser extensions) and pondering ideas.
It’s so true what you say about time. I recently dropped to a 32 hour week and it has been the single best choice I’ve made in my life. Now I just need to squeeze out creativity in those 32 hours
Unfortunately, at least in the US, there are very few other middle-class jobs that someone can get into without a lot of formal education and/or experience. Software dev is (or at least used to be) an extreme outlier in that regard, propelling people up the economic ladder after just a few months of boot camp. I think those days are over, so if you want a comparable quality of life, I think it will take a lot of reskilling and expensive education/credentials (both in time and diplomas) :(
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In the meantime though, I will say this: As a software person, I've found it MUCH nicer to work for smaller to mid-sized companies vs big corporations. The salary isn't as good, but the work itself can be way more meaningful and impactful – everything you do directly impacts the product and customers, vs being a tiny cog in an insignificant wheel. None of the smaller companies I've worked for had the time, patience, or resources for endless Agile crap, for example. The codebases tended to be of mixed quality (sometimes they were homebrewed crap, other times they were OK consultant-written code) but overall, it's very much "not minutiae"... you have way more power over small-biz software like that, and there's a lot of problems to solve since your teams tend to be much smaller and your resources much fewer. All the problems are yours, but you are also empowered to make all the solutions. It's a much more satisfying feeling than "OK, I delivered 14 points this week, hope that shows up on my next review."
Those days have been over for awhile, now even the 4-year degrees aren't cutting it. It probably won't return to the way it was, ever. A combination of macroeconomics and market saturation are mostly to blame, regardless about what the AI grifters are selling executives these days.
This is why I actively sought smaller companies when I was fresh out of uni. I knew I didn't want to be a tiny, insignificant cog in a giant machine, far removed from the users.
At the place I'm at now I'm wearing many hats. I architect solutions along with customers. I implement them, and have a lot of freedom in how that's done, including tools. And there can be lots of interesting programming challenges in the details of this work, be it algorithmically, programming language-wise etc etc, which needs figuring out.
If I have questions regarding some new feature I'm developing I can pick up my phone and call some of our customers to better understand their workflows and needs. Likewise I get very direct feedback, which I like. Most customers don't know what's possible and not, so if you design or implement a good solution it's not seldom you'll be perceived as a literal wizard.
I guess I was somewhat lucky with the place I'm at. My team lead is easy going and doesn't micromanage. Our CEO said he learned quickly that the less he's in the way of us programmers the better, so he lets us do our thing unless there's something precarious.
As you said, I could probably get paid better elsewhere. But I earn enough, and I enjoy what I'm doing so far.
That said, it's not for everyone. You'll probably will need to be tolerant of less-than-great quality code, not mind juggling several things at once, and not mind talking to customers directly.
Why not just find a different seat and see if that improves your mood? Not every place is organized the same way, not every codebase is spaghetti.
When a job starts to make you feel this way, it's time for a new job.
Go work at a startup if you want to do green field stuff with latest tooling that doesn't suck yet.
When you interview at a place, make sure it doesn't suck like your current place. Interview them.
If it's newer, you might just be burnt out and taking a step away from the stuff you hate for a while may be enough to regain your excitement and motivation.
I really enjoy the creativity of development in my spare time. I just wish I had that creativity the whole time.
I’m a person who needs to be constantly thinking of ideas and trying things, that's when I’m at my happiest
Jokes aside, carpentry is an amazing complementary hobby for software related work. There's something about drawing on a piece of paper and using your hands to make it a reality that scratches a lot of itches.
Sadly, entrepreneurship doesn't leave much free time for carpentry.
I don’t know how deep you are in your career, but I’m at 20+ years and I’ve felt like this at least 4 or 5 times. I’ve never actually switched companies, but I’ve switched job’s within my company 3-8 times spring depending on how you want to measure a job switch.
As in, I cannot care about the low value management BS that is eating my precious time on this planet.
Only you can answer that.
My job has hard problems, chill people, and I care a lot about that we build.
We do have boring work and spaghetti code in places but to be honest, I unload all of that onto junior devs.
Buy a 3D printer, start some woodworking/furniture stuff, learn to weld. Dig a pond and breed koi fish.
I've switched jobs a few times in the past years as a SWE/architect and even did consulting for many years. I can't seem to recapture the enjoyment I had at the beginning (back in the 2000s), it's kinda all the same now. I'm also tired of stand-ups, Groundhog Day "retros" and generally appearing to be interested. I think the whole cloud thing has taken the fun out of coding for me in the last twelve or so years.
Also, if JIRA was a face, I'd fucking punch it.
Thought of teaching maths or computing. I love that shit, but society doesn't value that as it pays so little.
Seriously thinking about becoming a paramedic, maybe a coroner/ME... time is running out though. Getting old.
Edit: Also maybe a govt. IT job. It's less, but maybe the benefits are enough to balance out. Would be cool to fix up some crumby govt. software.
I used to hate JIRA. I'm using IBM CLM these days. I miss JIRA.
So you might at least consider a different kind of programming - if you can figure out a way to get hired to do that.
The other thing to consider is just letting this industry break your spirit. Only half joking—what's true is that a lot of the problem you have is in the expectations. If you want an authentic, intellectually satisfying experience where you only work on interesting things and don't have to put up with a bunch of bullshit every day, I agree that you're in the wrong business. But, I don't know where to refer you; I don't know of a job where those things aren't a problem. And the money and benefits of this job are pretty good, and you even get to work inside, out of the rain. So, you could just put in your time and live for the other 16 hours a day when you're not working (more if you can swing it). This is how people have gotten through life for thousands of years.
Or medicine. More bureaucracy, but perhaps more intrinsically rewarding.
I don't switch jobs much, but this is when I do. If I don't care about it, and I'm tired of the org and its practices, and the system is stuck in some way, I have to bounce. I'll just drag myself and the team/project/org down because my paycheck will only buy so much caring from me. We'll all be better off if I'm somewhere more satisfying and they fill my slot with someone who can muster more care.
The system I'm on now is important (to a lot of people, though not everyone) so my frustrations with it (tech debt, lack of proper sustainment over the years, poor project management) are things I can get past because I care enough to also tackle them and help improve all of those issues. If it was an unimportant web app, I'd probably be gone by now with the quality of this system overall.
So what qualities of a system would make you care enough to get past your other frustrations (which will exist on almost any project in almost any org with almost any team, to some extent at least).
I wish everyone had this much self awareness. Some people just hold on for dear life to collect a paycheck. I get it, people have a family and bills to pay, but at least use the slack time to find another job.
Thanks, it didn't come easy. A few personal, professional, and academic failures before I got there myself. The last straw was when I realized I was the toxic asshole at a job. Lots of problems, my concerns were real, but my reaction was not helpful for anyone. I bounced and gave myself a mental reset and have been more deliberate about it since then.
It takes a lot of experience, wisdom and courage to accept and fix that. What other factors do you think helped you fix it? Financial security which allows one to take breaks or top notch in demand skills that helps one find a new job quickly come to mind, but it could something non-material and I am interested in hearing that. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Last thing the poor fella wants to consider at this point is "burn-down charts".
If the OP does end up making a career change, keep us updated so we can place some bets.
In all seriousness, I hope the OP can find satisfaction in their work... somewhere.
I don't really have any advice on the matter. I just thought it might be help you locate the kernel of your discontent.
They've got some money, but debts weigh them down, A ledger of losses in a life nearly drowned. They cherish their family, yet silence prevails, Words left unspoken, love hidden behind veils.
Their wives look away, where passion once burned, Cold beds and long nights where affection's adjourned. Their children reach out, but only for gold, A transaction of love that's grown bitter and old.
They enter the office with silence in tow, Leaving with burdens only they know. They rage at the world, but keep it inside, A secret despair, in shadows they hide.
Life is a balance of wants and regret, A dance in the dark, with a past they forget. They carry on, in the weight of their plight, Hoping for dawn in an endless night.
Joining a neurodivergent support group has been great; meet some similar minds.