My first career was in the music industry. It's worse than you've heard, no money, terrible hours, everyone is drunk or on drugs, yet it's somehow highly competitive.
Next I worked in construction. No paid time off, no benefits whatsoever, emergency overtime work, constant injuries and pain, terrible coworkers.
My brother got into nursing. He's sick all the time, watched hundreds of people die, cleaned bullet wounds on the face of a dieing teenager.
To me my career in tech has been so much better than anything I've done these types of posts crack me up. We've got it better than almost everyone. Sure there are things to complain about but the grass is not greener.
It really is; there are benefits to it for sure, but for me they dont outweigh the negatives. I say this as someone who has lived/worked in about 7 different countries (not just visited).
My wife got into tech after being in vet tech and she couldn’t believe she got perks, had time to eat lunch and could take off at any point in the day to run an errand if she gave her team a heads up.
She was used to 12 hour days in a hot animal hospital, doing everything from cleaning bite wounds to putting dogs down to dentals to nail trims, etc all for 12 dollars an hour.
Unless someone is starting a specific business or doing something which has great work life balance and societal impact almost every industry is 10x times worse than tech.
No other industry can make you a millionaire in a few years if you’re lucky with equity.
Yeah I frequently remind myself of this. "I'm sick of doing tech debt work on my maintenance team" leads to "what else will you do? Go back to making fried chicken at KFC like you did during college?"
I'm working from home in my home office where I get to blast my music all day working on boring problems. That's not a half bad gig.
They tried, but that prompted me to quit and find a job where the employer was willing to write the remoteness of the job into the employment offer. They're still out there. Don't let these dipshits with financial interest in commercial real estate convince you otherwise.
I had dinner with a married couple, who are friends of mine recently. They're both medical doctors. They were telling me about their jobs. While parts of it sounds really rewarding. They sounded beyond stressed out, and it showed on them physically. They just looked really worn down.
It made me think how lucky I am to work a job that's actually pretty easy, where I get to work with people that I think are overall pretty okay, has enough interesting problems to keep my mind occupied, and I'm pretty sure I make more money than them. It's actually pretty unfair.
Yeah I used to work customer service and believe me I will fix a thousand production bugs with a smile on my face before I take another call from whiny, entitled customers. I get frustrated at my job all the time but it just doesn’t compare to the soul sucking depression I used to have from working on the phone.
Depends on the nature of the job. Lots of people came into tech to just build cool stuff but then things got bad as soon as the money people waded in and then politics became rather important.
Sure there are things to complain about but the grass is not greener.
True but again, it depends on the job and what matters to you.
You only mentioned 3 occupations. As someone who's done construction, I would take tech over that anyday but then each job has its pros and cons. Some construction jobs have PTO (role-dependent of course), and Tech has no shortage of terrible coworkers and overtime work. So yes, champagne problems but problems nonetheless.
What I think is the issue is that people are not finding fulfillment anymore in tech. There's only so much satisfaction and achievement high you can get from money and hitting KPIs respectively.
There are many more jobs that people can and do find rewarding compared to tech. They just have to get used to earning less (which tbf as long as you cut your coat according to your size, ain't a big deal). Many for instance, have gone into teaching.
This is true. I'm in my 40s and earn a lot, and usually the most productive team member, but I'm also burnt out. I like building things and am very good at it, but I hate tech culture and dealing with money people, and idiot coworkers. If I hear "agile" one more time I'll scream.
I'd be happiest working with a few competent team members that were just left alone to build something.
But I'm planning my exit, once I've paid of my mortgage and have a buffer, I'll just live contentedly on my rural property looking after animals.
I'll still need some income but much less. So I'll either consult or get some more fulfilling job based in reality instead of magical ephemeral software land.
Depends on the nature of the job. Lots of people came into tech to just build cool stuff but then things got bad as soon as the money people waded in and then politics became rather important.
Yet those same people love the money and paychecks those money people brought in. More than taking a massive pay cut and risk to work on cool stuff that no one wants to pay for.
False and ironic as I didn't make a generalisation about EVERYONE in software. I said "lots of people" which is to say, a considerable amount but not still not everyone. You then made a generalisation about that category of people and I rebutted your generalisation and I made a clarification consistent with my aforementioned categorisation.
You would have a basis for the NTS logical fallacy had I said "Everyone who joined software before a certain year" as that is much more of a broad stroke. I didn't. I already included nuance and subjectivity in my statement. I denoted that for that nuanced category of which there was a considerable number, money wasn't their primary motivator and they now had to deal with politics lest they end up being fired for lack of "visibility" when the business types (i.e. money motivated folks) waded in.
There is a difference between clarifying a position and redefining a category. In your rush to throw about your shallow understanding of logical fallacies, you missed the critical nuance of my argument.
Your actions are consistent with a textbook dunning-kruger graph acolyte.
You're currently 0 for 2. I suggest you quit whilst you're trailing.
To be fair, it's usually the cofounders that build the money making product. When I've worked with bootstrapped companies they were my best experiences because the founders understood their vision.
We had a very similar career path! Once I got out of construction and the music industry my requirements for a job were in an office and 9-5. Very happy to have my nights and weekends back!
Everyone in music pays you like you are an alcoholic (I did the playing in a band thing and moonlit as a DJ but I did have a normal job most of that time)
i wonder why the assumption is that any grass is greener. for me, i look at other industries that i could physically do something vs what i do now. But knowing each industry has its flaws does present delay to making a switch. no rush at all lol
Every time I see SWEs saying they want to leave tech and be a farmer, I roll my eyes. Really? You'd leave your cozy 9-5 job where you sit in an air-conditioned room in a ergonomic chair, probably working from home and get a steady paycheck at the end of the month and go do physical labor all day? Please.
I understand most people say it as a joke but still, we really have it better than most other jobs.
I mean, agreed for most it is “the grass is always greener”, but I think you underestimate how what you’re describing sitting in an office all day everyday is genuinely like torture and it doesn’t matter how comfortable the office is.
Being in a comfortable office is not torture regardless of whatever your outdoor preferences are. Unless you work in an awfully boring office culture, working remote is great. You might love being outside but calling sitting in a climate controlled office with a flexible schedule torture is a bit dramatic.
Wtf are you talking about? Why would you need to live in a cage without fresh air or sun light for your programming job? Are we talking about the same thing? We have these things called windows where I work that can be opened for fresh air and allow sunlight in.
As a 10lb plant yourself, I'm surprised you don't understand.
Clearly you have never been in the 7th floor of some gloomy corporate office center?
I mean, you can find, by the dozen, internet content mocking the fight over the thermostat and sniffing coworker farts all day long.
Perhaps you work on some corner office with actual privacy, a window that actually receives direct sunlight, and the option to slide them open in order to breathe actual air from outside. Power to you I guess.
Maybe in the US. Looking at my bubble I disagree. Even my partner has a much less stressful job, less unreal deadlines to meet and practically no need for learning in their free time after work. The most ironic thing is she earns just a bit less than I am as a software developer.
In a lot of countries in Europe salaries are spread across a really narrow spectrum most of the times. Where I’m from I’m earning more or less +1k monthly than a totally unskilled professional in any other sector. And I’m paid more than a lot of my peers. IMHO It’s one of the reasons why I really fail to find people who want to excel in anything. There’s no reward in grinding.
The best I can describe it probably is project coordinator for a baby/medical food manufacturer. Coordinating stuff between the project development team, customers, logistics team and production line. Shitload of meetings, mails, spreadsheets and SAP but the most extreme it goes is random production line fuck up in the middle of the night twice a year. She is generally in a much better place in terms of mental health than me.
Whenever I see someone talking about leaving tech, I wonder if they have experienced those.
I can't imagine anyone who did something else, moved to tech, got a successful career and then would decide change again.
The problem is never working in tech (nor in any other industry). The problem is needing to work at all.
But, since we do have to work, we should at least have a life outside it when possible.
Your life is not your job. You should find a balance between paycheck and satisfaction, but then leave it at that.
Do not live your job.
Job are at most a source of stress and fears, they are never source of happiness and fulfilment - and if they do, it's simply a illusion that can end in a single day they decide to change whoever is in charge.
I have no degree. I worked hospo, general laboring (e.g., rubbish trucks, unloading fish on the docks, carrying heavy things on building sites etc.) before becoming a ranger, then a social security worker, then a radio spectrum licensing specialist.
I quickly realised I'd never go far working for the government because they all required a degree for jobs above a certain level.
So I decided to try to make my hobby (coding) a career. And, because of that lack of degree, it was hard to get into, but after 5 years, I cracked it.
And I've never looked back. Coding has given me the most privileged position I could ever attain.
The devs who quit and become farmers obviously already had their fuck you money, because there's no way it would make any financial sense otherwise.
This. I have worked as industrial electrician i europe for 1 year after finishing school. Then learned programming by myself, switched to IT. Will never look back at that shit.
This. The article started with so many hypotheticals, that I just closed it. And I like to think, in all my hubris, that humanity is better of me working in tech instead of doing something else, like being a chef. Even though I do enjoy making food. Everybody wins.
Tech is very vast field with huge variety of roles.
I don’t think it a tech problem. You just need to rest more.
Once I decided to leave tech and work construction, just like in the movie.
I lasted for 2 months. Physical aspect was fun, but as soon as I learnt everything that was here to learn it became as soul crushing as tech plus low pay plus total physical exhaustion after 12 hrs of work commute included.
I fail to see the terrible for your body bit, quite opposite should one of the safer trades. Electricians risk much more, constriction workers deal with heavy weight equipment, dust and noise, carpenters inhale sawdust etc.
Plumbers work in awkward angles for long periods of time which just like sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day is not ideal. Like on your back with your hands up. Except their job doesn't provide an alternative like standing desks.
Ok, since I did quite a lot of plumbing around my own house I am going to count this one as a myth.
Sure you may need to lay down under the sink for a bit, but after that you move to turn the valves on, so the job actually forces you to move around all day.
People these days don't understand that the body is capable of flexing in nearly every direction , it just needs proper training and cycling through different movements.
I literally just stand 9-5 at work then exercise 10 hours a week. Those people have wrecked bodies because they’re lazy. It’s not the same situation as blue collar that actually destroys your body
It does have similarities. A lot of people in the trades wreck their bodies being negligent or ‘tough’. Often have appalling diets and abuse substances, too.
Stay in tech until you can retire, then focus on your hobbies or whatever you want.
Several times over the course of my career I’ve seriously looked into jumping into something else. As far as I can tell, outside of tech you’re going to being eating 10x more shit for 1/10th the pay, and any passion you have for your new field will be gone within a year.
Yeah I tell young people save money because you can’t take a six figure tech job for granted! That’s the only reason I’m ok right now after a ton of layoffs, long covid, etc.
I think the article is specifically for people who want to leave capital T Tech as an industry, but still do technical work. As always, the answer is do technical work for a no -technical organization
Yeah I did a lot of these paths and they are all falling apart at different levels. It sucks to be in unionizing or public institutions these days. Politically you’ve got hiring freezes, funding issues, an administration hostile to unions.
I also did a coop and they are really hard to make work economically and logistically.
Creating something real brings joy and satisfaction - these feelings are entirely stripped if you are a JIRA ticket monkey working on B2B API integration errors using a slop generator.
For instance, construction work is often more rewarding than software engineering although its physically more demanding. When an electrician looks at a building and sees the miles of wires he laid out, he feels fulfilled - software management methodologies ensure that engineers never experience that feeling.
Speak for yourself. I love the fact that I can create something out of nothing and be it useful to others if not just for myself. To me, it is the same rewarding feeling as building something physical. That's the whole reason I even fell in love with this job in the first place!
Sure, software isn't technically tangible but you can literally see real people using what you built. Even when it is API plumbing or gluing parts together, when you do it right, the software adds value and makes users lives easier. That's pretty rewarding if you ask me.
I think about starting a machine shop, but the capital requirements for equipment combined with low overall pay make me realize why small-scale manufacturing truly sucks in the U.S.
What I heard from a couple of people in the industry is that a lot of the small-scale manufacturing in the US is only viable with government contracts, and that comes with its own set of bullshit to handle.
I shoot competitively as a hobby. The price of some of the equipment I see some other people out there using is insane (on the high end single guns are pushing $7k, and most competitors that have a gun that expensive have several that cost that much). Gunsmithing is my back up exit strategy because those people have money to burn. It's also a very technical skill and gives the same dopamine as building software for me
i get being frustrated with the field, but I think there's a lot of romanticizing around manual labour that's only dreamed of by the jaded economic elite. I sure as hell wouldn't go back to the factory breaking my back for a fraction of the money with the idiots i went to in high school with.
Yeah the only thing I think I miss out of this career is the social interactions that are frequent in customer facing jobs. So I joined the engagement team at work and that solved that problem.
There are lots of skilled trade jobs that are basically computer jobs with minimal physical labor and no white collar bullshit. Things like HVAC, access control, low voltage.
Also lots of computer adjacent jobs in manufacturing where you can actually build something that's useful to another human being.
They don't pay as well as white collar, so it depends what its worth to you to get out of cubicle land.
Goose farming. In all seriousness, do the following:
Save a lot of money - every cent that you can - live below your means
Invest it by starting a business you feel passionate about doing day-day
Make that your day job.
Worst case scenario, it doesn't work but you are already used to living beyond your means, it won't be that much of a major setback and you can always go back if it doesn't work out.
Are you going to go into construction? Cleaning? Maybe you want to write sales copies for shampoos? What do you imagine yourself working (that's a real job in high demand)
Unless you have a thing in mind that you are good at and it's a job which you know how it goes - don't have high expectations. When it comes to pay to effort ratios, software engineering is one of the best and it's not even close (excluding lottery type jobs like superstar actors or similar)
I'm the author, there are references to my personal life, it's also written by a non-native speaker that clearly doesn't write like an AI.
I also did research and advocacy against Generative AI for years, which is mentioned in the article you clearly didn't read and I have never used Generative AI, let alone for entire articles.
You just want to farm karma from people who also didn't read the article.
I will admit I was wrong, however, some aspects definitely read like a ChatGPT-structured response. Also, I don’t farm for karma. Why would I care about magical internet points 😆
I came here from construction and then restaurant work. There are plenty of jobs in both spaces if you want to try them out. I won’t minimize anyone’s struggles but my own struggles in this line of work are far fewer than I experienced in the other two.
Sometimes a box of chocolates left at your doorstep by the neighbor is just that. Savor the chocolate. Or, throw it in the trash and leave it for the ants if you don't trust it. If your sense of society fails, theirs won't.
If you want society to collapse, the ants will take the world from you. They ain't gonna let you have it all by yourself.
it's almost 40 Celsius (about 104 bald eagle units) outside in the shadow here, no sane person would leave boxes of anything outside at any doorstep, my mum knows
driftking428@reddit
My first career was in the music industry. It's worse than you've heard, no money, terrible hours, everyone is drunk or on drugs, yet it's somehow highly competitive.
Next I worked in construction. No paid time off, no benefits whatsoever, emergency overtime work, constant injuries and pain, terrible coworkers.
My brother got into nursing. He's sick all the time, watched hundreds of people die, cleaned bullet wounds on the face of a dieing teenager.
To me my career in tech has been so much better than anything I've done these types of posts crack me up. We've got it better than almost everyone. Sure there are things to complain about but the grass is not greener.
Andrew64467@reddit
My god, the US really is a shithole
Away_Echo5870@reddit
It really is; there are benefits to it for sure, but for me they dont outweigh the negatives. I say this as someone who has lived/worked in about 7 different countries (not just visited).
ShesJustAGlitch@reddit
My wife got into tech after being in vet tech and she couldn’t believe she got perks, had time to eat lunch and could take off at any point in the day to run an errand if she gave her team a heads up.
She was used to 12 hour days in a hot animal hospital, doing everything from cleaning bite wounds to putting dogs down to dentals to nail trims, etc all for 12 dollars an hour.
Unless someone is starting a specific business or doing something which has great work life balance and societal impact almost every industry is 10x times worse than tech.
No other industry can make you a millionaire in a few years if you’re lucky with equity.
driftking428@reddit
Yup. I think Vets are the most depressed profession too. Just a seriously mentally taxing profession.
Good for you and your wife.
Korzag@reddit
Yeah I frequently remind myself of this. "I'm sick of doing tech debt work on my maintenance team" leads to "what else will you do? Go back to making fried chicken at KFC like you did during college?"
I'm working from home in my home office where I get to blast my music all day working on boring problems. That's not a half bad gig.
EkoChamberKryptonite@reddit
They're taking this away too.
ScrewedThePooch@reddit
They tried, but that prompted me to quit and find a job where the employer was willing to write the remoteness of the job into the employment offer. They're still out there. Don't let these dipshits with financial interest in commercial real estate convince you otherwise.
Confident_Lynx_1283@reddit
Yeah so we had a golden age for a few years and now it’s regressing somewhat
light-triad@reddit
I had dinner with a married couple, who are friends of mine recently. They're both medical doctors. They were telling me about their jobs. While parts of it sounds really rewarding. They sounded beyond stressed out, and it showed on them physically. They just looked really worn down.
It made me think how lucky I am to work a job that's actually pretty easy, where I get to work with people that I think are overall pretty okay, has enough interesting problems to keep my mind occupied, and I'm pretty sure I make more money than them. It's actually pretty unfair.
Potterrrrrrrr@reddit
Yeah I used to work customer service and believe me I will fix a thousand production bugs with a smile on my face before I take another call from whiny, entitled customers. I get frustrated at my job all the time but it just doesn’t compare to the soul sucking depression I used to have from working on the phone.
EkoChamberKryptonite@reddit
Depends on the nature of the job. Lots of people came into tech to just build cool stuff but then things got bad as soon as the money people waded in and then politics became rather important.
True but again, it depends on the job and what matters to you.
You only mentioned 3 occupations. As someone who's done construction, I would take tech over that anyday but then each job has its pros and cons. Some construction jobs have PTO (role-dependent of course), and Tech has no shortage of terrible coworkers and overtime work. So yes, champagne problems but problems nonetheless.
What I think is the issue is that people are not finding fulfillment anymore in tech. There's only so much satisfaction and achievement high you can get from money and hitting KPIs respectively.
There are many more jobs that people can and do find rewarding compared to tech. They just have to get used to earning less (which tbf as long as you cut your coat according to your size, ain't a big deal). Many for instance, have gone into teaching.
One-Employment3759@reddit
This is true. I'm in my 40s and earn a lot, and usually the most productive team member, but I'm also burnt out. I like building things and am very good at it, but I hate tech culture and dealing with money people, and idiot coworkers. If I hear "agile" one more time I'll scream.
I'd be happiest working with a few competent team members that were just left alone to build something.
But I'm planning my exit, once I've paid of my mortgage and have a buffer, I'll just live contentedly on my rural property looking after animals.
I'll still need some income but much less. So I'll either consult or get some more fulfilling job based in reality instead of magical ephemeral software land.
National-Bad2108@reddit
You summed up exactly how I feel. Maybe we should go into business together lol.
valence_engineer@reddit
Yet those same people love the money and paychecks those money people brought in. More than taking a massive pay cut and risk to work on cool stuff that no one wants to pay for.
EkoChamberKryptonite@reddit
For someone who just loves to build, highly unlikely. Don't confuse those with the new entrants posting "day in the life" videos for clout.
valence_engineer@reddit
"No True Scotsman" in a nut shell. Got it.
EkoChamberKryptonite@reddit
False and ironic as I didn't make a generalisation about EVERYONE in software. I said "lots of people" which is to say, a considerable amount but not still not everyone. You then made a generalisation about that category of people and I rebutted your generalisation and I made a clarification consistent with my aforementioned categorisation.
You would have a basis for the NTS logical fallacy had I said "Everyone who joined software before a certain year" as that is much more of a broad stroke. I didn't. I already included nuance and subjectivity in my statement. I denoted that for that nuanced category of which there was a considerable number, money wasn't their primary motivator and they now had to deal with politics lest they end up being fired for lack of "visibility" when the business types (i.e. money motivated folks) waded in.
There is a difference between clarifying a position and redefining a category. In your rush to throw about your shallow understanding of logical fallacies, you missed the critical nuance of my argument.
Your actions are consistent with a textbook dunning-kruger graph acolyte.
You're currently 0 for 2. I suggest you quit whilst you're trailing.
One-Employment3759@reddit
To be fair, it's usually the cofounders that build the money making product. When I've worked with bootstrapped companies they were my best experiences because the founders understood their vision.
VC funded are almost always a clusterfuck
waitingfortheencore@reddit
We had a very similar career path! Once I got out of construction and the music industry my requirements for a job were in an office and 9-5. Very happy to have my nights and weekends back!
driftking428@reddit
Yeah free beers for mixing sound all night is a blessing in your 20s and a curse in your 30s.
I'm drinking seltzers at home with my wife and dogs these days.
MothershipConnection@reddit
Everyone in music pays you like you are an alcoholic (I did the playing in a band thing and moonlit as a DJ but I did have a normal job most of that time)
ccricers@reddit
The difficulty of the job interviews is probably the hardest thing about this career.
woodie3@reddit
i wonder why the assumption is that any grass is greener. for me, i look at other industries that i could physically do something vs what i do now. But knowing each industry has its flaws does present delay to making a switch. no rush at all lol
studmoobs@reddit
100%
meerkatydid@reddit
I came from music to tech. It was absolutely worth it.
freeformz@reddit
FWIW: For all the terrible that tech is it’s not as bad as a lot of other professions.
PS: Good luck.
isurujn@reddit
Every time I see SWEs saying they want to leave tech and be a farmer, I roll my eyes. Really? You'd leave your cozy 9-5 job where you sit in an air-conditioned room in a ergonomic chair, probably working from home and get a steady paycheck at the end of the month and go do physical labor all day? Please.
I understand most people say it as a joke but still, we really have it better than most other jobs.
Historical_Owl_1635@reddit
I mean, agreed for most it is “the grass is always greener”, but I think you underestimate how what you’re describing sitting in an office all day everyday is genuinely like torture and it doesn’t matter how comfortable the office is.
ShesJustAGlitch@reddit
Being in a comfortable office is not torture regardless of whatever your outdoor preferences are. Unless you work in an awfully boring office culture, working remote is great. You might love being outside but calling sitting in a climate controlled office with a flexible schedule torture is a bit dramatic.
PoopsCodeAllTheTime@reddit
Living in a cage, wasting away, can't even get fresh air not Sun light, not to mention commute, got over 10 % of your waking life...... Yes torture
10lbplant@reddit
Wtf are you talking about? Why would you need to live in a cage without fresh air or sun light for your programming job? Are we talking about the same thing? We have these things called windows where I work that can be opened for fresh air and allow sunlight in.
PoopsCodeAllTheTime@reddit
As a 10lb plant yourself, I'm surprised you don't understand.
Clearly you have never been in the 7th floor of some gloomy corporate office center?
I mean, you can find, by the dozen, internet content mocking the fight over the thermostat and sniffing coworker farts all day long.
Perhaps you work on some corner office with actual privacy, a window that actually receives direct sunlight, and the option to slide them open in order to breathe actual air from outside. Power to you I guess.
TheseHeron3820@reddit
Us SWEs don't really want to get into farming. Farming is back-breaking work where, more often than not, you're at the complete mercy of wholesalers.
SWEs want to get into gardening.
sztrzask@reddit
Tbh I rather think SWEs want to get into being '50s sitcoms housewifes - light gardening and the partner who brings in money.
I know I want that.
TheseHeron3820@reddit
I don't. I want to be a trophy husband for a 90-year-old woman.
But people are all like "you're going 40", "you don't look the part". SMH
Chwasst@reddit
Maybe in the US. Looking at my bubble I disagree. Even my partner has a much less stressful job, less unreal deadlines to meet and practically no need for learning in their free time after work. The most ironic thing is she earns just a bit less than I am as a software developer.
katastrophysics@reddit
In a lot of countries in Europe salaries are spread across a really narrow spectrum most of the times. Where I’m from I’m earning more or less +1k monthly than a totally unskilled professional in any other sector. And I’m paid more than a lot of my peers. IMHO It’s one of the reasons why I really fail to find people who want to excel in anything. There’s no reward in grinding.
sudosussudio@reddit
My partner does too. College English lecturer (hopes to get a professor position someday…). Not a ton of money but also less random bullshit.
sztrzask@reddit
What is your partner's job then? I'm curious.
Chwasst@reddit
The best I can describe it probably is project coordinator for a baby/medical food manufacturer. Coordinating stuff between the project development team, customers, logistics team and production line. Shitload of meetings, mails, spreadsheets and SAP but the most extreme it goes is random production line fuck up in the middle of the night twice a year. She is generally in a much better place in terms of mental health than me.
PhysiologyIsPhun@reddit
The cure to being dissatisfied with your 6 figure remote job is to have worked literally any minimum wage job in high school or college.
ButchDeanCA@reddit
Exactly. Secondly for as far back as I can remember, tech has been difficult and most people fail to even make it into the industry.
luckyincode@reddit
Is that not true for a lot of professions?
ButchDeanCA@reddit
Maybe, but the point here is that people are complaining because the industry has returned to how it was before bootcamps.
missing-comma@reddit
Whenever I see someone talking about leaving tech, I wonder if they have experienced those.
I can't imagine anyone who did something else, moved to tech, got a successful career and then would decide change again.
The problem is never working in tech (nor in any other industry). The problem is needing to work at all.
But, since we do have to work, we should at least have a life outside it when possible.
Your life is not your job. You should find a balance between paycheck and satisfaction, but then leave it at that.
Do not live your job.
Job are at most a source of stress and fears, they are never source of happiness and fulfilment - and if they do, it's simply a illusion that can end in a single day they decide to change whoever is in charge.
HooRooGreenApples@reddit
I was a mechanical engineer, changed to tech at age 31.
Changed to aged care worker at 41.
Life is better than it has been in a really long time. I get a lot of fulfilment from my work.
Everyone has a path to walk.
BroBroMate@reddit
I have no degree. I worked hospo, general laboring (e.g., rubbish trucks, unloading fish on the docks, carrying heavy things on building sites etc.) before becoming a ranger, then a social security worker, then a radio spectrum licensing specialist.
I quickly realised I'd never go far working for the government because they all required a degree for jobs above a certain level.
So I decided to try to make my hobby (coding) a career. And, because of that lack of degree, it was hard to get into, but after 5 years, I cracked it.
And I've never looked back. Coding has given me the most privileged position I could ever attain.
The devs who quit and become farmers obviously already had their fuck you money, because there's no way it would make any financial sense otherwise.
OnionNeither5274@reddit
Nice one
Aqus10@reddit
This. I have worked as industrial electrician i europe for 1 year after finishing school. Then learned programming by myself, switched to IT. Will never look back at that shit.
freeformz@reddit
This.
uuggehor@reddit
This. The article started with so many hypotheticals, that I just closed it. And I like to think, in all my hubris, that humanity is better of me working in tech instead of doing something else, like being a chef. Even though I do enjoy making food. Everybody wins.
madsaylor@reddit
Tech is very vast field with huge variety of roles. I don’t think it a tech problem. You just need to rest more. Once I decided to leave tech and work construction, just like in the movie. I lasted for 2 months. Physical aspect was fun, but as soon as I learnt everything that was here to learn it became as soul crushing as tech plus low pay plus total physical exhaustion after 12 hrs of work commute included.
birdparty44@reddit
Plumber.
valence_engineer@reddit
Cons:
morswinb@reddit
I fail to see the terrible for your body bit, quite opposite should one of the safer trades. Electricians risk much more, constriction workers deal with heavy weight equipment, dust and noise, carpenters inhale sawdust etc.
valence_engineer@reddit
Plumbers work in awkward angles for long periods of time which just like sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day is not ideal. Like on your back with your hands up. Except their job doesn't provide an alternative like standing desks.
morswinb@reddit
Ok, since I did quite a lot of plumbing around my own house I am going to count this one as a myth.
Sure you may need to lay down under the sink for a bit, but after that you move to turn the valves on, so the job actually forces you to move around all day.
PoopsCodeAllTheTime@reddit
As someone into fitness... Yeah I agree with you.
People these days don't understand that the body is capable of flexing in nearly every direction , it just needs proper training and cycling through different movements.
TheseHeron3820@reddit
Pros:
You get to be the first one to poop in a newly installed toilet.
db_peligro@reddit
White collar work wrecks your body too.
Go look at the old guys in your office. Do they look healthy?
Constant-Listen834@reddit
I literally just stand 9-5 at work then exercise 10 hours a week. Those people have wrecked bodies because they’re lazy. It’s not the same situation as blue collar that actually destroys your body
Simple-Box1223@reddit
It does have similarities. A lot of people in the trades wreck their bodies being negligent or ‘tough’. Often have appalling diets and abuse substances, too.
ShesJustAGlitch@reddit
I have a family friend who’s a plumber and it has absolutely wrecked him and he hates it.
Driving across the city to fix a backed up sub pump or a restaurants overflowing pipes is not fun or easy.
Constant-Listen834@reddit
Bro that’s not due to the job that’s due to their life choices
Simple-Box1223@reddit
No, I’m saying a lot of people in the trades exacerbate the toll manual labour has on the body with bad decisions.
valence_engineer@reddit
It does only if you don't take care of yourself. Physical labor wrecks it even if you do.
Get a standing desk, walk around periodically, exercise, stretch, play some sports, etc.
db_peligro@reddit
I am a competitive athlete and routinely smoke guys half my age.
I absolutely could never achieve the level of fitness working a conventional job. You don't understand the toll your job has taken.
valence_engineer@reddit
So your point was that other engineers are lazy so...????
dryiceboy@reddit
Poop
GopherLearnsSt4t@reddit
Wouldn’t wanna know what is the Kubernetes equivalent of Plumbing 😭…
The_Foren@reddit
I honestly don’t get the trade argument either. He’s hard labor and if more people start becoming plumbers, it will just get saturated.
SimpleMetricTon@reddit
If I had to leave I’d consider becoming an electrician.
apoleonastool@reddit
It will literally break your back.
PlzSendHelpSoon@reddit
I could never be a plumber. I hear they see some shit.
Specialstuff7@reddit
Stay in tech until you can retire, then focus on your hobbies or whatever you want.
Several times over the course of my career I’ve seriously looked into jumping into something else. As far as I can tell, outside of tech you’re going to being eating 10x more shit for 1/10th the pay, and any passion you have for your new field will be gone within a year.
Sorry if that was too negative 😅
sudosussudio@reddit
Yeah I tell young people save money because you can’t take a six figure tech job for granted! That’s the only reason I’m ok right now after a ton of layoffs, long covid, etc.
keel_bright@reddit
Title: I want to leave tech: what do I do?
Article: 4 different ways to work in tech
youngggggg@reddit
I think the article is specifically for people who want to leave capital T Tech as an industry, but still do technical work. As always, the answer is do technical work for a no -technical organization
ShitshowBlackbelt@reddit
I think it was good at calling out specific types of organizations I had never considered before.
youngggggg@reddit
public sector work seems pretty cool on its face but I fear it’s a whole other set of problems
sudosussudio@reddit
Yeah I did a lot of these paths and they are all falling apart at different levels. It sucks to be in unionizing or public institutions these days. Politically you’ve got hiring freezes, funding issues, an administration hostile to unions.
I also did a coop and they are really hard to make work economically and logistically.
Blasket_Basket@reddit
Whoever wrote this is clearly pretty inexperienced and/or delusional about what other kinds of work is like.
Thanks for the laugh!
ZucchiniMore3450@reddit
Not all professions are bad, and comparing highly educated position with ones that only need physical strength is not logical.
Electrical engineering is good, or any kind of engineering depending on your education.
Management can be nice.
Small scale farming/gardening with making and selling your own product is also nice. Farming is good as long as you sell directly to end customer.
Most farmers do the work same like their fathers 50 years ago and are failing to adapt.
There are a lot of nice office jobs that smart people can pick up. Not for the same money, but that's not the point.
AssistFinancial684@reddit
Read the book:
Wishcraft
Forsaken-Promise-269@reddit
The only suggestion here is goose farming? Really? I don’t like geese.
light-triad@reddit
If you farm them they will fear you.
pund_@reddit
Carrot farming is big these days.
bicx@reddit
Duck farming then
Korzag@reddit
Sorry duck farming is reserved for burnt out mechanical engineers sick of designing screws for a specific niche product.
Kinmand555@reddit
This guy ducks
Derpy_Snout@reddit
Radish farmer!
Stubbby@reddit
Creating something real brings joy and satisfaction - these feelings are entirely stripped if you are a JIRA ticket monkey working on B2B API integration errors using a slop generator.
For instance, construction work is often more rewarding than software engineering although its physically more demanding. When an electrician looks at a building and sees the miles of wires he laid out, he feels fulfilled - software management methodologies ensure that engineers never experience that feeling.
isurujn@reddit
Speak for yourself. I love the fact that I can create something out of nothing and be it useful to others if not just for myself. To me, it is the same rewarding feeling as building something physical. That's the whole reason I even fell in love with this job in the first place!
Sure, software isn't technically tangible but you can literally see real people using what you built. Even when it is API plumbing or gluing parts together, when you do it right, the software adds value and makes users lives easier. That's pretty rewarding if you ask me.
Morel_@reddit
I do not see becoming a carpenter/wood worker...
Weak_File@reddit
I have a colleague that left Microsoft and did just that... but truth be told, he's not just a woodworker, he's teaching woodworking classes now.
bicx@reddit
I think about starting a machine shop, but the capital requirements for equipment combined with low overall pay make me realize why small-scale manufacturing truly sucks in the U.S.
sciencewarrior@reddit
What I heard from a couple of people in the industry is that a lot of the small-scale manufacturing in the US is only viable with government contracts, and that comes with its own set of bullshit to handle.
db_peligro@reddit
there are niches where customers need complex parts with short runs and short turnaround.
things like specialty gun or motorcycle parts can be very profitable.
TheStatusPoe@reddit
I shoot competitively as a hobby. The price of some of the equipment I see some other people out there using is insane (on the high end single guns are pushing $7k, and most competitors that have a gun that expensive have several that cost that much). Gunsmithing is my back up exit strategy because those people have money to burn. It's also a very technical skill and gives the same dopamine as building software for me
ZunoJ@reddit
Absolutely non-biased text lol
xamott@reddit
OP you gave us absolutely nothing to work with here. Garbage in garbage out.
ImpetuousWombat@reddit
Fuck this clickbait AI article
chaitanyathengdi@reddit
What are the chances you've actually read it?
ImpetuousWombat@reddit
I got half way through the co-op section. So 100% chance of ~30% completion
mxdx-@reddit
i get being frustrated with the field, but I think there's a lot of romanticizing around manual labour that's only dreamed of by the jaded economic elite. I sure as hell wouldn't go back to the factory breaking my back for a fraction of the money with the idiots i went to in high school with.
youassassin@reddit
Yeah the only thing I think I miss out of this career is the social interactions that are frequent in customer facing jobs. So I joined the engagement team at work and that solved that problem.
db_peligro@reddit
There are lots of skilled trade jobs that are basically computer jobs with minimal physical labor and no white collar bullshit. Things like HVAC, access control, low voltage.
Also lots of computer adjacent jobs in manufacturing where you can actually build something that's useful to another human being.
They don't pay as well as white collar, so it depends what its worth to you to get out of cubicle land.
nderscore_@reddit
Goose farming. In all seriousness, do the following:
Worst case scenario, it doesn't work but you are already used to living beyond your means, it won't be that much of a major setback and you can always go back if it doesn't work out.
I am on this journey myself. Good luck!
meerkatydid@reddit
I would like to politely DEMAND goose pics.
nderscore_@reddit
Goose farming was a reference to a meme for some Microsoft executive who worked only for Microsoft and then eventually transitioned to goose farming.
I am trying to build a portfolio of SaaS + Physical businesses in the wellness industry.
meerkatydid@reddit
Sigh. Ok. Good luck with your portfolio!
Alkyen@reddit
Are you going to go into construction? Cleaning? Maybe you want to write sales copies for shampoos? What do you imagine yourself working (that's a real job in high demand)
Unless you have a thing in mind that you are good at and it's a job which you know how it goes - don't have high expectations. When it comes to pay to effort ratios, software engineering is one of the best and it's not even close (excluding lottery type jobs like superstar actors or similar)
whereverarewegoing@reddit
A meme about AI slop that was almost certainly written with AI.
Chobeat@reddit (OP)
I'm the author, there are references to my personal life, it's also written by a non-native speaker that clearly doesn't write like an AI.
I also did research and advocacy against Generative AI for years, which is mentioned in the article you clearly didn't read and I have never used Generative AI, let alone for entire articles.
You just want to farm karma from people who also didn't read the article.
EkoChamberKryptonite@reddit
I read the article. Proofreading would help remove your typos.
whereverarewegoing@reddit
I will admit I was wrong, however, some aspects definitely read like a ChatGPT-structured response. Also, I don’t farm for karma. Why would I care about magical internet points 😆
wowokdex@reddit
Maybe some aspects of ChatGPT read like a human-structured response.
roodammy44@reddit
I’ve never seen AI talk about dropping acid before. It didn’t read to me like it was written by AI
whereverarewegoing@reddit
It doesn’t have to be the whole article.
WhatsHeAt@reddit
What indication(s) do you have that this article was generated with AI?
whereverarewegoing@reddit
The structure, the tone, and the word choice. On a second read it’s more SEO-targeting than LLM.
drakeallthethings@reddit
I came here from construction and then restaurant work. There are plenty of jobs in both spaces if you want to try them out. I won’t minimize anyone’s struggles but my own struggles in this line of work are far fewer than I experienced in the other two.
d33pnull@reddit
cry
biggamax@reddit
You should too. It might do you some good. I offer you my shoulder.
d33pnull@reddit
me? I'm out of tears
biggamax@reddit
Then give me a hug.
d33pnull@reddit
how many you wish... we'll all make it to the top, I know
biggamax@reddit
Sometimes a box of chocolates left at your doorstep by the neighbor is just that. Savor the chocolate. Or, throw it in the trash and leave it for the ants if you don't trust it. If your sense of society fails, theirs won't.
If you want society to collapse, the ants will take the world from you. They ain't gonna let you have it all by yourself.
d33pnull@reddit
it's almost 40 Celsius (about 104 bald eagle units) outside in the shadow here, no sane person would leave boxes of anything outside at any doorstep, my mum knows
biggamax@reddit
Nobody planted a tree in your front yard for shade. Now you see why we should do that for generations yet to be born.
Clearly you are civilized though, because you use metric as opposed to Imperial.
biggamax@reddit
And we'll listen to it, unlike your mummy who ignored yours.
Packeselt@reddit
When you figure it out brother, let me know
BringBackManaPots@reddit
This feels like something that shouldn't be on this subreddit