Has anyone else noticed a change in perception the past year or two when you mention what you do for work?
Posted by druidgaymer@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 244 comments
Hi I'm a 5 YOE software engineer. I've noticed before the past year or two if I mentioned what my job is, people were impressed or wanted to know the tech stack. Now it's more along the lines of "what kind of software" with a look and "not the bad kind right".
I don't know how to respond to this. Idk what they mean by the bad kind. AI? Government shit? Idk. I just kind of go with "Backend Linux servers" because that's the truth, but then people don't know what that means.
Anyone else had similar experiences?
ninetofivedev@reddit
No. I don’t think people were ever impressed that I was a software engineer.
The closest you could say would be the typical “oh, that makes pretty good money, eh?” Or “oh, you must be good at math”… well yeah, I am; but a lot of swe are not.
Our job is not interesting. It never has been. It makes good money. My BIL is a professional DJ. My sister plays in an orchestra. My other BIL sells hand crafted furniture.
Those are interesting jobs. We take requirements from project managers and turn those into software and have boring arguments about how points should represent complexity not time.
Your job is boring and unimpressive. And that’s ok.
ham_plane@reddit
Yea, the 2 most common misconception in my life are 1) I'm tall, so I must be good at basketball, and 2) programmer, must be good at math...I'm very much neither
shawntco@reddit
In college I took a course called discrete math. Failed the first 2 times. The third time, I can only assume God was distracted that day, because I somehow got an A. To this day if someone asks me what discrete math is, I reply with, "That is a very good question."
Cliffratt@reddit
What is discrete math?
shawntco@reddit
That is a very good question.
xt1nct@reddit
We have to be discreet about it.
shawntco@reddit
Unlike calculus, which seems to require continuous explanation
baezizbae@reddit
Well he wasn't lying. Gotta give 'im that.
ninetofivedev@reddit
It’s like if you used English to describe math.
onedev2@reddit
This is such a laughably bad answer and I can’t believe people actually upvoted it
ninetofivedev@reddit
Nobody cares
onedev2@reddit
about discrete math?
ninetofivedev@reddit
Sure. Or this thread in general.
KE7CKI@reddit
It's one of those math classes that doesn't have any numbers, if I remember correctly. Algorithms, set theory, graph theory, etc.
JustCallMeFrij@reddit
and remember that there's infinite, like the set of all natural numbers, and bigger infinite, like the set of all real numbers. Don't ask me what that means or how to prove it though, as I remember neither.
Zealousideal-War2807@reddit
There is an actual answer but it is probably more personable and relatable to say you don’t know
Achcauhtli@reddit
Sh... we don't talk about it
ControlGood8979@reddit
I have those traits too. A 6'5 coder who is actually cool and socially adjusted is a rarity in peoples minds.
LookAtTheHat@reddit
You are not tall and you are not a programmer?
ham_plane@reddit
Shh 🤫. I cant let my wife/the mods find out (but no, the mods are not my wife)
mllv1@reddit
Software powers nearly every aspect of society almost without exception. Not to mention the fact that most people are staring at software for 99% of their waking hours. And now you can talk to software like person. If you don’t find software at least somewhat interesting your brain is off
bluetista1988@reddit
Everybody poops, but not everybody finds their municipality's plumbing infrastructure interesting. I'd argue the same applies to the layman and the software they use in their day-to-day life.
shouheikun@reddit
It should be interesting to the plumbers fixing or maintaining the infrastructure. That's the whole point, not everybody.
mllv1@reddit
If you don’t find plumbing infrastructure interesting, with its multi thousand year history, your brain is off a little
SplendidPunkinButter@reddit
Oh, you’re a SWE? Can you help me get my printer working?
bluetista1988@reddit
"Yes, I can, but it's not because I'm a software engineer! The two are totally unrelated, but I do know how to use Google and troubleshoot but again they are TOTALLY different!!!"
steampowrd@reddit
Or family tech-support. You get to help your mom with everything
Odd_Soil_8998@reddit
I mean that is how GNU started
ninetofivedev@reddit
People quit asking you this once you hit a certain age. Except for mom and grandma. They’ll always remember you as “good with computers”
One_Citron_4350@reddit
Now it's more like opposite. "Isn't ChatGPT gonna take your job now that everybody can code?" - said every layman who never built software before.
bluetista1988@reddit
To be fair, when I told everyone I wanted to work in software I got a lot of "Isn't someone in the third-world gonna take your job now that every company is outsourcing?" back in the early 2000s (post dotcom bust).
I was a razor's edge away from being stiff-armed into studying accounting instead.
korpy_vapr@reddit
dweezil22@reddit
I don't think software engineering is especially interesting but it does make me sad when everyone thinks their job is boring. EVERYONE's job should have something interesting about it.
Expert-Reaction-7472@reddit
you have to understand that the average dev on reddit thinks the fate of the universe hinges on the very important code they are writing... why else would they get paid so much money if they werent in some sort of main character in this timeline ?
ninetofivedev@reddit
On top of this, the average SecOps engineer you work with thinks that company IP needs to be protected at all cost!
I'm not even talking access. I'm talking about leaking potential trade secrets to the LLMs and Cloud providers that we run our services on.
God help Anthropic if they use my company's code to train their model on. It will only make it dumber.
seatsniffer404@reddit
😭😭
colonel_bob@reddit
I actually enjoy plucking away at making tools and processes solve problems that have a salient business value. If you squint hard enough it's almost like a video game you get paid to play.
Alfanse@reddit
gamification of specifications with jira as the score-board!
small stories for the Win!
DesertDissident@reddit
I think he means it's not interesting to anyone *else*. My wife can tell me about her work day but if I tell her about mine it's just "blah blah blah computer nerd stuff" to her (and most everyone else on the planet).
colonel_bob@reddit
Ah yeah, that makes sense; while I generally enjoy the work, I also find it a bore to describe to other people (similar to how describing what you did in a game that no one else plays is pretty pointless)
Dazzling-Leek-894@reddit
squinting really hard and it still says ALMOST.
Commercial-Ask971@reddit
I think its down to what you actually do as an swe and more importantly how you „sell it”. I doubt people behind lets say, self-driving cars or aerospace jobs are considered boring. If you do frontend for a elementary school web app.. then well, yeah
iMac_Hunt@reddit
I used to be a teacher and I got 10x more interest from people about my profession back then. Now? Unless they are related to the field at all they don’t have much to say.
ings0c@reddit
Someone didn’t see the regex I wrote today!
ninetofivedev@reddit
Ok, this is funny.
dazzaondmic@reddit
“Your job is boring and unimpressive” those are both subjective. I find my job not to be boring. Many people also don’t find it boring, many do, just like most other jobs. Don’t really care about whether it’s impressive or not. You could argue that all jobs are impressive or all jobs are unimpressive but I’m not too sure how important that is.
You seem to view SWE as somehow “special”, it’s not really. It’s a pretty average 21st century job. No more or less boring and no more or less impressive than your average job. You should probably expand your horizons a little bit lol
ninetofivedev@reddit
No shit.
dazzaondmic@reddit
And yet apparently you did lol way to walk back your comment
Gooeyy@reddit
I can’t relate to this. Almost everyone in my life I’ve told I’m an swe has reacted with some sort of “oh wow, cool!”
In fairness I generally converse with polite friendly people but 🤷🏼♂️ I’ve always gotten a pronounced positive reaction
ninetofivedev@reddit
“Oh wow cool” is exactly what I’d say when my wife’s sister introduced her boyfriend who is a garbage man.
Gooeyy@reddit
Tone, obviously, matters a lot here. It comes with interested follow-up questions. Sorry people generally haven’t been impressed or interested with your career.
ninetofivedev@reddit
I think you probably have fallen for people feigning interest. I'm not saying that no one ever has found your job interesting or visa versa, but.. cmon, my guy. This is typical social norms. You ask what someone does, they tell you, and you say "Oh wow. That's cool!" regardless of what they say.
C0ckL0bster@reddit
Don't take this the wrong way but are you autistic by chance? How could someone have a different experience than my own?
ninetofivedev@reddit
Listen, if you're going to make subtle jabs like:
Expect the shit you flung to come back at you.
By the way, I would say I adequately addressed that I don't doubt they've had different experiences, but I guess it's not clear to either of you: I am very cynical that people find this person's job as interesting as they think these people actually do.
I could be wrong though. I wasn't there, I don't know.
C0ckL0bster@reddit
Why are you quoting someone else?
ninetofivedev@reddit
It's context?
I'm not AI. You jumped into the thread. I'm going to quote the relevant parts of the thread.
Why are you here arguing? Jk, I don't care.
Gooeyy@reddit
Get some sun today.
C0ckL0bster@reddit
So the autistic question wasn't genuine it was just flinging shit?
Gooeyy@reddit
You’re free to think that
Kinny93@reddit
Of course, you should talk for yourself. I personally couldn’t think of anything less impressive than being a DJ.
ninetofivedev@reddit
Not the kind of DJ you're thinking of. Has over 200M listens on spotify and over 400k monthly listeners. Sells out arenas.
It's actually really interesting. It's not my style of music, but learning about how he produces an album or his creative process is actually really fascinating.
dazzaondmic@reddit
Great, that’s a good start. Now consider that the same way you find it “really fascinating” how he produces an album or his creative process, is the same way someone else might find it “really fascinating” how someone creates software. And consider how you find creating software boring is the same way someone else might find producing an album boring. That’s the beauty of diversity of thought and opinion.
Drauren@reddit
Being that kind of DJ is far more interesting than being your average SWE.
Kinny93@reddit
Metrics do nothing to shift my opinion on how impressive something is for the same reason I don’t find pop music or Marvel movies the best media has to offer.
Anyway, I’m not looking to put other professions or similar down. Just wanted to emphasise that what one considers impressive is largely subjective.
ninetofivedev@reddit
I kind of assumed that was implied. There are far more things that are subjective in nature than their are things that are objective.
wedgelordantilles@reddit
It depends how you describe it to people, you can make it sound creative and magical and people who work in other environments can been amazed by explanations of community driven oss.
structured_obscurity@reddit
+1 "i work with computers" and then immediately switch the spotlight to them. Unless they also work in the space the conversation wont go far.
These-Maintenance250@reddit
my man. as a software developer you have a huge range of possibilities to work on. you possess one of the most versatile, most dynamic, most ubiquitous skills. converting requirements to code is a gross simplification. I think you are suffering the grass is greener on the other side effect.
GreedyCricket8285@reddit
Wait, your PMs are giving you requirements??
ninetofivedev@reddit
No, but we pretend they do. Need to make them feel special.
shouheikun@reddit
I'd like to disagree with the "never been interesting" part. I find this profession very interesting, because computers are interesting. If you're a web developer in some web company, then sure, your work will be dull and drab. I see it in a different way: there's software running everywhere, from NASA's lunar lander, to a deep sea submarine, everything requires great, reliable software. Not to mention, video games! I can create whole new worlds with just code, create stories that inspire a generation of people and use it as a medium of creative expression. If you still find it dull, then this profession was never for you.
Alexandur@reddit
They mean to the average person with whom you may be speaking about your career. Obviously people in this subreddit are going to find it interesting lol
exomyth@reddit
It depends on what part of software you're working on. My SWE experience is quite broad. Some stuff is really hard to explain to people that what you are exactly doing, because it can get quite abstract. But if you are building something that can be explained to to some one in simpler words in a context they understand then they will also find it interesting.
If you're telling them "I build software components that assist people in finding the best flight for them" they'll be a lot more interested than: "I am a software engineer, I write code, and sit in meetings talking about business requirements".
diablo1128@reddit
This all day.
Every time I tell people I'm a SWE it's "Oh you must be pretty smart to do that" or “oh, that makes pretty good money, eh?”. Nobody ever got all excited outside of other SWEs and even then it's 50/50. Most other SWEs don't care either.
The worst part about telling people you are a SWE is that they ask you to help them with random tech things. No don't want to fix you computer. I don't know what some random program I have never used acts weird when you do X.
I also don't care what cell phone you should get. Do you own research and pick what you think is best. If press I'm just going to say get an iPhone because when it breaks I'm going to send you to the apple store.
pokeybill@reddit
Whoa I didnt realize the PTSD I have from literally every team norms discussion devolving into an argument about points and time estimates
ninetofivedev@reddit
Every team has one individual who needs to show how smart they are and spend the rest of the meeting trying to talk about the bike shed.
Good_Skirt2459@reddit
Lol I wish I got requirements from a project manager...
ConfidentPilot1729@reddit
You need to tell a few people on my team that think they are special, bc some of them need an attitude adjustment.
bearicorn@reddit
Very interesting if you work on cool things. Of course no one gives a crap about some insurance B2B crud slop a lot of people work on around here.
ninetofivedev@reddit
I've written code that was shipped to Mars. As cool as that is, the process itself wasn't cool at all. It was a nightmare.
shawntco@reddit
It's also not relatable, which is why I think so many peoples' eyes glaze over at the mention of it. Everyone understands, to some degree, what it means to be a doctor or a fast food worker. They don't really understand what it means to be a software engineer. And I don't blame them. They just know software engineering pays well, and depending on what social media niche they're in, it might also be evil.
ninetofivedev@reddit
Maybe it's because I live in a tech hub and many of my friends work at big tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google.
I've never had this problem. What does a software engineer do? They build software. I think that is a pretty easy concept to grasp.
shawntco@reddit
For sure within our own industry, we know what it means to be a software engineer. We can joke about accidentally dropping tables in production, and instead of getting terrified gasps we hear, "Oh yeah lol I did that last Tuesday"
ninetofivedev@reddit
Nah. These are not people in my industry. They're sales and compliance and audit and HR. They just know what software engineers do.
I just don't think this is relatable in 2026. Maybe in 2006.
NPPraxis@reddit
Eh, I think it depends where you live. When I lived in a smaller city software engineers were cool and impressive. When I moved to a big city with a tech scene I became “just another software engineer”.
ninetofivedev@reddit
Yeah, when you move to a tech hub, everyone is a software engineer. Or a PM. Or tech sales. That's like 80% of people you meet.
theDarkAngle@reddit
It's more where you work. Big Tech turns heads, ofc. But also any company that people view positively or find very interesting.
I worked for one of the larger non-profits in the U.S., and one of the most popular donation targets especially locally (a children's hospital), and even around my rich family members and friends of the family who never gave a shit about what I did before, suddenly I was the one everyone wanted to talk to.
malo0149@reddit
This is very true. I work on software that the parents I know are likely to use or be aware of, so it makes it easy to answer the question of what I do for work.
Inevitable_Eagle2130@reddit
Our job is to learn about other people’s jobs, which find endlessly interesting.
ninetofivedev@reddit
That is a lot of different jobs, not just engineering / IT.
SillyYou8433@reddit
I have seen a change in perception but not the way you're describing. When I mentioned I was studying CS in college or, once graduated, mentioned I was a software engineer, reactions were mainly "oh so you must be really smart" or "omg you're going to make so much money".
Now its changed to "What do you think about AI?", "Are you worried about AI?", "The job market has been pretty rough, huh"
sassyhusky@reddit
20 yoe here, same for me, add a “should I buy bitcoin” tho
UntestedMethod@reddit
People are still talking about bitcoin?
ImpossibleEbb6862@reddit
It's pretty crazy what it can do these days.
A little bit yeah.
More so recently, but it has a lot more to do with high interest rates and the inflationary fiscal policy of the current administration than AI.
At least those have been my answers to those questions.
Accomplished_Ant5895@reddit
So what you’re saying is everyone else turned into Joe Rogan?
ImpossibleEbb6862@reddit
"Have you tried DMT?"
YouShallNotStaff@reddit
This. Everyone I talk to asks me about AI
bluetista1988@reddit
Broadly speaking I think you're talking about "prestige professions". Some professions carry some prestige to them naturally, usually because of some perception of:
Advanced degree or highly regarded intellect
Elite level performance or achievement
High wealth association
Heroism/danger
Much of this is dependent on the cultural zeitgeist and the passage of time, as some professions begin to develop negative connotations or fall of out favour. Librarians for example carry virtually no prestige anymore. The shine has come off of investment bankers, lawyers, stock brokers, etc. I don't think people hold pilots in the same high regard as they once did. Police officers have suffered a similar fate for different reasons.
In terms of software engineers, I feel like we don't fit into any of those categories to a high degree. The barrier to entry from an educational POV is lower than a doctor or a lawyer. We're not a field where the top 0.1% is revered like pro athletes, musicians, dare I say "influencers", etc. We were briefly associated with high wealth where a job in big tech could see you making more than a radiologist based on total comp, but that was more specific to big tech workers. There is no heroism or danger in software development to the degree that a police officer, firefighter, etc experiences it.
RoyDadgumWilliams@reddit
The tech industry is starting to be seen as a stain on society in many ways, between intentionally addictive social media and gambling platforms, Gen AI insanity, personal data collection and surveillance, etc. Plus the political activities and massive concentration of wealth on the part of prominent tech moguls.
Backlash against tech is not unfounded by any means, and I think it’s natural for people to be suspicious and curious about your personal values when they learn you work in the industry. The same way I would be curious about the values of someone who works for a defense contractor or oil company.
ShortKingsOnly69@reddit
Im going be honest I dont think people in this field care about ethics at all. Maybe it just didn't have time to develop like traditional engineering fields, but many SWE would happily work on mass surveillance tools compared to an aerospace or mechanical engineer refusing to work on deadly weapons
dashingThroughSnow12@reddit
Tbh, it was pretty surprising how long “we” got a free pass.
The business plan for many tech companies and people:
- Cheap investor cash
- Break laws of all variety. Call it “innovation”
- Burn money.
- Spy on people.
- Pay lip service when in trouble.
- If the government ever catches on with the laws being broken, delay, delay, delay, and then promise to follow some of the laws in a few years. Repeat.
- Act morally and intellectually superior to arts and physics graduates. Tell people struggling to find work to “learn to code”.
newEnglander17@reddit
People also assume, even In this thread, that all tech jobs are in the tech industry. Every day companies have IT departments too.
wvenable@reddit
But those were always hated! /s
denerose@reddit
What in the ai drivel? No one has ever asked a dev “what stack” unless they’re also a dev. It’s just not a term people outside the industry understand or care about.
My bff describes my job (backend software dev) her husband’s job (cybersecurity and SecOps manager) and my husband’s job (DevOps engineer) as “IT stuff”.
druidgaymer@reddit (OP)
Not AI :P I don't use AI
Additional_Hunter261@reddit
Not the bad kind == not surveillance, military, social media or gambling
simpsoff@reddit
Right or wrong, many people in the general public have a negative outlook on AI, believe it is causing harm to our environment and the wellbeing of many people. I’d assume they would be referencing engineers building the actual AI tools.
druidgaymer@reddit (OP)
Yeah I don't work with developing AI. if I talk about what I actually do, none of them know what I'm talking about... I might as well be developing AI.
shigdebig@reddit
People dont trust tech bros anymore. They have betrayed the trust of the public.
It used to be that we were advancing towards the future and creating technology to make the world better.
Now, we are working for the tech overlords to enslave the human race.
Ita the same job from our perspective, but the narrative is changing.
It's just a job. Unless you own your own company, you are the same as a secretary shuffling papers. Embrace it. Don't bother explaining anything. Just wave your hand and say you work with computer shit.
Significant_Mouse_25@reddit
This is very much it. Public thought has shifted from dreamy Silicon Valley startups that will change the world for the better to people like Elon musk and Zuckerberg. Making software that exists to enrich themselves, making it addictive, lying to the public and governments to push their garbage through, aligning with authoritarians, etc.
Software also just isn’t interesting anymore. When MySpace came out it was seen as innovative. Facebook was then a step up. Google was incredible. Wikipedia? My god. But now we’re just kind of making the same things with slight spins or we’re making things that will help oligarchs and governments entrench their power further. Innovation’s now are just seen as costing people jobs or otherwise fucking them over somehow.
AnarchisticPunk@reddit
I mean, we do shoulder some of the blame for building that for them? Engineers haven't ever really cared about what the software was used for as long as they got paid. As an industry, we have walked back on a good number of the ACM Ethics. Most people think their phone listens to them. And with the new AI vibes people think that software engineers are destroying the planet.
Stellariser@reddit
Lots of engineers do have ethics, I’ve have refused offers to work in the gambling industry or for crypto firms.
Nyefan@reddit
The engineers who worked on these things shoulder the blame, not the rest of us who explicitly chose a different path.
anonyuser415@reddit
But if I don't build the torture nexus, someone else will
false_tautology@reddit
This is one reason I work for local government. All we care about is making things easier for the public and improving things.
Significant_Mouse_25@reddit
I have been strongly considering doing the same.
steampowrd@reddit
And I don’t think people like how software has become mandatory. In the past it was something you could opt into in order to get ahead. Now people are just required to do it to stay afloat. So people have lost agency and they know who to blame
ninetofivedev@reddit
🌎🧑🚀🔫🧑🚀
Significant_Mouse_25@reddit
You miss the point. Llms are useful for sure. But people don’t see that. They see their job being automated away. In an economy in which they already struggle. And software engineers are the mercenaries that brought that reality to them. Big tech companies are as powerful as governments but for profit and happily using those tools for surveillance and war right alongside governments. There’s an image problem. And frankly I think it’s well deserved.
ninetofivedev@reddit
Of course they do! That is what drives innovation. Payroll is the most expensive cost center of any business.
We used to have switchboard operators that took your call and connected you to the person you were trying to contact. That job doesn't exist anymore.
We used to have people who stood in elevators and operated for you. That job doesn't exist anymore.
We used to have people that would walk down the street lamps at night and physically light them. That job doesn't exist anymore. We also had people who used to drive down the streets and would take note of when a light was burnt out. That job doesn't exist anymore.
We used to have people that would cut out giant blocks of ice from lakes and store them in warehouses, they would then deliver those blocks to houses for people's ice boxes. That job does not exist anymore.
I could go on forever, baby!
Jobs are constantly being replaced with new jobs. As humans, we adapt. So you're not writing software by hand anymore. You still need to know shit. The LLMs can't figure it all out and there still needs to exist a technical person that can validate its work.
That is where we are at today. Get the fuck over it. It's here. It does a pretty good job at what it does. If you think that this is going away, you're going to find yourself in line with the switch board operator who refused to build new skills.
Significant_Mouse_25@reddit
You’re again missing the point. But I’m not interested in trying to explain it anymore. You’re very pro AI. I’m fine with AI. None of that addresses the public image problem it and we as an industry has right now.
If technology makes people more miserable they will eventually do more than simply complain.
ninetofivedev@reddit
I'm rejecting your point. I'm not missing it.
I'm not even pro AI. I'm just not a doomer. I've just been in this industry for 2 decades, I've seen it change a lot.
That has always been the job. You adopt to change. When I started, web apps weren't even a thing. Your web pages were static content and your applications were fat clients and you had to manage OS specific builds.
Nobody hardly does that anymore.
....
Sorry, I'm getting into another rant.
Doubt. Nothing ever happens my guy. Quit being a doomer.
HaveAVoreyGoodDay@reddit
You literally sound like an AI.
crescentmoon101@reddit
Ehh it's pretty unethical to replace every job with AI, especially humanities and art. Like I don't see how generating images is beneficial to society at all. And people using AI for therapy instead of going to a human therapist isn't ideal. How do you expect people to be okay with "just adapting" to something that doesn't necessarily benefit them, and in fact can actually harm them if not used correctly? AI is WAY different than all the jobs you just named lol
RoyDadgumWilliams@reddit
There are many deleterious effects on society that people are feeling as a result of generative AI. The myriad issues can’t be explored adequately in a Reddit comment but is does no good for you to act dismissively toward people who are against it. The inevitability of AI’s existence doesn’t justify the problems it creates
Significant_Mouse_25@reddit
Exactly.
And just because it’s the way things have worked in the past it doesn’t necessitate that it works that way in the future.
And being dismissive doesn’t address the public image problem it’s all causing.
crescentmoon101@reddit
Plus the whole issue of bringing AI into schools when tests scores have significantly dropped in the last decade. Kids already were falling behind academically, accelerated by COVID. Putting AI in the schools will likely make it worse. It's like they want the youth to be dumb so they can be a permanent underclass that they can control forever.
pheonixblade9@reddit
I've been beating the "SWE are labor just like anyone else" drum for a long time. but for decades, people working in tech thought they were special just because they got paid more, not realizing how much of a target that put on their backs.
max123246@reddit
Because labor can't even perceive what it means to have so much money that you never have to work a day in your life for someone else
That's why we point fingers at each other. If you are wealthier donate, please. But we're all labor, I stop working tomorrow I can live for like 2-3 years and then I starve. For most people they'd starve tomorrow. But we're still in this shit together, we work because we're forced to, that's all
If I didn't have to work, I'd be programming for so many other things that I care about. I'd have the time to volunteer and tutor people about programming. Instead I gotta work so instead I donate the excess money I earn
pheonixblade9@reddit
if I didn't have to work I'd spend all my time volunteering. I did that for 15 months after I left my ridiculously toxic job at Meta and it was very healing.
steampowrd@reddit
As a SWE I literally tell people I work with computers
alchebyte@reddit
🎯
ImpossibleEbb6862@reddit
They're worried it's going to take their jobs. Those same people have been shrugging their shoulders while fossil fuels have done incalculable damage to our environment.
AWildMonomAppears@reddit
How are they not understanding that it hurts SWEs too? I thought it's well known. "What are you gonna do when AI takes your job?"
Majestic_Fig1764@reddit
I think people are in denial
crappy_entrepreneur@reddit
It sounds like you live in an interesting kind of bubble because no one is ever that impressed that I'm a software engineer. I'm not trying to impress people, but also I work for an AI company, and it would be a ridiculous social faux pas for someone to imply that that was weird in any way.
Lyraele@reddit
You work for an AI company you deserve more scorn than you are getting.
crappy_entrepreneur@reddit
You have to hear how ridiculous you sound. My company takes meeting notes.
ControlGood8979@reddit
No I haven't.
PatchSprite@reddit
The public perception of tech has genuinely shifted. Five years ago "software engineer" read as neutral-to-impressive. Now it comes loaded with associations, layoffs, AI replacing jobs, data privacy scandals, social media algorithms.
People's perception is almost entirely shaped by whatever headlines they've been exposed to, not any real understanding of what the work actually involves. They're not reacting to you, they're reacting to the news cycle version of your industry.
"Backend Linux servers" is honestly the perfect deflection. Nobody has strong feelings about Linux servers.
izalac@reddit
I started back in "so you're a nerd" days.
PropagandaApparatus@reddit
I WORK AT COMPUTER
WE NEED TO GET THE DOW JONES UP
mattk1017@reddit
Computer at Tesler?
Spiritual-Matters@reddit
Everything is computer
ares623@reddit
We absolutely deserve it.
PileOGunz@reddit
Just don’t mention A.i if you’re involved just lie and say you create adult websites or something less embarrassing.
ImpossibleEbb6862@reddit
I'm working on an app. It's kind of like Grindr except for dogs.
jahajapp@reddit
Do we deserve anything else? As an industry we've been enthusiastically and carelessly making a lot of peoples' life worse and being insufferably smug while doing so.
And to add insult to injury, we're now trying to do it to ourselves with even more enthusiasm. I think that's pretty symptomatic.
ImpossibleEbb6862@reddit
I don't know. I've worked on lots of things that people like using and many that I think have a positive impact. I've never been smug about being a software engineer. I know people like self flagellating out of a false sense of humility, but this is kind of ridiculous.
druidgaymer@reddit (OP)
Yeah but isn't that all industries?
tarogon@reddit
Not in my experience, no, I've never met a non-tech person that's smug about their line of work in the way that a lot of tech people I've met are. Though I've also not met a lot of highly paid non-tech people, so maybe it's just getting the big bucks that causes people to become annoying.
jahajapp@reddit
I don't think it helps our case to immediately lean on whataboutism. Each industry has to answer to its own doings.
ThaBalla79@reddit
I actually loathe telling people I'm a software engineer. Sure, it sounds fancy but then everyone and their mom's come out the woodwork asking for me to build their million dollar app idea. The other day, I was just asked to build a custom version of Google Maps from scratch within a few months, as a solo dev 😭 I now tell people that I'm simply a programmer and that's vague enough to fight off those annoying requests.
ImpossibleEbb6862@reddit
I don't know why these requests bother people so much. I just tell them what they're asking for will take a team of 4-6 engineers working for a year plus, costing millions of dollars to develop. That usually gets them to pause and rethink their request.
forbiddenknowledg3@reddit
My dad had the idea for airtags (before airtags).
Told him gps trackers already exist and most of the work would be in the hardware lol.
Jmc_da_boss@reddit
I just say im "in software" as a general term.
overzealous_dentist@reddit
at this point I turn them to google ai studio. chat window, integrated browser, no direct code use, publish button. if you legitimately have a million dollar app idea, go for it without me, we have tools for non-devs now
ajones80@reddit
I do the exact same thing. Highly recommend this route.
ham_plane@reddit
Yea, I tell people I'm 'a coder', just to downplay it.
Not because they ask for apps, more because I live in a slightly more rural area and I don't want to sound like I make megabucks
druidgaymer@reddit (OP)
I loath it too but I'm not sure how to word it where they don't ask weird questions.
BoringBuilding@reddit
I think popular culture has found software engineers and tech bros to be douchey for several years now, it just reached a critical mass with anti-AI sentiment.
dysprog@reddit
When I was working for a FinTech company, the CTO was negotiating deals with the Exchanges to host our servers in their server room, so that out clients could have microsecond round trips for their trading algorithms.
The only thought I had was about the tech implications.
Years later, there was a news story about a scandalous unfairness. It seems that very rich people and companies can host their servers in right the exchanges server room. This lets them make decisions inside other people's information loops. The traders who can afford to do this have a huge advantage, and make money at the expense of all the other traders.
This is actually a huge structural unfairness, and I had a small part in making it happen. But at the time, the thought never entered my head. I was just a coder, working on test libraries.
After that, I worked for the Game industry making a Free to Play Game. We had a Game Economist who tweaked our paid bonus items to increase our sales. Do you know how you become a Game Economist? You get a phd is psychology of addiction and use that knowledge for evil. Look, I was just doing the website.
As a career, we've been doing this for decades.
All the cool tech we worked on has been turned into systems of control. The website that lets you keep in touch with your cousins? It's manipulating elections.
The algorithm that finds videos you like? It's sending your uncle down a transphobic information silo.
Store that aggregates everything you could possibly want at reasonable prices and puts it on you door step tomorrow morning? It runs on employee abuse, monopoly and screwing authors. It's owner suborned a newspaper to publish his propaganda.
We put a doorway to all human knowledge in every hand. It's intentionally designed to be addictive. Your boss uses it to contact you and demand you work on your day off. And it leaks your private information to companies who use it to sell you things.
The genius who finally made electric cars and private space industry work? Everyone found out he's a breathtakingly stupid malignant narcissist.
And so many of us were sitting in the office happily coding away at our own narrow segment of this.
Can you blame people for a shifting attitude about Tech Bros? I don't. Every awesome thing we've built in the past decades has been suborned for evil, and we cooperated the whole time.
Lyraele@reddit
Been in this work nearly 40 years, very much feeling this. I don't blame the people judging the tech industry at all. It frankly deserves worse than it's getting.
pheonixblade9@reddit
no, people always treat me like an asshole tech bro in Seattle. I don't like to mention what I do for work.
WiserVisor@reddit
In Western Europe, being a software engineer has never carried the same prestige as it does in the US. When you tell older people you’re a software engineer, they often bring up some prodigy they know who started programming at 16, then question whether a degree is even necessary for the job. Many assume coding is just typing text, while “real” professionals become architects or managers.
In recent years, younger people have started bringing up AI whenever software engineering comes up. Many are interested in studying computer science but hesitate because of concerns about AI replacing the field. Meanwhile, governments do nothing to stem immigration from non-EU countries or to decrease student intake.
ghdana@reddit
I just say the company name I work at. Everyone in America knows the name but doesn't have much of an opinion other than our commercial jingle. I'd say 90% of the time they don't even ask what I do there, they just assume something boring lmao.
It's almost offensive I spend 40hrs a week working on this shit and outside of work people give 0 fucks about it so I have no one to talk to about it.
shaq-ille-oatmeal@reddit
few years ago people heard software engineer and thought cool smart future tech job now half the population thinks youre either building ai replacement tools surveillance systems or some app designed to destroy attention spans, “what kind of software” is probably just people checking if youre doing boring infrastructure work or black mirror shit
Ferovore@reddit
Tech used to be seen as changing the world for the better, now we’re in techno feudalism land where it’s actively ruining everything and making people fear for their livelihoods. I’m embarrassed to be in this industry now but I’m I’m not spending another four years at uni to reskill into something that pays as well so whatever.
BatteryLicker@reddit
Depends on what you contribute to and how you pitch it.
My career has been predominantly in R&D for some combination of devices, automation, defense, public safety, and ML/AI. Anyone I give a quick ELI5 explanation to typically finds it interesting.
I'm passionate about what I do and can explain why what I do matters. At the end of the day some people will be opposed to it or have negative opinions, which is fine, it's not the right job or fit for them.
Same as there are people are opposed to other scientific, medical, or climate research.
Same as I'd never bother with finance, sales or optimizing advertising.
DoingItForEli@reddit
I'm pretty sure whenever I've told people I'm a software developer they've just sort of figured they let anyone do it these days, and now that's made worse with AI.
ramblewizard@reddit
By the bad kind they mean palantir
throwaway0134hdj@reddit
Hate to say it, I think it’s only us who is impressed by it. The rest just consume it. It’s like asking a construction worker some building they worked on, nobody cares.
HaveAVoreyGoodDay@reddit
At best the don't care, at worst they see as as the drug dealers ruining the world they live in. There's no in between ime.
speedisntfree@reddit
This. No one buying stuff on amazon or streaming stuff on netflix is amazed how it always works any more than they wonder how their car starts first time each morning no matter the weather.
throwaway0134hdj@reddit
Only when sth breaks do they all the sudden care. Otherwise it’s just background noise. Same could be said of most things, major don’t care about how their engine works only that it starts every day.
unrebigulator@reddit
I met my new neighbour last week, and I mentioned I'm a software developer.
He said: "Oh me too. Well I am now. We all are now, I guess."
He was previously developer adjacent - business analyst or something like that. They gave those people Claude etc, and fired some of the software team (or were in the process of).
Crazy times.
Stamboolie@reddit
I fiddle with computers I tell my non tech friends/family - no one knows what the hell a software dev does outside of IT
CherryChokePart@reddit
People might ask more questions about what I do specifically. Probably a side effect of every company becoming a tech company.
LuckyWriter1292@reddit
No, people don't understand what I do, if I try to explain their eyes glaze over - I tell them I build systems and leave it at that.
Taco_Enjoyer3000@reddit
We don't shame FAANG and AI workers enough as a group (SWEs), so this is the result. We all get to share in the shame.
There's a group of otherwise smart people that can get any software job they want in the world with their knowledge and experience. But they also think they should be absolved from all of the harm done by their literal daily activities to society in the name of enriching giant tech oligarchs...just because they made a lot of money while doing it.
As if the bag somehow justifies it instead of makes it worse???
It ain't right, and unless we call it out ourselves as software workers, then we get to share in the shame. Silence is complicity.
SearchAtlantis@reddit
I mean there are bad kinds. People write software that runs slot machines for example.
halfercode@reddit
Ha ha, you tell people you work on backends, and you wonder why they give you a funny look? 🐴 🤪
ZuesAndHisBeard@reddit
I’ve been in the field for 14 years and I’ve never ever ever had anyone ever ask a follow up question about my job if they were outside of tech.
dashingThroughSnow12@reddit
People always ask if I’m afraid for my job.
Bro. You don’t even know what I do for a living.
bingeboy@reddit
Nope still unemployed since I took a break for a few yrs yet code on the daily for years lol 😂 degen for life.
One time a recruiter asked me if I was interested in making banner ads. lol did that almost 20years ago. I’m cooked.
Anyway I talk to friends and I just don’t get how they are working am I’m basically homeless. Hey I’m happy and having fun.
10EtherealLane@reddit
I told someone about A/B tests once and they said “oh like how Facebook tries to manipulate people’s emotions to improve engagement”… The sentiment towards tech has taken a nosedive
AppealSame4367@reddit
I'm a bit older but 15-20 years ago I always lied on parties what my profession is because when I said "Software developer" girls just stopped talking and turned around :D
fallingfruit@reddit
Think about how many incredibly smart and talented people are being used to figure out how to squeeze out every single second of human engagement into completely pointless social media apps or optimizing advertising money. It's pretty fucking sad tbh.
When I hear that someone works at Meta unless they work on oculus i kind of think they are just advancing satan's agenda.
Knock0nWood@reddit
No
bsenftner@reddit
I tell people that respond in a negative manner that I work on the absolute worst type of AI, the type that makes life or death decisions constantly. I hate the work, but someone with morals, critical analysis and secondary considerations in spades needs to be there, because nobody else seems to be using such care in this entire vertical I work. If I were not there, nobody you want is left, and you need people that hate the work but are there because they care to look over the situation where nobody else will.
poolpog@reddit
"the bad kind"??
what does this even mean
I've been working in tech since 1998 and people have always had weird ideas about software or tech stacks being "good" or "bad"
it's all just computers, bruh. they are all bad
frostbite305@reddit
I work in developing AI tools, but I constantly have to reinforce that it wasn't my choice and that I'm in a position where I can shoot down irresponsible ideas and the like
commonsearchterm@reddit
I've some how always been a gentrifying techie ruining the local culture or w/e so no lol it's always seemed negative
speedisntfree@reddit
We are nerds doing nerd stuff. The only people impressed by nerd stuff are other nerds.
swollen_foreskin@reddit
before people would say 'oh i heard it pays well'. now they say 'oh i heard its hard to get a job, i got an x thats been applying y times'
ReditusReditai@reddit
No one judges me for what I do. Everyone asks me if I think AI is gonna take my job.
MaximooseMine@reddit
Now, without fail, everyone immediately asks if I’m worried about AI taking my job. It’s getting so old.
sleeping-in-crypto@reddit
This. Never in my life has people’s reaction been so close to “oh you poor baby”.
I mean I guess at least people get it. Our profession has become the proof and lightning rod as evidence of what our overlords intend for basically all of civilization.
Still it’s rather annoying.
puzzles4me2solve92@reddit
It's strange that people were asking about the tech stack if they're not SWE. Like...how do they even know what that is...?
RandyHoward@reddit
Yeah, I always get the "what kind of software" question in response, but without the negativity that OP describes. My current role usually sparks conversation, because I created software that recovers money that Amazon basically steals from the businesses it buys from. When I tell them that we're recovering about half a million dollars every month we get to discuss a whole new side of evil tactics by Amazon that they weren't aware of before.
puzzles4me2solve92@reddit
Yes, I think when it comes to our jobs, people are more interested in the product/industry. Like if you said "I'm a SWE who works on Spotify Wrapped!" I could definitely see people thinking that's very cool and having questions.
newEnglander17@reddit
Oh they’d totally come Yp with ways you could improve things for them
newEnglander17@reddit
Personally I’ve always found “tech stack” to be an annoying business term and if another SWE talks like that with me, I likely won’t want to talk to Them as they’ll probably also use a lot of tech bro terms.
Zapper42@reddit
I asked about someone's tech stack as they were trying to sell website services to a friend. Basically said it was fluid, based on your current setup and needs. Also said AI does everything these days and misspoke Java for Javascript..
druidgaymer@reddit (OP)
I don't think they mean the tech stack. I think they more are trying to see if you work for an evil company? But everyone's perception of evil is different. It makes me hesitate because it's like okay what do I need to say here that's the right answer?
Sammolaw1985@reddit
I've met engineers that gleefully talk about reducing headcount in their organizations with what they're developing with AI agents. It's pretty callous.
FlakyCryptographer33@reddit
When I told people I used to get 'oh will you build my app idea for $500', now I get 'oh so AI will replace you all, but luckily I'm in a job AI could never replace'.
reboog711@reddit
You have a strong selection bias going on. Most non professional contacts that I interact with have no concept of what a software engineer does, and do not have enough understanding to query about tech stack.
waterbear56@reddit
I think devs were impressed by other devs by default, until proven otherwise. Now they think other devs are just AI junkies until proven otherwise.
Turbulent-Week1136@reddit
I don't give a shit what people think of my job, at all. I'm not apologetic and I don't need to explain myself. I try not to talk about my job, not because I'm not proud of it (I'm pretty happy where I am in my life right now) but because I would hope that it's the least interesting thing about me.
apartment-seeker@reddit
no
signedupjusttodothis@reddit
Because I'm someone who gets really bored and actively does not like talking about work when I'm not at work, lately I've just been telling people "Project manager" when they ask what I do, and before anything else I'll cap it off with "it's fine, it's a paycheck, ya know?" and rarely does anyone follow up. They usually just nod go "yeahhh" cause we all gotta work, right? And then I successfully pivot to a different topic.
BROTALITY@reddit
i tell people i make some dude way more money than I make
WhyNotFerret@reddit
as a police officer: welcome to the party, pal
sahuxley2@reddit
Yesterday, I got, "So you're using up all the water."
bdanmo@reddit
I had a 62 y.o. mechanic look at me with pity and say that he used to lament choosing to be a mechanic (his dad was a lawyer), but the way things have been for white collar and tech recently, he’s glad to be doing what he’s doing.
I didn’t even tell him how stuff is bad, how half the people under my CTO have been laid off in the last 6 months and the only other guy reporting to my director was laid off last month. He just jumped right in with that when I answered his question about what I do for work.
Ok-Shower6174@reddit
This is why I've leaned into my background as an embedded software engineer. When people ask 'what kind of software,' I tell them I work on the systems that make machines and cars move safely. There's a tangible, safety-critical aspect to it that bypasses the usual AI/social media skepticism. People trust things they can see and touch more than the 'magic' happening on a remote server.
Adventurous_Storm232@reddit
It's all in your head.
PeachScary413@reddit
Yeah nah, no one ever cared and I always just say "I make apps and stuff" (even though I don't actually do that)
coyote_of_the_month@reddit
I just tell people "I write code and wish I had been a plumber."
julmonn@reddit
It used to be “you are in software but not a tech bro right” (e.g. crypto) now it’s “are you involved with data centers taking away power from communities and destroying the environment? And AI companies spying on people and building war weapons?”
dw444@reddit
The tech industry has been getting a lot of bad press due to FAANG and FAANG adjacent companies’ involvement in the ethnic cleansing in Palestine, and efforts to suppress dissenting voices among their employees. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have been particularly proactive against any hint of dissent among their staff on this issue.
tinysoap@reddit
honestly i've only gotten shit from other SWEs
obelix_dogmatix@reddit
nope. Everyone moves in different circle. Thankfully I have not come across the obnoxious high on a horse people. I have friends who worked for DOD labs, and as far as I can tell, people were largely impressed. I personally do appreciate the complex engineering that has to go in to get trajectories right.
Colt2205@reddit
I'm not going to repeat what ninetofivedev stated, but there is distrust of things at the moment because of obvious technology shifts and also a market that is extremely bad due to mindless spam and layoffs.
TurtleFisher54@reddit
The most positive reaction I get to im a software engineer is
So you're an engineer... Cool..
ilmk9396@reddit
it's more like "wow you still have a job?"
nugdumpster@reddit
People are pretty impress that when they learn how much dope I smoke there and have a tech job… just the way my mine work I guess
double_peaks_jj@reddit
I've had this for 20 years from my wider family. I find it ends the conversation sooner if I agree with them how terrible software and computers are.
AnthonyMJohnson@reddit
Just answering the title question without the specifics of your experience: yes. The perception has changed.
I have been doing this for 16 years.
I think historically the perception/reaction in polite conversation around what I do has been mostly neutral. Most people have not known what software engineering is or involves or how it’s relevant to them. For the cases that were non-neutral, it was virtually always leaning positive.
Just within the last five years or so, I have encountered negative reactions for the first time. A lot of things associated with tech have strong negative perception now: AI, social media, advertising, surveillance tech, CEOs cavorting with despotic world leaders. Also rising cost of living and stagnant wages for everyone else combined with more awareness of how much we get paid.
I will note my experiences with negative perception is also 100% from educated millennials and educated Gen-Z’ers. Boomers still react like “Good on you! You must be good at math!”
i-think-about-beans@reddit
ER UM I DO YACHT SALES
MattVon@reddit
The last 2 times I said I'm a software developer, the instance response was "Wow you must be intelligent to be doing that." Not the response I was expecting as I know people who are much better than myself and I would never categorise myself as intelligent, just average. Guess it depends who's asking and what they know themselves.
Significant_Mouse_25@reddit
Lots of people don’t realize that learning to code has more to do with persistence and perseverance than intelligence.
jakesboy2@reddit
I make the child seeker modules
kkoyot__@reddit
Bad kind as in being a JS developer.
If you want your ego struck, say you're sending rockets to space or work on apps detecting cancer. Conversely automatic bread maker may impress some of the lot
cosmopoof@reddit
I simply don't tell in detail what I do. I just say I work in Finance and keep it at that.
DeterminedQuokka@reddit
This mostly sounds like the kind of people you were talking to changed. Normal people don’t ask you what your tech stack is. College students do. Maybe another engineer in the right context (they maybe want a job).
People are asking what you actually do when they ask what kind of software not being judgemental. Because your job is not a Python stack. It’s health tech, music tech, advertising, etc.
If you answer the first question with actual information then the second question probably won’t happen.
druidgaymer@reddit (OP)
You're probably right. I wasn't thinking much about how the people had changed. I was hanging out with a lot of other nerds before. Now, I go to more parties, comedy shows, board game nights, etc where the crowd is more diverse.
creeoer@reddit
The current PR for anyone in tech is at rock bottom right now to be honest.
paagul@reddit
No
Firm_Bit@reddit
I mean yeah. Tech went out of fashion like 10 years ago. And folks are aware how poisonous big tech is. Only ones still hyped on it are tech/finance bros.
Careful_Ad_9077@reddit
Not at all.
My current job is developing software for a factory'. So when people ask what I do for a living I just say I work for a factory. A few get curious because they know I work from home ,so if they ask what I do, I say I work from the computer systems of the factory.
SolFlorus@reddit
I just tell people I’m in software because it’s vague. When you tell someone you’re a software engineer, they immediately think of the high salaries.
muntaxitome@reddit
Yeah I feel like lots of people think it's now just putting in some prompt and that's it