Ask HN: Developer needs career advice | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Developer needs career advice

4 pointscuriously10 comments

So I find myself at a crossroad. I realize I can't be a developer forever. I am 28. It's getting more and more painful. Like I feel like I've been a pretend developer all this time. Have I built and shipped stuff? Yeah. But it's getting harder and harder to move up or when I'm finding a new position, I am getting slower and stressed out.

At the core, I love technology. I love creating software that helps people or improves some process. I don't love arguing over what coding standard to use, whether we should use TDD or not, using weird shit I don't understand like scrum & agile or devops or full stack.

I build my own stuff with boring technology. I don't see why I have to build a fucking CRUD app in Javascript now or Java. I don't know why developers are constantly pitted against each other. I don't know why I keep working for lower salary and high number of hours.

I fucking hate all of this so much. I love tech and building things but I've not been able to achieve that probably because I'm not a rockstar coder or some guy who enjoys reading through mailing list of some esoteric unix program.

All I really got out of my career or whatever it is, is learning that software is fucking hard. No matter what you call it or if you go to conferences telling you how to make it easy. It just fucking isn't no matter what. Where do I fit in this picture? I have no managerial experience so that eliminates anything in that area. I have no project management experience because I did all the fucking work a PM will tell me and get none of the credit. Can't become a QA because I'm a developer who can't QA shit. I can't even get a job as technical support because I'm a fucking developer.

Choosing developer as a profession I now see it as the biggest mistake I could've taken. I didn't even set out to be one. It just happened. And I fucking hate it. I see no way out.

To be blunt, it seems like you're hindering your self. You seem reluctant to take on the "new things", and work with them. Almost as if you are deliberately attempting to rebel.

Why wouldn't you go and work in an Agile environment? It's a lot less stressful I've found. Also, you say that you don't want to have to argue about using one thing over another, but realistically it's not an argument. It's a discussion about using the right tool for the job.

Just because you're a developer, doesn't mean that you can't work towards taking the other jobs - there are a lot of people that take the change - if they're willing to.

In my opinion, you just need to suck it up and be open to learning new things, and new technologies.

I have been through that crossroads, I moved into a PM role and was told I was a good PM but I didn't like it because I wasn't building anything. I was a master of PowerPoint, Excel and burn-down charts. Through some re-orgs I moved into management and stopped PM'ing projects. Very different role than developer or architect, still no daily effort on building things, but managing others that do so a little more rewarding than PM. Not much difference in pay and looking upwards at middle-management makes me shudder.

Now I am at a crossroads (the other side of yours), at 40, where applying for senior developer or technical roles probably puts me somewhere in the middle of the stack of resumes. I haven't been coding as a full time gig for a while. Not trying to blather on about myself but think about 10 years from now what you would like to be doing. If you think you can be a PM or manager that is better than your current ("I'll be the PM that does it right"), understand that there are often complex constraints those roles are put under to deliver things.

Try to take a step back and look at the big picture. In a software development career there are going to be technology and process fads that come and go with entire industries associated with them (often selling to your management a box of silver bullets to ease their pain). Sure there are going to be stupid processes you have to follow - that is everywhere and probably for every career as well.

Comply with the coding standards and processes as you build stuff, you'll see they will change over time but in a way they really don't change. Daily stand-ups, weekly status reports, TDD, waterfall, Xtreme Programming, pair programming, curly-brace police, etc.

Do you love creating things with software? Focus on that and the craftsmanship of creating software and building systems that help people do stuff.

Write code, test it, and ship it won't change.

Hopefully you're feeling better after this venting session. Now, take a breather, step back, and look at career options.

It could be a win-win. The sad reality of finding your "ideal" career is process of elimination: you will run into horrible jobs, but that'll at least get you closer to finding that one that will provide satisfaction.

One of two things will happen. 1) You'll find a new, more satisfying career route, or 2) you'll discover that you have not yet examined every potential possibility within software development, and there are still options. This second one may sound horrible, but you never know - the grass is often greener!

Worst case, you're currently in one of the BEST (employment rate, compensation, prestige) careers ever. So it could be worse. Not to downplay it, but perspective never hurts :)

BEST (employment rate, compensation, prestige) careers - It really isn't...

Plently of other middle class careers are better compensation. Prestige wise, its pretty low.

Start your own business while collecting a paycheck. Build what you want, how you want it. Software, cars, food. Doesn't matter. Just do it how you feel like doing it. Once you taste the freedom of creating quality instead of just shipping something, you will never go back.

> I see no way out.

But you MUST look for a way out. Yet your creativity has invented several self-limiting constructs and excuses. Larry Smith offers some good food for thought on forging a path forward > https://www.ted.com/talks/larry_smith_why_you_will_fail_to_h...

I love creating software that helps people or improves some process.

Then do those things. Pursue work that facilitates doing them. Count helping people and improving processes as the measure of success. Avoid working for and with assholes. Find people who share your values.

The "moving up" competition is over. Bill Gates won.

Good luck.

Why don't you give remote working a shot. Check out some work on weworkremotely or stackoverflowcareers.

I know what you mean.

Well in a lot of companies developers are the lowest rung, so developers have never been treated well in those companies.

For a lot startups is better to have marketing/business/finanace experience than development. Around here most of the tech startups are run by marketers rather than devs.

It sounds like you're working in a culture that doesn't allow you to grow in the ways that would make your career enjoyable, I would at the very least start looking for a more enjoyable job.

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