Not just my job, but the entire industry I’m in. I get paid really well, and I like some of the fine details, but overall I don’t like it. My skill-set isn’t very transferable either.
Well, since you get paid well, can you make a plan to suck it up for a while, live frugally, invest, make a plan to move into something else, and start working on that?
Maybe just “eat the shit” for a few years knowing it’s part of a bigger plan?
This is something I feel we do a poor job explaining to kids - your options range from doing something you love to doing something you hate, and also making a lot to making a little.
Those two scales aren’t necessarily related They can be, often are.
A question I wish had been posed to me before college: “If you had a choice to work a job you hate for ten years, but when done you were set for life, would you do it?”
I’d put that idea at one end of the spectrum, with everything else a mix of love/hate, convenience/inconvenience, stability/instability, etc, etc.
Basically my plan. I’m bending over and taking it from corporate America until I have enough to do something more fulfilling. Shit sucks, but my family makes it worth it. Work to live, never live to work. As long as I get time with my family and friends I’ll be okay
I might not mind it as much if I was physically closer to my family, but I’m over 600 miles so its a 12 hours trip to see them. they live 2.5 hours from the closest major airport so flying commercial is not faster.
I’ve sucked it up for 10 years, and I have enough in savings for several years. The work itself is fine, its more of the context of the work. If its not something new to me it feels like busywork and I don’t really see the point. I’m really not sure what I want to do. I have a personal project I’m working on, that I think I could make money, but I don’t know if after I’m done with the interesting technical challenges if I want to see it through. There are several jobs that on the surface seem to agree with me, but I don’t know if the reality would work out. I could more easily suck it up if I at least felt fulfilled, or that I did something positive, but I don’t get that feeling.
Just curious, what are the things holding you back from making changes to your current work situation and/or skillset?
Skill sets take years, you get pigeonholed pretty fast. Major changes to skill sets take years and can cost a bit of money. Pretty much the only companies that would want my skill set are companies that I wouldn’t want to work for.
You already have a skillset that you can transform into something else, and you seems to have a lot of money stowed away, so you can take a risk to transform that skillset. Push come to shove, you can simply go back to your current domain.
But transforming a skillset is indeed hard.
Its not that its hard, it just takes time and money. And the last thing I want is to invest time into another thing I end up hating. For now, I have a website I’m trying to build.
I understand the feeling. Are you tired of the field overall or just the hardware part of it?
I did QA for 5 years, which I’m grateful for but sucks a bunch. I tried to do pure software dev, it’s not for me. Then I came back to firmware, but since I wasn’t in the game for almost 7 years, I had to re-learn and live with the imposter syndrome for a while. I kinda kept coding during these years, but I had to convince others I could code.
Not sure where I am going with this. I understand how you feel, and I hope you’ll find something that is better for you.
Feeling stuck is not fun.
That sucks. I had a job I used to like - then management changed and the job was suddenly not so great.
Luckily I am in a different spot now. Hopefully you can find something else too! There’s surely other positions out there you could apply for?
The problem is with my skill-set is without having an idea for my own company, I can either work for big tech, or defense contractors. Neither are appealing to me.
What is your skill set?
Programmable hardware (FPGAs) with a little bit of embedded software and miscellaneous associated technologies and needs.
Maybe you need a business coaching session to see what possibilities there are for starting your own business?
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This is weird because in my region, this is the first time in, I don’t know how many years, that hardware roles are more in demand than firmware roles.
I guess it’s a new cycle of product development that started this year.
I just wonder if a good coach might identify ideas that would help.
how bout you design a smart doorbell that can launch a video stream in under 5 seconds?
Funny you mention a doorbell; I used 3 pi-0ws (front door, back door, chime) to make a wireless doorbell for my parents. No video or notifications, just a remote chime. That was a fun project.
What about municipal jobs? They probably won’t pay nearly as well and I didn’t know your financial requirements and aspirations but maybe?
I mean, that’s the same as any other. Municipal jobs are not higher or lower than anything else.
You know that defence and space are pretty much the same industry, right? Do you like the idea of working on satellites/launchers? Not for spacex obviously. But there are others. It’s a pretty great career. Best bit is you get to fire the most annoying projects literally into fucking outer fucking space at the end.
You can’t do this with your boss though.
I mean, most are the same DoD contractors…
I’m based in Europe so I don’t know too well how it works in the US, but if you work for eg Airbus space over here, you won’t be working on aircraft or missiles, just space.
Those might exist, but the big players are all focused on the government work. It wouldn’t surprise me if the avionics in a commercial Boeing plane are the same as the military with a few bits removed.
I think that’s probably true. But the avionics in a satellite are wildly different. And, at least where I work, we use a lot of FPGA.
I loved my job, then we got a new manager and now the team is feeling stressed enough to consider quitting.
Did I mention my utter despise for managers? I think I’ve had ONE good one that was helpful, and like 15 that all sucked at what they are supposed to be good at. They all made things far worse!
Wile working for my previous employer, the people around me were amazing, the organization and high level leadership, not so much. Myself and many co-workers left within about 6 months of each other. My old boss is leading a new field office for a different company in the city, and many of my previous coworkers are still working for him. I’ve been lucky about good direct reports. I hate any meetings that are not technical; I find them draining and pointless. Blind obedience to the agile development process can go die in a hole.
I can relate. The course I took before graduating opened up a lot of job opportunities I realized went against my morals due to how corrupt the industries are, and what I ended up choosing just happened to be a more advanced version of something simple I did from my childhood.
My degree was what seemed like fun. At the time I didn’t think of any long term implications. I still think the details could be fun if it was a novel challenge. But yea, my personal philosophy doesn’t really align with my work.
I’m very good at what I do and people hire me for my skills and experience. They assume that I have this level of ability because I’m passionate about what I do.
I find what I do boring and pointless. As I’m sending a deliverable that I’ve worked for weeks on, my only thoughts are relief that it’s done and what a waste of time it was. My clients thinking what I do is important is what keeps a roof over my head. But I think it’s fucking stupid.
There’s a whole emperor wears no clothes situation going on. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. I find it hard to keep a straight face in meetings.
But I’m very aware of my privilege. I’m lucky I’m good at this and I’m lucky people pay me for it. But I’d rather just go lie in the backyard and stare at the floaters in my eyes all day than go to another networking opportunity, or conference, or listen to a podcast about my industry.
It’s boring and it’s dumb.
I have the nack I find what I do trivial and easy, but the people around me think I’m amazing at what I do. If its not a challenge, I find it hard to concentrate or do a good job. I’m missing the suck it up and just do it skill. It would be okay if I at least thought I was doing something positive, but I find it all pointless.
I don’t have any floaters yet, but sitting in the backyard watching birds sounds amazing.
I went from making senior software developer money to being an uber driver and I love it
Glad its working out for you. Uber driver and similar is not/ was never on the list, although pilot is and working for the railroads was.
I work in oil and gas. I’m a liberal witchy environmentalist dude. The amount of homophobic, racist conservatives I have to deal with day in day out make me want to eat a bullet for dinner. Not to mention the harm companies like mine do to the earth. But I can’t get paid anywhere else like I am here. I can fall back on my desired profession (residential electrician journeyman) but it simply doesn’t pay enough
Hope it all works out for you in the end. I’m in a financially good enough position I have the freedom to make big changes if I want. Being a residential electrician was on my consideration list, but the length of time before being able to do it on my own pushed it down a few places.
Goof for you homie and thanks for the support! It’ll all work our in the end, that much I’m sure of! Anyway thank you!!
