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36 and my body cannot handle alcohol anymore!
Is there concept of bench in product companies
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This blew my mind too when I first realized this 😂
There is sooooo much weight given to "dream job" bs, but ultimately the majority of us are just exchanging our labor for money. Once I realized this, I was able to create a far healthier balance between work and life, and I no longer feel like my career is my identity.
~40 hours a week, and that's all my company gets from me!
Does your trust fund have a clause that says you can pass it over to me?
You can still like the job, and work will always be work at some point. Every job has its fun times and FML moments, and that balance does definitely change person to person and job to job.
My favorite example are my friend and his GF. Both are nurses, even at the same facility, and both of course like their field. The place is intensive care.
My friend loves it. Signs up for absurd overtime shifts, reads manuals on all the latest med equipment on his off time, and lives for those life and death decisions. To him, there's no more rewarding career. He of course doesn't like some parts of it, what with workplace injuries and awful hours he signs himself up for in the name of whatever, but it's a great fit.
To his GF? Total opposite take on the environment. She's used to structure and certainty, and the constant ambiguity and urgency of an ICU stresses her out to the moon and back. Every sudden decision is pressure, and forget about stepping up for those crazy understaffed shifts. She'd be much happier as a researcher or at a much more routine clinic. Still likes being an RN, just not so much this kind, and can't wait to get out.
Did you actually enjoy your job until recently?
I enjoyed coding from a really young age. It was always a fun hobby that turned into a way I could support myself. About 1 year of actual industry experience now and I’m not having fun anymore… just doing it to pay rent and expenses at this point. Guess this is the next 40 years of my life huh
Yes but to be successful, it’s always helpful to have some sort of interest in whatever field you’re pursuing. I didn’t start out as an engineer although I graduated with a CS degree 8 years ago. After graduation, I knew I wanted to be in tech but I had no interest in doing to side projects, studying leetcode/algorithms to become a developer, etc.
Because of my CS degree, I got a job as an Analyst. I took on different Analyst roles ever since but at my last role, that’s when I discovered I had an interest in pursuing Data Engineering. I actually enjoyed learning this field and studied for about 6 mos, did a hack project that was related and was able to transition into this role in the same company.
After about 6 months into the role, I realized I no longer enjoy it and it became more like a job to me. But I am enjoying the big pay check however and working from home so I plan on contuining this line of work.
You're always going to refine your "Why" as you progress OP. Early on it's passion, but the story is different if you have dependants (children, parents, etc. to care and provide for).
Here's my journey:
Phase 0. Age 15-18 Explored a bunch of different professions of interest to me and considered their pros and cons and compared them to my strengths and weaknesses.
Phase 1. Age 18-21 I picked an area of expertise that plays to my strengths (technical, creative, collaborative mentality) and did my Bachelor's degree in that field.
Phase 2. Age 22-24 Worked in a grad job that leveraged my skills and focused on my rough interest areas but trained me up in professionalism more than anything.
Phase 3. 24-26 Got my Masters in a field I'm excited about and interested in.
Phase 4. 26-28 Focused on work that I'm excited about. Prioritised the domain over the pay because I had no dependants and I'm free to focus on passion areas.
Phase 5. Me now 28+: I'm focusing more on where I can be of the highest possible impact with less (but not NO) importance on the domain of interest. My priority is building a financial foundation for the wellbeing of my family in the future. That's my primary responsibility - my real WHY. Secondary is my interest - though I don't disregard it because you need to prevent burn out.
So priorities shift as you grow as a person and as you understand the value you provide at and outside of work.
DM me if you want to discuss any of this more deeply - I spent a lot of thinking time figuring that out - and had some good advice gifted to me along the way.
I'd say for me its 50/50. But some days the paycheck is the main motivation for sure
It's both. I do it for the money, but I do this role specifically for the joy.
I'd also recommend reading "Starting with Why?" by Simon Sinek and contextualising that to your career aspirations.
Very interesting book.
I enjoy my job. Though I will say yes money is more of a priority for work. I am working toward being financially independent and when I reach that I still plan to work, it'll just be work optional and I can select the types of projects I am most interested in.
I enjoy my job until I have to talk to my coworkers. So toxic. They are either toxic toxic or obscenely nice toxic. Omg just let me work.
I was a software engineer for over 10 years and I enjoyed it then moved to product management. It was ok but quickly got burned out with agile ceremonies. So I quit PM. I want to own my time again and not be held prisoner with the scrum meetings.
You can certainly choose to quit and find something new. You’ll always learn something new, no matter what. But before you do, discover what you really enjoy doing and what you don’t. Also if you can, Choose the industry that you want.
To be honest, if all tech jobs were unpaid, 99% if not 100% of people would be gone. Everyone does it for the money but the question is whether or not they enjoy it. I think that depends on the company too. If they overwork you on projects that you feel are boring then you might have less fun than say, someone who has a good WLB working on fun projects that make an impact
I used to have fun at the startup I worked at, it didn't get like a job. My corporate job is definitely a job. I get paid double what I did at the startup but not in hindsight, I feel like it wasn't worth it