Wow! Wish I'd seen this video 15 years ago when I retired from software development for many of the described reasons. Money can buy you guitars but if the guitars just sit in the corner because you're too busy to learn to play or to perform, then that money isn't buying happiness. It's just decorating your so-called life.
Why? You retired when you were supposed to and good for you! Programming is shit anyways. Just controlling things. No interaction with sane humans, no social life, just code and money. Faq that.
Sometimes people insist on getting an estimation and I say "3 months" and they go "wow that's ridiculous" and I'm like "well if you want a more accurate answer then give me time to investigate"
@@ollydix A financial advisory firm made a number of changes to their formulas and I had to translate those changes to C#. I didn't know the extend of the changes, the good thing is that we already had unit tests in place so we could put the same inputs in their system and compare it against the outcome of our unit tests, so in the end it only took about a week.
@@ollydix Haha I also had a BA telling me "but... this is just a single page application!!! You should be able to get it done quickly, right?" and my answer to that was "well Facebook is also a single page application" O,O
Just thought of something, but not sure: Asking a software developer for an estimate of how long it will take to code something is a bit like asking an author of fictional literature for an estimate of how long it will take to write their next novel.
You may not realize, but this applies to way more other jobs and careers out there than you might expect. Which makes this video and topic even more important than it already is.
I agree. As an upcoming high school junior aspiring to be in the computer science field, I find that many bits of advice given in this video have helped me look at my situation from a different perspective. For instance, his advice on not being afraid to ask for help definitely hit very close to home, as I had perceived myself as weak for asking people for help. Another piece of advice that I had found applicable was to further acknowledge and inform people of uncertainty. I had always felt incompetent for speaking about things without certainty. As CaptmagiKono said, I also found this video helpful and concur that these pieces of advice are readily applicable outside your intended audience.
also agree. i'm a scientist in academia that codes and found that the majority of points this guy makes are relevant to either an experience i've had or am having. not the one about getting paid tons, though, LOL
Thief! You stole my comment! I worked in auditing/accounting for a long time, and it was exactly the same. I still wake up sweating sometimes remembering stupid small jobs from 15 years ago were I was given bs estimates to complete the work. To say nothing of the number of times I was flat out told to compromise the quality.
Some tips for students and fresh graduates: 1. Don't be a perfectionist. If you are passionate about programming and didn't get into this just for money, then you probably always strive for best design and try to obey all good practices. But your manager and customer don't care. In the end software is just a tool and if it gets the job done, then it's already good enough. No one will appreciate beauty under the hood, so don't try to make a sports car if you're asked for a scooter. 2. Develop your soft skills. Let's be honest, programming is an ideal field for people with unusual personalities and/or huge egos. Learning a bit about psychology and negotiation will help you understand them and improve communication. Might also help with getting a raise. 3. Take another person's perspective. Your supervisor asks for impossible? You have the right to be angry, but what if he has to face even greater demands? Think about it before you lash out at him, it may save you from feeling like a total jerk later on. Try to find out what he really needs, maybe when he says "We need to finish this functionality by Wednesday." he really means "I need something I can show to the customer." but doesn't communicate it well enough. In this case there may be some room for negotiation. 4. Avoid touchy subjects. Don't discuss politics, religion etc. even if the company has relaxed atmosphere. There's little to be gained here and a lot to lose. 5. Strive for financial stability. You will feel much better knowing that if everything else fails, you can just walk out and slam the door.
When pushing back it can be difficult to just say "no" to your superior. In such situations I have found it easier to give the boss or manager a choice: "You can either have it the way you want in 6 weeks, or you can have it in 3 weeks but we will need to compromise on feature X, or code quality." This way the manager gets to make the final decision of how to spend the company's money. You're not the stubborn bad guy. (Whispers: And you can often present the choices in a way that will get the response you want!)
Good advice. If you haven’t seen it already, you may get some other ideas for saying no more effectively from another video I did on the topic. It’s by no means exhaustive, but some things have helped me be more successful: ruclips.net/video/gGTOPoxVFsE/видео.html
But there's still the danger of burning out if you are forced to operate against your personal values often. Compromising on code quality and clean code go against my personal values. Those compromises make me feel like a code whore as opposed to the artisan I really want to be.
@@sail4life yeah I understand. I think the key word in your reply is "often". We all have to compromise occasionally, but if we do it all the time - definitely a big cause for losing hope!!!
Yeah yeah.. and then they started saying bad things about your code and your incompetentcy on solving issues. and you stressed out having to explain the short time given
Not to gatekeep or anything but: I see many programming people on youtube that are like "Programming is easy, I can make a Python TCP socket in 2 minutes, server and client. You can too learn Python in a week". Sorry to burst your bubble but no you can't. Yes you can learn the basic syntax of a language in a week or 2, but not "programming". Programming is so much more difficult than anyone would like to admit, it isn't only the coding part. Hell, I'm coding around 50% of the time, the rest is spent thinking about the code (sometimes I lay in bed, I eat or do anything else that isn't me sitting at my pc). Some people have this idealistic view of "Oh, programming is just writing some lines of code and I can make the Witcher 3". There is a reason for a frontend and backend... I'm not trying to discourage anyone into programming or anything, I'll gladly help someone struggling with their projects, but the expectations must be kept realistic
I don’t see this as gatekeeping at all. This is just letting people know it can be difficult. I’ve chosen to focus on the relational and personal challenges with software on this channel only because in my experience that’s the biggest problem. While some people are clearly not cut out for programming, I see many who have loads of potential but aren’t given the support or time to succeed. Couple that with a “cog in a wheel” mindset where many companies think most programmers are basically the same so you can swap a more experienced person with a cheaper hire and have the same results, and the system then actively underdevelops the workforce. It’s in this environment where I believe programmers need more sophistication in dealing with people so they can protect the integrity of their craft enough to keep growing and deliver despite the dysfunctions you run into any time multiple people work together. Inexperienced managers can point to this attitude as perfectionism, but there’s a big difference between aiming for perfection and struggling to deliver absolutely unmaintainable code in the appearance of success by hitting deadlines. I’m guessing you already know all this, just putting it here as a clarification in light of your observations. 👍
@@HealthyDev Oh boy, changing programmers because "they are all the same". Trust me when I say I've seen plenty of people in my studies that are solely in it for the money. Most of them fail enough to drop out, but some manage to get their degree and live off the "I'll get paid more than if I hadn't gone for this" mentality. I'm currently struggling with the balance between finishing something really quick, then people will tell me "how difficult could it be if a just graduated student could do it that quickly", and delaying it with the "Other people can finish the same work in less time, hurry up" bullshit. I have to delay my work a little (just simply working less hours a day from home) to give my work more value than if I don't do that... How rediculous is that? It's not like I'm delivering subpar work, they tell me it's up to their standard, but if I don't delay, they think less of the task... Sorry, I just kinda wanted to vent a little :s
@@rednassie1101 this is when I like to ask people "I know you're under pressure to deliver, but if delivering products with the skillset of junior developers could produce everything, there wouldn't be any senior or lead developers. If I take longer to deliver a feature than a junior developer, it's because I'm protecting you from a bigger loss down the road. If you want me to stop offering you the full value I bring as a developer, I can take shortcuts that you have to cleanup later, but you'll have to explicitly ask me to do that."
A programmer can produce useful code in any language, if not always easily. Programming is about identifying a need, breaking the need into problems that need solving, breaking those problems into workable sub-problems, solving those sub-problems, assembling those solutions into grander solutions, and ultimately fulfilling that initial need. Coding is one aspect of solving the sub-problems - the rest is about planning, integration into the overall system or design, analysis and optimization, documentation... Just because I can unclog a toilet doesn't make me a plumber. Being able to write some JavaScript, Java, Python, Fortran, etc. doesn't make you a programmer.
Yeah anytime I see a blog post, tutorial or documentation telling you it can be done in 30 mins is really telling you that you can get it done in 30 mins if you already have lots of experience in the related tech/API.
There are tons of developer out there who will teach you react, vue, angular, node, python but we need people like you who can teach us actual things which happen in software carrier, thanks please continue this we need more help on topics like this 🙏
The thing that saved me was I stopped caring. I still care enough to get the job done, and do a good job, but I don't care beyond that. Caring was killing me. Now I care about other things in my life more, and that's where I get the fulfillment I was looking for. Excellent video. Subscribed and liked.
Everyone who cares too much is prone to burn out. I'm in that pot as well. Hopefully I am reflecting on it soon enough I can overcome this. I've already learned to not care about at least some things, or at least not care that much. Once people like us realize it's not worth both their mental and physical health, they actually do something with it, with themselves, to avoid such damage.
In my case, I wouldn't say that I stopped caring, I just give credit (or blame ... yeah, mostly blame) where credit is due. You give me an unreasonable deadline? Well, that's not my deadline, it's yours.
When first started programming after I graduated from college, my coworkers were cruel and toxic. Every little knowledge that they had, they made sure that it was only them that knew it. All I know is that, I did not want to end up like them. Got out of that company and did consultanting work, and saw that you get a lot more done sharing information and working as a team. I also learned how to get other people to do work for you 😭
Really great developers won't keep things to themselves. In fact, they'll chase you down a hallway to breathlessly talk about some exciting thing they discovered. True passion isn't possessive, it desires to be shared.
My job has taken me to many different employers. I first worked for my last employer 25 years ago. Everyone was protective of their knowledge ("Its for me to know and you to find out.") which didn't help anyone. I wasn't a newbie and when my new colleagues saw that I freely shared my knowledge, they started to share theirs. Today it is a totally different place. They even mentor college grads now. If you can't persuade your team to share the knowledge it is definitely time to look elsewhere though.
I worked with a team who really worked to bring me up to speed and give me new skills but i always kept coming to the same issue of not knowing where things were stored when I needed them. I relied on another team for this information and it was often hard to get the information i wanted. I was always thinking that i was not explaining properly or it was because i did not know what i didn't know to make the right requests. One day I was having a long conversation with this team and a newer person came along asking for something and were given a deliberately wrong steer. I asked why they did this and they plainly said that they didn't want new people taking their jobs. This despite the fact their work had previously belonged to another team.
@@DryPsylocibin These are the best. People who are where they are because they are interested. People who live and breath IT even when not at work, self taught from childhood, training themselves, keeping up to date themselves. IT mentality is experiential like a language (above coding languages). Its why companies recruiting look to experience before qualifications. Then there are people who moved into these areas because of pay or because it sounded good or employer re-organizations put them there. For these the attitude can be that they think they can just go on a training course paid by their employer and then continue to put in 9-5, switch off all interest afterwards and be equal rated employees to the ones you refer to. Soon as long hours appear or work becomes mentally arduous they are looking for promotion or sideway moves to escape and any deficiency in their skill is due to the employer not sending them on enough training courses
You have no idea how much I wish I could have seen this a year ago. As a junior-mid engineer struggling to get out of a pigeonhole in a crummy part of the industry, thank you so much for this!
I'm a 22 year old software dev just starting out in the industry and i have already been faced with many of these problems. Thank you so much this is exactly what i needed to understand. You caught me before i trapped my self in a vicious cycle. Moving forward i will be more cognoscente of these things and continue to improve my self.
You're blessed if you start out with some warnings many had to learn the hard way. Or unfortunately, many never learned at all. If I may hand you one piece of advice with my limited 12 years of experience: don't stay longer at some job than necessary when you're starting to feel underappreciated, stuck or overly frustrated. There's gonna be some downsides everywhere but a change of environment can be incredibly eye-opening. It's easy to start feeling very loyal to a company and completely responsible for the software you create. It becomes a matter of ownership and pride. But trust me on this one... It is entirely possible to walk away, never ever look back and accept it's their responsibility now. Always put out good work with a sense of care for whoever will maintain it, be it your or someone else, but understand that it's THEIR software and they accept both the good and the bad.
Pace yourself, pay attention to HOW you use the computer. poor ergonomics can put someone "on the bench". I have foolishly been using a computer wrong for over 25 years and now carpal, and other bad ergonomic injuries have made long sessions working frustrating and painful. Not to mention one's vision changes with age and reading things on the screen can become frustrating. So, take care of yourself, don't grind in front of the screen for hours and hours, get up take breaks, exercise, stay healthy. I gave up hope because my body no longer plays along with me.
@@peterbelanger4094 oh my gosh 😅 I am swd for 11 years + 5 years of education. And all 11 years was thinking that that herman miller is too expensive for me. Even though I earn 3-4 those chairs a months, I still can't allow it to myself. It's just crazy. I grumpy old men while being 32 years old 😅
@@Youvko I'm 52, it gets worse. No chair is perfect. What our bodies need is to be moving around. I have found that a pet is a good "nag" to remind me to get up and stretch and take my eyes off the screen. Decided to get into hobby electronics and 3D printing to see if I can come up with new controller ideas.
This video is the gospel. You, sir, with this video, have earned a "like" and "subscribe" more than any other RUclipsr in the history of RUclips. Bravo, Good Sir. Job well done.
Your first point hits home SO hard. I'm a perfectionist and HATE cutting corners. Even on my own personal projects, it pains me so much to cut corners and stray from the best practice. I'm actually in awe because this is the first time I've heard someone speak out about this. Strange how most programming-youtubers pretend it's all sunshine and rainbows.
I love the words "Cognitive Overload". It actually perfect fits so many situations at work. Having to provide ELI5, ELI10, ELI20, ELIBOOMER explanations to different groups of people on your team (junior engineers, managers, principals) is another layer of mental taxation above understanding the systems in the first place
3rd year in a computer science course and all this emerging trending technologies are killing me. Opportunities want the capabilities of a whole IT department in one person... I'm regretting loving computing in the first place... being a farmer would have probably been easier and still as satisfying
Oh man I feel you. I completed my degree in CS with a first class in 2018. The emerging technologies and the requirements to know about 5 of them in one go its just plain crazy. By the time u finish mastering them the company gets taken over by somebody else and new trends are introduced. Its a night mare indeed. Frankly I regret too loving CS. I hv seen people who r mechanical engineers for example hving a great time since the core technology is still the 40s tech with easy to master current innovations. They dont hv to keep learnign about new engine systems and all things. Am in Africa currently and there is a farmer I know who is just enoying his life. I sometiems look at him and think to myself what on earth am I doing.
@@silentlessons4221 that is very correct, I did not want to become a doctor as my cousin was all the time studying, now CS engineer is the same.. Eventually my cousin stop studying.. Gained experience and became well paid.. But I keep studying after 20 years in CS field... I made a mistake. Like is not to keep up, like is to arrive and enjoy... No arrival for me..
It’s easy to imagine another field being more exciting until you’ve actually worked in it. Kind of like the saying...” grass is always greener on the other side...”. Technology is a fast moving field and the job listings will always ask for an unrealistic amount of qualifications. Don’t let that stop you from applying. Be honest about your qualifications. Do your best to show that you have good fundamental knowledge and are willing and capable of learning new things.
@@kosbebot6360wow....pretty sure there's no programming thats as satisfying to watch as watching cows,chicken,pigs or even just ducks enjoy themselves on a farm....thanks for the gold mine suggestion ;)
Thank you. I have been programming computers professionally since 1986. I still love it and the constant learning over my career has kept my brain agile. Your words ring very true, and I've found what keeps me positive and empathetic is to gently help others get better at what they do (vs belittling them) and in turn learn from everyone. You don't know it all regardless how long you have been doing it or how intelligent you are. You are also not perfect so cut yourself a break when you slip up and fall down that path you know is wrong. Just keep steering toward what is right.
Mangers play a key role in absorbing pressure. Many times we are all spineless and become a YES man to every client demand but a manager (especially a technical and experienced one) can see the shortcomings and push back. I have worked under a manager for 5 years when I started my career. He used to fight with the Senior leadership for the team every time. Every one was happy under him, every one wants to work under him. As you said he was Empathetic. He won many awards because of his skills and overall cheerful and optimistic attitude. Unfortunately he got promoted to more senior roles, pulling him away from the core dev team. Now the team is being managed by a manager who is a YES man puts a lot of pressure on the team. The team members slowly started to resign one by one and the original team was all but gone in 6 months. Leadership/ People and Communication skills play a very crucial role along with technical skills once you advance in your career.
Thanks for sharing this. Great points all around. How someone can collect a paycheck for being told what to do and then just force others to comply is beyond me. That’s not managing - it’s being a pawn!
@@HealthyDev BTW subscribed. Its a good thing that next two days are weekend.. need to cover many of your videos ;)... Did you make a video on transitioning from a individual contributor/ senior dev to a Technical Lead position by any chance?
I am a nurse going into software development and this video is a great "heads up". I've been a nurse for almost 17 years and burned out hard about a year ago. It's good to hear someone be actually honest about pitfalls and things to be aware of going in. Great video!
Pay attention to core knowledge. And you can start as QA, while its a bit easier and you will get less income its software development already and you will be able to learn.
While this video is a kind of joke, it still a good starting point to get into software development. Go through each point and read about it, or watch a video. ruclips.net/video/-uleG_Vecis/видео.html no need to dive dip, just understand what it is and go to another point.
@@07Flash11MRC quality assurance engineer, the person who is testing software, manually by clicking different buttons, or in automated way by writing scripts.
are you sure want to be software developer? as a backend engineer I would say it has difficult roadmap to be an expert, comparable to be a doctor I think.
Oh my god, the time management software. I don't think management types understand how hindering it is to log all the daily minutia (so they can say I'm not meeting quotas) when I've got other stuff to do with that time, like say, meet unrealistic timeframes.
Agreed. You may get some insight from, or at least relate to another video I did about precisely that topic, “Should You Really Measure Progress on Software Projects?”: ruclips.net/video/0yxfb-drlE4/видео.html
And you get it wrong by 30 milliseconds or file it a minute late, only to get some scary discipline warning e-mail 10 weeks later CCed into 40 other people and demanding answers. It's like being in court.
I don't work in software, but this advice applies to other fields as well. I got rid of all the negative people in my small business and suddenly the employees are taking pride in their work, going on to develop other related skills, and encouraging their friends to join us. Customers call to give us good reviews regularly and our business is growing.
I was so frustrated that everyone in the company was so incompetent and literally every one of them were bothering me with questions and requests. One day I threw a hissy fit at a QA who was always good to me. All he said was, "I am sorry that you are going through this. It is okay if you yell only at me". I feel so ashamed now and I can't be same with him anymore.
I never comment on RUclips but damn, "High Income Forces Seeking Deeper Goals" really hit hard. The same thing Simon Sinek talks about in "Start with Why".
I have been developing software for nearly 5 years professionally and am currently going through these same issues, every day is more difficult than the previous one and I don't want to lash out because of that. I am definitely going to try to adjust my behavior and approach to management/development based on your advice. I cannot stress this enough... Jayme you deserve huge things. Your channel has helped me understand and improve the quality of my work, despite the above issues. I will share from now on every single video with my colleagues in the hope we can help you as much as you have helped me. Great video!
Thanks for the kind words, I’m really thankful to hear my videos are helping you! Thanks for spreading the word. Don’t hesitate to offer feedback or ask any questions. Welcome to the channel. 👍
Was the top of my class throughout university, then went into the industry and became the dumbest programmer in the building. Thankfully I was able to recognize this. I find that appreciating the hard work of 99% of everyone in the office rather than getting mad at 1% of the stuff that is mismanaged (which is mostly due to lack of understanding, not malice) is the key to longevity :)
I accidentally clicked on this video while scrolling RUclips home page on my evening video escape session. This was the best video I've seen in months. You said so many right things I've always think of, but never got to understand. Thank you man I got shivers and had to laugh just because such an ocean of truth. Thank you, you made my struggle a bit easier. Or at least I understand why I struggle. 10years of develop experience and also sometines think of moving to farming as others mention in coment section. :) BTW comment section is also gold.
For me its was just unhealthy lifestyle, before my office job i played sports had a nice tan, basically was very physically active and pretty fit. Once i got the office job, i ate shitty city food, sat 8 hours a day in the office and another few hours at home programming personal projects. I got no exercise, no sun, i became white as hell lol a year later i got transferred to night shift and that's when i truly burned out and had chronic fatigue. 4 years later i don't work in the office anymore, i barely program my own stuff either because every time im about to sit down and get work done i become filled with like a pavlovian dread responce feeling like i really really really don't wanna work on whatever i gotta do. Ill never work in an office again, but i will get back to consistently working on personal projects, that stuff used to be fun i want it to be fun again. HEALTH IS NUMBER 1!!! When you're in good health you have a natural sense of well being, its like your "spirit" is able to come forth from within and you feel a unforced motivation to just do stuff and live. Good luck to all sedentary workers out there lol
hello man. i was about to ask in the comments but your story seems more apropiate to my doubt. so, would say that these complaints listed in the video go away when you do freelance jobs? im asking cause im thinking about learning programming for freelance jobs only, for the same reasons you said about office job. many thanks, be safe.
@@raphaq9192 I don't know for sure because i never really worked freelance. If you can avoid the office environment that's a great start. If your freelancing forces you to regularly spend 12 hours a day in front of a monitor, then it's not a good move in my opinion, cause you'll feel trapped by your freelance contract obligations if you feel like taking a break.
Don’t know how this popped up in my feed but literally this has sort of solidified (the exact word I’m thinking of is on the tip of my tongue...) so many ways I’ve been feeling intuitively but haven’t been able to organize into actual thoughts. And I am the only programmer in my group of friends, so especially the money thing is so hard to relate to people, since we’re all in our early 20’s (I’m 24), and I’m the only one that makes decent money, so like the goal thing you described no one understands since all of them have the goal of just making money and hold the belief that once they do it will solve all their problems and make them happy. I try sharing my experience to show that it doesn’t, and in some ways the opposite, but I have to tread carefully since I don’t want to seem like I’m just acting better than someone else because of my job, since I’m not and literally don’t feel that way at all in my heart, but even still sometimes people interpret it that way regardless,, so like oftentimes I just won’t even try sharing how I feel because the meaning gets lost in transmission. Idk, but thanks for this video, I appreciate it Edit: I wonder how much of these kinds of feelings are subconsciously part of what’s been driving me towards trying to become a writer...
Thanks for the feedback and sharing your experience. It speaks highly of you that you are even aware your financial situation could put people off... I was pretty clueless about that early on and pissed off some people - luckily I had some chances to reflect and change. The world can never have too many good stories. If you feel like writing, I’ll bet it will help stay detached from drama at work? Music has done that for me (and having a family). When I let myself have healthy relationships and activities that have nothing to do with “progress” outside work, it amazes me how much more productive I am when I need to. Thanks again for your commentary I know others out there relate...
This is what I was looking for. I'm starting my career as software engineer and I get anxious listening to people talking about complaining about this and that, burn out, and other scary stuff. I just want to do what I'll do for several years. Thank you for sharing your experience and promote a healthy way to work with software and collaborate.
Been in the Software industry for 20 years now .. since 2000.. programmer at core.. a Tech ProgMgr now I am feeling frustrated I am not able to keep up with docker, CI CD, ML , Mobile , Integration (BTS) and web Dev ( angular/ SPA / MVC).... and Microservices.... Cloud ... ohh man its hard .. its so Hard.. its so many articles.. so much of catch up code .. its was easy a 10 years back .. Java / VB and SQL certificate is all that you need... now its like the medical fields.. hyper specialization .... is needed and being a generalist .. curiosity kills.... Other Non tech people ( Functional / Pure Management ) in the company .. think its still the same as 10-15 years back.. I feel empathy for the new Dev coming in .. as this is not a complex field .. with to much to catch up .. and sad that non-tech, still feel they can read a article on the train on Microsrvices and think they no it ... and say scalable and agile ... ha ha ! This video is fantastic
Don't know if it will help, but you forgot to also add k8s, terraform, aws, azure, oci, agile, scrum, kanban, ml, computer vision, mentoring, augmented reality and the eventually brew and serve coffee, as it seems that is in every job requirements these days.
Am from the VB6 days and C++. Stuff used to be so easy. Till the java train shot for the stars with frameworks left right now center. I have had to embrace it and now dabbling with the new trendy stuff to keep psyched up. Otherwise am keeping my focus on one stack with a keen eye for platforms.
I have been in this industry since 2007. Th last year I just reached the highest level of frustration. I just lost hope and left my job. I did not want to come back again to the exact environment that you are describing in your video. Additionally to that, I constantly faced with gender bias, never being treated seriously by my colleagues who actually started this path much later than me. For this sabbatic year people kept asking me Are you not into programming anymore? I always replied and still reply 'I like programming, I simply do not like other programmers'. I came back to work earlier this month and now I am trying to look at it with a fresh, unbiased mindset. I will definitely remember all your suggestions. Thank you for such a good video.
Thanks for sharing your honest experience that people need to hear about working in our industry. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts are on this - I feel like the fact that the success of a project depends on people collaborating, but that we’re independently measured, brings out the worst in us. I hope your colleagues treat you fairly and you can find a way to detach from those who don’t. This job is hard enough without having to face sexism, racism, and stereotypes about management vs engineering. Adding that on top, it’s incredible that anyone is able to stay positive. I hope your break restored some of your strength so you can find the resilience to get through it all!
How's the sabbatical worked out for you? I'm on somewhat of a similar situation, going almost 6 months without a job in the field not trying to worry much about the job gap or improving my skills, specifically because I'm too am fed up with the industry and corporate/startup culture, definitely taking a break... How was that experience overall? Have you had to explain your job gap for recruiters and how'd you felt about that?
@@k-yo hi! Overall, I need to admit, the fact that I didn't update myself with new trends in the industry and became a bit rusty played against me in terms of getting the position in some top 5 companies. However, I don't regret that. I found a company where my team lead told me on first working day "your programming skills are not that good, I hired you because you have strong problem solving skills, that what matters here". Regarding a gap in a resume: people asked, and I told them I wanted to dedicate time to my own projects. If people don't get it, it's even better for you, because you want to find a place with modern and flexible mindset, and if they don't have it you will benefit from their rejection. My advice: have a great rest and don't even think about work first, recharge your batteries. Once you feel like coming back, just spend some time to update yourself on the domain and come back with a new fresh understanding of what you want in your career. Good luck and I hope you will change your life for better!
Gender bias? From 99% of open source contributors that are men however nobody prevents a women from buying a computer and commit code. I tell you what , i dont like working with women because they are looking for excuse and compassion instead of improving their skills. When i am not good , i either quit , or fight , buy books and acumulate experience to get a better coder. Its a war , mam. You look for emotions and empathy will coding is about cold facts and keeping emotions away to have the most neutral vision of concepts. This is why you are statistically not at good for programming. As the opposite of this , there would be 'gender bias' against me as a social assistant because that what was genetics and life is all about. Genders are complementary , not equals. No matter wether ideologs like it or not , genetics and natural selections rules the world.
@@HealthyDev A bias you seldom see mentioned in the software industry is ageism. I once worked for a software company owned, run and staffed by people the same age as my son. They treated contractors my age just the same as they treated me. After the first year it starts to wear you down. I have never regretted leaving the place.
For me the most frustration thing in software development is the lack of comments in the legacy code. And, of course, there is no other kind of documentation either. I have probably spent more time on figuring out what the code is meant to do, than the original developers spent on coding the first release.
I'm one of the verrrrrry few people who has ever written a comment in any codebase at an company I've worked at. I write comments everywhere, all the time. Useful ones. I sign them with my name and take accountability for them if they're wrong. I don't care if other people don't like them, but everyone has loved it so far, and some people have even started copying my style. You're welcome. Set a good example for others to follow, that's all most people need.
other people: sees a comment button SWE: appreciates the effort of the amount of architecture behind it in making a good comment/submit button that not only saves into a cache messaging system and database and possibly gets sharded or distributed into clusters for better access via per region but to then also get analyzed using AI and gets curated by algorithms for analytics and more metrics before appearing to other users to read.
@@Jenacide Are the losers the poorly trained programmers or the managers who only care about marketing and don't care about good software and thus hire them? Just raising the question.
As an engineer who is trying out management this year, your videos are super helpful in helping to navigate some of the harder conversations with my teammates. So glad I found your channel.
This is why I don’t work for anyone anymore. I got tired of the endless obsession with short time frames in all companies. The whole world has an obsession with doing things as fast as possible for no other reason than to do it as fast as possible. I see car factories trying to produce as much cars as they possibly can, only to see those cars parked on the street for longer than it gets used. I say to myself why did someone have to rush their work when there was no immediate need to rush their work? The world has more cars than we need already we aren’t in desperate need for more cars. Same thing with building applications. The moment you finish building something then it’s off to the next application. There’s no stopping or appreciating anything. You just produce and produce for the sake of making more money to pay for money you borrowed yesterday. The hamster wheel goes faster and faster but you don’t get anywhere.
Danielle Douglas pretty much any menial job wants you to work fast. Factory jobs, construction, even in retail and restaurants everything is always about doing things quickly.
@@robertlopez6092 I would agree with you (and others that have said similarly), that this exists almost everywhere. Ironically I do think it stems from technology giving us access to speed up production in almost every industry imaginable. Combine that with how the same technology has allowed the planet to be more interconnected than any other point in human history. Access to a global market equates to more selection for consumers, which breeds competition among providers, which I would imagine, forces businesses to work more efficiently than ever before. Efficiency often increases speed of production, with a cost to quality. The point made at 5:17 of this perception of difficulty/value I think is incredibly important, because my personal prediction is that it will get worse as technology gets more complex. More complexity leads to an increase of specialized professions; more specialized professions means the educational sector will focus more on what an individual "needs to know" and choose to ignore knowledge that come from other disciplines. In turn, the veil between the various disciplines will get further shrouded in more mystery, which leads to more misunderstanding, conflicts, and confusion. And to top that all off, it's interesting to consider that the increase of all of that negativity might help facilitate a desire for more autonomous systems, free of human interaction, paving the way for more technology that probably caused it in the first place.
Aaron Morgan this is why I stopped using my engineering skills to build things for employers and I now only use my skills to build myself my own autonomous tools. In colonial times, the rich had slaves that did all the work for them and their families. Now I believe that technologies such as IoT are the new slaves of the up and coming class. I work much less than before but I have more than ever before. If you’re a mid-senior engineer in this modern day and you’re still working hard, then you are doing things wrong. The purpose of inventions is to make life easier not harder.
@@aaronmorgan2300 That was already precisely my problem with the standard STEM fields in college, at least through the mid-level courses I got to as of two years ago. There was so much for major requirements to cover and so much within each individual class to get through that it became much more about rote learning of concepts than an exploration of their possible ramifications, but none of the concepts on their own was difficult or complex enough to be rewarding. My most useful learning in math, engineering, or programming classes was almost all done outside of class, unofficially and on top of the homework they assigned.
@@rifewithpotatoes Yep, I'm attending a public college, going for a CS degree (which the college is decently known for), and I'm about midway through. Looking at the course requirements for the program, there is very little allowance to explore other disciplines. What's odd, is that despite that, I still don't feel like the program is thorough enough to cover things that I want to learn about (such as UI//UX) and I feel as though I need to go look for that education elsewhere, on top of my already difficult, time-consuming coursework. I think the pattern is that the educational system (in the U.S. at least) does not know how to adjust to how the globe is constantly changing, and as a result just doesn't work anymore. Although I certainly am fully for any given student being thoroughly prepared for their careers, I am also apprehensive to the idea of a person not having a decent amount of knowledge in other areas. Inevitably a person will be making decisions at some point in their life that requires knowledge in other areas, such as political science and the behavioral/social sciences. As a result, I would argue a person, as they exit from the school system, will take a lot of the information from the media, which is normally very skewed and uninformed. When that happens, there's a chance they'll be making life changing decisions, or potentially affecting public policy while not having the full story.
The lack of QA is what was getting me down at the start of my career. Always being told to forget about testing because there wasn't time. Always being under pressure by insane deadlines that could only be met by cutting every corner. Always releasing buggy code, hoping that the customer would never find out just how bad it was. Whatever pride you might have had in your job is quickly beaten out of you. Lately though, what's had me reconsider my choice of career is the emergence of the gig-economy. So much work is now outsourced to consultants and freelancers. There seems little place left of programmers working within the company itself. You might be hired for a few months. Maybe a year if you're lucky. But there's always the threat of getting fired without warning, often without being given a reason. How can you build a family life when you can't hold a job for more that a year at a time? Sure, you can complain about it all, but what's the point? Even if you could afford to leave (and many of us can't), it's nearly always a case of new-boss-same-as-the-old-boss. It's incredibly stressful to be always living on the edge, always facing long grueling hours in order to meet impossible deadlines. You don't survive for long in that kind of environment without getting incredibly cynical. So yeah... I hate my job. And I've got no hope left. It's a rotten nasty world out there, and I see no sign of things getting better anytime soon.
As a newer developer, I've been in the industry for almost 4 years now, you put a light on something I couldn't put my finger on before. The nihilist negative attitude of many developers puts a damper on the energy in the office, at least for me. If they switched from "everything is terrible", to "everything will be fiiine", it would make such a huge difference. Life consists of what we can perceive, and if you perceive everything as terrible, the energy you put forth into world will reflect that.
This was a big reason I was hesitant to get into programming. I'm an extroverted incredibly happy guy, and when you look at the tropes around "software developers" they're all atheist, nihilistic and depressed. Probably why I have an easier time talking to the bosses than the programmers.
@@ThatGuyDownInThe It is what it is, you get an introvert to sit at a desk and be in their head all day, it becomes difficult to get out of your head when it's time to socialize. The bosses are talking to people all day so they don't get into that rhythm. Not to get into an argument here, but veeery few programmers I've met are atheists. From my experience, about half are religious and the other half is most agnostic or 'spiritual'. Apologies if I am assuming wrong, but it comes off as you are religious, and many times religious people confuse not conforming to a structured religion as atheism, when that is not the case. Besides, when you list atheism beside nihilism and depression, you are making it out to be a negative thing, which is insulting to those who hold those beliefs (I do not consider myself an atheist, just fyi).
@@spaghettienforcer4896 No, I have no religion, I'm just spiritual. Since the job has to do with logic heavily I feel like some developers go overboard and start to see the universe as a soulless machine. But that's definitely a good thing to hear, and Idk, I used to be an atheist, I'd prefer not to be around them, it's a pretty morbid belief and I know I was a wreck when I held the belief. Just seems that a majority of atheists are nihilistic so my bad for making the comparison
@@ThatGuyDownInThe Wow, we atheist are not nihilists because we don't see a supernatural hand in the universe. You can be positive, enjoy the life you have, and not need that sort of stuff to survive. And unless you know the majority of atheist on the planet then blanket statements are not the was to go. That gets people in trouble. Now we devs can isolate ourselves and turn inward into our work. Something that most other people do not understand. It could be soul crushing after a while. I must admit I do see the universe as a soulless machine but that does not take the wonder and mystery out of the universe.
Wow, this articulates so many thoughts I have been having. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and be vulnerable. We need more content like yours on RUclips... and less of this “day in the life of” / “make 100k as a new dev” content that really doesn’t reflect reality for many of us in the field. Thank you, so much. I needed this.
I have 20 years professional experience and started coding at 12. I feel the constant flow of so called new tech and langage is killing us all. A long ago , when you learnt a langage you could use it for 10 years at least. Now i would say 5 at most. And it alls keep updating and chaning all the time. We are wasting time on this. People thinks switching to better techs will make them better coders ; instead they should become more competent about the language they have in hands.
I agree completely. I'm all for innovation but things do seem to be getting out of hand. There's a good chance you might get something out of two other videos on the channel related to your comment. "Why Are You Making Programming HARDER?" ruclips.net/video/s87Y-6EgwFI/видео.html and "New Framework Disease (NFD) in Software Development": ruclips.net/video/NCEABmfE2YQ/видео.html
I completely agree! Many of my friends are constantly changing between languages, trying to use the most recent one, but by doing that they don't give themselves the chance to get very proficient at one!
Companies want to use newest technologies and compete with each other. For this they need programmers who know these new technologies, when there is new one/more efficient, they should employ people who know it and end the cooperation with previous ones, there is nothing wrong in that, that is how free market works. Due to high requirements, programmers get high salary and if someone doesn't want to learn so fast, he may take for example one month break, during which he would catch up with new technologies and he would do it every year. If someone is genious he doesn't need it, people are different.
I completely agree. Within the last 6 years I finished a Master's in Software Engineering to bring my development skills up to date and it feels like I needn't have bothered. I received the highest grade in the School of Computing for the year but tech changes are moving so fast with the pace of updates to languages, CD/CI and cloud technology that there isn't enough time to get to grips with what was the current state of anything before your skills are already outdated again. You never get the time to get competent at anything anymore. And certainly not enough to get thru an interview if you are forced to change jobs.
Everyone wants you to have 10 years commercial experience of the latest thing, even if you already are a generally experienced programmer in that particular paradigm. Then for each new role the number of complementary skills you're supposed to have keeps increasing. So having struggled to acquire skill S, for the next role you're expected to have S + T, U and V...
After 30 years in software, I finally walked away from it because it was causing me mental health issues. It took me 4 or 5 years to get over it. These days, I still program occasionally but I am no longer active in the programming world. Perhaps I missed it in the video, but another issue is the constantly moving goal-posts. As soon as you get something well understood or working well, the language changes or the standards or frameworks change and you have to rewrite a perfectly good system just to keep it going. People rarely seem to understand that some software lasts for years, maybe decades. I see adverts sometimes looking for COBOL or RPG II programmers because a system from the 70s or 80s needs changing...
Im almost in the same boat, been in the industry for 25 years, now I'm unemployed and suffering depression and burnout, im honestly kinda scared about my future I dont know what Im gonna do, only recently came off some incredibly horrible anti depressants, so I am starting to feel better and stronger but I am shitting myself about my future career, hope youre still doing good! it gives me hope.
@@phutureproof - yes still going. Money is short but I am slowly coming back to programming but on my own terms and my own way. Considering I used to do 15 hour days, I now maybe do 15 hours a week. My life is totally different and there are days, usually when I am on deck in howling wind and cold sea spray, that I think "Why didn't I stick with programming - nice, warm, indoor work with no heavy lifting"? There are always other options, even inside IT and if you do change direction or jobs, you may be poorer but nothing pays like being able to sleep at night or not being terrified if the phone rings. Whatever you do, I wish you all the best and good fortune.
Barely two years working professionally and I already relate to some of the things you said here. Hopefully, I can put your suggestions to practice and make my career happier.
A big part of the problem is that we spend so much of our time interacting with a thing that is stupid, stubborn, and utterly unempathetic, that it is hard not to bring to our interactions with _people_ the habits of mind and attitude that make that interaction tolerable and effective.
In our country Bangladesh, there is this abundance of Computer Engineer, people of all sorts of background take some crash course and get into the job field. As this opportunity too good to be true for them they said yes to wages of really low rate, thus hampering the whole it sector. People who are undergrads are getting depressed and hopeless for it. Also there is this assumption is that CSE is all copy pasting thus the market leaders dont want to pay more and thus the softwares are bad and it is hurting the images of CSE Grads
I’m sorry to hear this. 😞 They call this a “race to the bottom” when engineers are “sold” by price alone in a market. What has helped me in my career is going beyond what others are doing in some way. You or I probably can’t change this cultural problem ourselves. But if we’re working at a company, we can kindly educate people about the value of engineering beyond just being “code monkeys”. And as individuals we can create personal projects to show in interviews, and learn to communicate better to demonstrate our being worth more. I’m sorry you’re having to cope with this currently broken system. My hope for Bangladesh is that their leadership eventually learn to see the money being lost on focusing on price alone and treating engineers as a commodity. It sometimes takes several regime changes at companies here in America for those mistakes to be overcome.
Dude. They can't fucking do that to you. I just read an acm article section about India's booming tech sector. That article filled me with so much hope for dark skinned people. What the hell are they doing to you guys over there?!
What great advice. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience! I think the main thing that pushes people to not say "no" to completely stupid expectations and asshole bosses is that they're afraid of what others think of them. All of these problems you point out are the result of immaturity. Obviously it's not just a software developer problem; I was in the military and I saw this crap first hand ALL the time and it lead to the exact same problems as you pointed out here (yes, the military in fact does NOT have its shit together and it never actually did- it's just always been good at pretending it does). Many people are simply emotionally immature because their parents haven't taught them basic things like empathy and treating others with respect and kindness, much less patience. Having humility is important and many people seem to lack that. If we all reminded ourselves that we're actually not better than anyone else it will lead to better treatment of people all around. I will never understand why some people feel the need to drag others down just because they feel shitty about themselves or their life. I teach my kids to make it a point to look out for people who are lonely or scared or ostracized and try to make friends... or at MINIMUM just talk to them. Some people are really hurting and need the help that you might be able to give them!
Thank you for the great video. And for anyone who arrives here: the comments are a goldmine of info about how developers feel and how their career progresses. You'll find things you deeply agree with and things you didn't even know you felt before you read them. It seems this video really struck a chord with many programmers.
I feel so empathetic hearing all the five points you mentioned in this video why programmers tend to lose hope. I have experienced this myself, especially meeting deadlines and compromising on quality of code, lack of testing and staying longer at work than required to ensure my code doesn't break the entire pipeline. It does get stressful sometimes, but lately I noticed that my productivity has improved when I started taking preliminary steps before someone gives me tasks, anticipating what the problems can arise during production. I respect the point that you mentioned about standing up for yourself and not letting other people dictate how long it should take for you to write a certain piece of code, especially if they never engaged themselves with contributing towards the logic that you have been writing.
100% Agree and you're 100% correct. I've been on web, robotics and now 2 years into game development and I faced those things in all areas. Hope things got better to you dude, dunno why the algorithm only recommended this now.
I just found this recently while I feel lost in my carrer path in College as a Computer Science Student. Felt unmotivated due to me being overworked on program deadlines and eventually I got sick.. But these videos are a huge help. Will be subscribing to your channel This means a lot...
I always keep watching this video to get inspirtation! I think the courage of say "NO" is something we achieve only with time. Every developer will have to deal with frustation to compromise the quality of the solution sometimes because of the way the organizations works, but with time and experience he or she will be able to deal with it. I'm facing this chalenge right now in my new job.
Man, i wish if u have uploaded this video long ago, You have no idea how much of positive energy u spread here, all what u have said is on point can't even argue with a word u said Thank u for the video and keep posting these healthy videos
As a kind of in the middle developer (around 15 years) this is so refreshing, your channel is amazing and this video should be watched by every professional imho, I’ve always been annoyed by our career’s people attitude, thinking we’re superior to the rest of “dumb” people, there’s a huge lack of education in ethics and soft skills, seems like the most valuable thing is how many technology trends I do, rather than how valuable will this be for our end users and how good I make it for my fellow devs to take over. Of course I’m totally guilty of having these flaws and negative thoughts in the past and wish I had been more critical of myself a bit earlier. Anyway, thanks for the great video.
I think i hit a variation of #4 after being promoted to senior dev. When i was starting out i always saw this destination as the perfect state of being. Now i just make these products i don't care about, barely doing anything challenging, and find no satisfaction in my work. So i started working on a personal project, doing things i find interesting and in my own way. I'm not sure it's going to be profitable, but i haven't felt so good about coding in a very long time. I think in software development we all hit this valley of despair, but i also think we have the tools to fix it ourselves.
I just found this video now, 6 years later. Another frustration I would add is that no matter how much you study, you'll never have that feeling of "now I know stuff", because technology is moving faster and faster, and we as developers always feel like we're falling behind. In any case, thank you for the great video, and for the suggestions!
Wow, your thoughts are so deep. Really valuable look on the job. You pin pointed the crux of the issue. The first step is to recognize the issue, as there is a lot of tensions from the lack of clarity about the emotions.
#4 Hits home for me right now. Sometimes I just sit, look at nothing, and think about the purpose of existence. I don't know what to do with that. Now I'm just waiting to find an answer or for the feeling to magically go away.
In my experience, most programming classes are thought by instructors who are not skilled as teachers, and have very little to no social skills. More importantly, when it comes to explaining complex concepts and breaking it down to simple terms. I had yet to find a programming class that really help me understand and appreciate programming. I also agree that most jobs have unrealistic goals and always push the team to rush the job.
This is why, looking for the best possible resources online, and being disciplined, make being self-taught better in many ways. Another alternative is formal education for the qualifications and then learning on one's own on the side. Obviously, that is pretty time consuming though.
Really great video. Quality should not be compromised, keep your integrity and craftsmanship. I recommend any developer to read "Clean Coder" by Uncle Bob. It is an eye opener, specially the chapter "Saying No". There's also a chapter in "Code Complete" about "managing your manager".
One other thing that makes me feel hopeless is that the most I learn, the most the "industry" or other devs or youtube channels say that it isn't enough. Everyday there is a "new tech/programming language/cloud/and/so/on" that is better that what I'm still learning and, because of that, they make me feel like I'm losing my time learning things that aren't the new hype. I study a lot, create projects to practice and learn complex things and then, someone shows up and say "hey, why are you learning 'this'? You need to learn 'that', because 'this' is dead and bla bla bla" I feel like i'm lost in a desert. I don't know which direction to take, and when I decide to walk, someone appears saying that it is the wrong direction. "You need to go to the other direction". And if you do that, another guy appears and say the same! Man, this is so tiring....
I've been around the block for a few years and I've discovered that statement is mostly bullshit. Technology doesn't rotate out THAT fast. In fact it doesn't rotate much at all, it just grows. There's still work being done in COBOL or FORTRAN. IMO, to get out of your rough patch you need to do some soul searching and what you want to do. What is your goal? Is it to get a job? Well, open some job ads in your area, and see what people are hiring for, try out some of the technology they use until you find something that sticks to you. Is it to build something interesting in technology you never used before? Think of something you'd like, or a problem you'd like to solve, then research for technology built for that scenario. The most important thing however is the fundamentals. When you grasp solid fundamentals and understand programming paradigms then things get easier. Remember the "mostly" part from my initial sentence? The hottest technology does indeed come with the bigger paychecks and the more interesting work, probably from scratch so you'll get to make important decisions early on that drive the project.
Remember you apply for a junior, your seniors will be ok with you not knowing everything. That's why there will be a pay gap, learn as you work and mlve up the ladder, Don't compare your sprint times with Usain bolt, start with being the fastest in your neighbourhood
I feel you, but some times the one that can save you is your own personal favorite language :D. Some one said to me vb is just for kids but still i'm using it for my works to create a lot of tools to help me, and it was so happens the tools that i create from vb language save my company project so very often lol
I just recently quit my job as I ended up arguing with my team lead about almost everything. I was given 20 minutes to fix a bug I didn't even know the exact reason for (and which required almost 2 days of proper fixing), I was accused being not productive enough while at the same time put in almost every meeting the company held, even though it didn't require my presence. My pull-requests kept hanging at her for weeks as she didn't find time to go over them and I had to take over some of her projects as my number of open issues was way lower compared to the others. Over time I just lost interest in putting myself more into the work as all I ended up with was working from home in my spare time for a couple hours more (without being paid for those hours) just to please her or my boss and avoid constant confrontation at work. I therefore can relate so much with what you've said ...
Ugh, sorry to hear. 🤦🏻♂️ I’m guessing you’ve heard the expression “people don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses”. Hopefully you find a more supportive lead soon.
@@Gaming4BoringGrownUps The problem was definitely not her being a woman, if so, it was more related to her constantly underestimating overheads on certain tasks and our views on what is more important. To her, clearly, the roll-out of new features was more important than overall code-quality while I am still a defender of code-quality first and shipping features when they are ready. I am pretty sure that I'd have had the same issues with a male lead if he valued the same things she does. I also believe that more women in lead positions could actually improve overall working conditions, at least when their working attitude isn't typically competitive-driven as those couple of leads I had to work with seem to have all favored. Statements like the one in your comment, IMO, either stem from either unfulfilled wishful thinking that the female lead might have a personal interest in you (and thus some kind of rejected feelings) or from believes that women are less capable of doing the same job equally good as one-self. I'm pretty sure for every study that claims women are less capable of doing X there is an other study that just proves the opposite. I still believe "how you communicate" and how you treat each other is way more important than whether your lead is male or female.
You had me at consumerism! One thing that programmers on offshore companies sometimes struggle with is that their product is not used by people in the society they live in. It leads to a very specific kind of alienation from our work, as we don't find that kind of fulfilment in our work.
Before I was a programmer I was a welder at a DOD shipyard for about 11 years so I was used to overtime, hard deadlines, jerks for foreman, and appalling working conditions. When I got into programming at 27 I was way behind the curve, but knew what it was like to work hard in bad conditions. My first 10 years programming was mostly grunt work on a OMS / WMS product with specs, estimates and hard deadlines. I can remember getting questioned for going over estimate and under estimate. The next 12 years to present I have been on a new development team where we get some relatively simple requests for new functionality which is pretty easy to estimate, but I have also many times been given directives like " I want a Google like search for our parts database(IMS not relational) and I want it in two weeks. They meant it too. After years of shit like that and a VERY demanding manager I learned that I would try my best to hit the deadlines, but wouldn't plan for hiri kiri if I didn't make it. All they could do at worst was fire me and least was to bitch incessantly until I got it done. Never got fired. For years I was an app programmer and one day I was told to build a website for the company to enter cost savings suggestions. I told my boss I'd never done web programming and it was a totally different skill set than what I had and he just said "Just do it and you have 4 weeks". He didn't care how I did it, just get it done. What programmers don't understand sometimes it that what we do is magic. When someone uses software it's like turning on a light switch and getting light, or turning on the faucet and water coming out. People have no idea how it happens and most importantly don't care. When a programmer comes to the understanding of that AND that people want what they want and don't care how you get to that point, you'll understand your profession and be able to come to grips with it. Good full stack Programmers are magicians, don't let anybody tell you differently.
@@Laroac Not bad. They assigned another .Net programmer with me that had a little web experience but hated web programming with a passion. So once we figure out what we wanted it to look like he would create the ASP pages and I'd write the code behind them. Once I saw what he was doing with the page creation then I was doing both. It took us a good 1.5 months to maybe 2 before it was ready to go to production and we changed and enhanced it many times after that. It basically became my job to upgrade and maintain it for years after. It looked nice and had good functionality, but neither of us were too impressed with it, but those in the field loved it. A few years later when our company merged with another, they saw it and loved it so much I had to integrate them into it. That sucked, but they just loved it. At the end of the day if you know how to build good user friendly software it doesn't matter if it's web, app, batch processing, you can do it. As a side note I left that company to go do web programming for another and before I got to do any real web stuff for them, they found out I knew COBOL and asked me to help out on a project they were having issues on. I hate COBOL, but I like solving problems. So far it's been interesting. Maybe I'll get back to the Web stuff later but who knows. Whatever makes the money right!
I'm 34 and will be completing my software degree in a couple of months............to finally begin my new career in software dev..............so this advise is truly invaluable. Half of what you say is actually relatable to me already because much of those issues can be experienced in different careers (though a lot is more specific to dev work I imagine).........the big reason why I took a career change is because I became disillusioned with working in lower skilled jobs and feeling like an unappreciated commodity (as well as the fact the work I did was simply not 'me'), but its clear those feelings can exist even in dev work so its important not to needlessly find yourself as unhappy as you was in your last career............I also completely get what you say about finding purpose in your life outside of money and impulse...........because they can become very old very fast if that's all you live for.........work/life balance is the key to prospering in both your work and your life.
You’re very welcome. Nothing wrong with struggling, it’s a tough career. Anyone who doesn’t think so hasn’t been in it long (personal opinion). Hang in there!
Refreshing to hear someone talking about the human perspective in all of this, we are all people first. Everyone keep saying that they're agile, but they don't value transparency when people are being honest about actual issues. As an upcoming project manager, I feel that this will be one of the most important part of the job, to work with people and create a team that trust each other.
I couldn't agree more. Your team probably doesn't realize it, but they should be thankful as a project manager they have someone who gets that! I talked more about trust on software teams in another video that you may relate to, "Is It Safe To Make Mistakes On Your Software Project?": ruclips.net/video/-dhLuNcMUIo/видео.html
Just found this video now and its exactly where I currently am, I've was working 16 hour days for a long time with intense deadlines and it destroyed me, I'm still at this company currently and I've been so burnt out for the last 4ish months, I havent been able to really get excited over this work or do my best. I'm putting in my months notice at the end of this month to grow my own company. I've realized that I'm destroying myself for someone elses legacy and success and I'm done doing that.
This applies to any workplace and any job. I have quit jobs because of racist or misogynistic attitudes of the workplace. I have worked in an atmosphere that felt like friends working together and rewarded my efforts to promote that condition. I still have friends from that time 30 or 40 years ago. Promote the attitude you want in a workplace. Relationships are as important as knowing how to do your job well. If the team succeeds, they will know that you helped them succeed.
You’re very welcome and I appreciate you sharing this. I try to tell people this stuff is going on even in the Industry leaders, but many would rather believe that everything will be perfect if they get a more prestigious gig, than do the work to have a healthier career anywhere! I hope you’re doing well. Hang in there!
What you say sounds very reasonable. I'm usually very critical about RUclips videos with similar titles. But I've gone pretty much through the same process to reach the same conclusions give or take. I feel that I would enjoy working with you.
What makes me lose hope? Seeing more and more this industry get overwhelmed by people with no genuine interest in it and barely any ability. Having the fix their mistakes, pick up their slack, counteract their dogmatism, trawl through their nonsense articles and posts that obfuscate the useful information. The rest is just how businesses function. It's the same everywhere.
5:34 You can place that blame on the community at large itself. The egos that run in the community is one of the most if not the most difficult barrier for novice programmers to surpass, there are only a few people that are truly willing to teach and/or have the patience. But this is not only noticeable between experienced and novices programmers. The attitude in general of "completely effortless talent" that programmer handle themselves with; the...: "That's so 2004" or the "you don't know how to code if haven't code in this or that".... The: "Yeah, that's super easy"... mocking glaring mistakes, and every attitude, phrase, (it doesn't even have to be rude)... at diminishing your peers efforts ... is noticed by everyone around you...colleagues or management. It is so easy for them to conclude: "If you are so talented, and its so easy for you, then lets pay you the same for doing more then." Its easy guys. Be more humble, respect everyone around you, and respect your own job instead of showing off how fast and good you code.
The easy way to pass this barrier as a novice is to realize that these people arent actually any better people because of their experience or their age, they are just people too, and you can learn everything they learned too. If they condescend you that only means they are dicks, not that youre bad at programming.
I used to think that it's important to build "great" software rather than software that works for the business. Learning to identify with business needs and scope for the tradeoffs that experience gives you, empowers you to advise from a position of knowledge rather than some curmudgeon that "knows what's best." And yeah you gotta push back and learn to scope properly. For personal experience, scoping projects was the hardest thing to learn and was a source of much stress early in my career. Great video!
Hardware / Firmware dev here. I used to work at a company where we usually made almost everything you can imagine, ranging from high quality embedded printed circuit boards (hardware and firmware development) to back-end and front-end applications ... The company had one of the most awesome dev-teams you could imagine, junior and senior devs respected each other as nowhere else... Then our current manager (who was an engineer himself) was replaced by a new one, after complains from the arts and design department inside the company. Apparently our old manager didn't give them (artists and designers) enough freedom in design choice, as he respected quality more than fanciness. New management instantly decided to outsource all hardware related development. Apparently most managers see no difference between electronics and screwing in a light-bulb, forget about them understanding you actually have to program most of modern circuit-boards. They then contacted the cheapest freelance companies containing mainly designers, designers playing with Arduino's creating the biggest junk you could ever imagine. Heck, instead of having an actual circuit board I discovered electronics component directly soldered onto wires in multiple of their creations, some of their junk was an actual fire hazard (and yes one of their creations really started a small fire), and so on. But it looked beautiful on the outside, so management went with it. Stayed there for over a year, mainly to drive around and fix those freelancers their delivered junk, that would break on daily basis. After a couple of months I was alone, as the entire dev team left, either because they found another job or got burned/bored out. Tried to explain to management that I signed a contract as firmware dev, and not to drive around and play repair technician. They promised to look into that issue and maybe hire someone else to do the repairing for me. Months went by and nothing changed. I went to HR on regular basis to complain about the high amount of repair work they gave me. After a while I started to notice they would give me some small front-end development work shortly after each of my visits to HR. This meant working in team with the biggest egotistical ar** of a designer probably alive on this planet. He would literally interrupt me out of my concentration every 30 minutes for minor details, force me to change 90% of the design one day before deadline, sometimes he didn't provide any wire-frame so I had to guess what he wanted, to afterwards be insulted by him cause my creation wasn't beautiful enough, and so on... This combined with a bunch of PM's that didn't do their job even half decently. They would only inform me about a project one week before deadline, I would be the one sending mails contacting the designer, translator, graphical department to plan a meetings. Even after a meeting months prios, I would still receive some of the requirements the day of deadline, or the day after deadline. To make it complete, every time the project was overdue I was blamed for it... So I quickly hated that part of the job more than driving around, fixing others their hardware failures. After a year I found the courage to leave for another job, and yes the grass is in fact greener somewhere else.
Hey there thanks for sharing this story. It’s really hard when you’re on an awesome team and the culture slowly devolves like that. Knowing when to stay or leave is an art in and of itself. Glad to hear you made it out relatively unscathed and haven’t let that experience jade you too much. 👍
@@Mustis1524 if you're asking me, I'm a consultant for software companies/teams in the morning, and a career coach in the afternoon. I love career coaching because it lets me give back to other struggling developers and help them avoid the mistakes I made so they can keep growing (same purpose of this channel). I do consulting mostly to pay the bills and support my family, but I prefer it to being an employee for all the reasons outlined in another video I did, "Software Developer vs Consultant - What's Best For YOU?": ruclips.net/video/28Uh9erOyLg/видео.html
I'm a defense attorney and computer science student. This video was really valuable for reflecting on my years as an attorney and my future as a programmer. Thank you!
Being a happy software developer is all about constructive communication. Learn your soft skills and be a part of a good team. Work in a company with a flat hierarchy if you can. Don't lose your hope, change the environment if you are not happy with things. Always improve yourself, so you can have a card to hold on.
I would say as a cs undergrad there are many things that I can relate to in this video. It's terrifying that sometimes we wouldn't even notice that we have become more toxic and are comparing ourselves with other people. Really appreciate how you've shared these feelings with us and provided these great suggestions on how to fix this. The purpose of life is really like a non-stoping question and hope we all will find an answer to it eventually...
You lose hope in any job you love when you firstly start to do it, because bosses and clients make you do things you don't believe in and they don't respect you. That's why if you have 2 passions , choose the one you less like the most to make it as a job and save the other to make it as your hobby :) I use to love IT and software developing, then i started to work for a company and they were very "Do this and this, i don't care i just need you to do this and this" so i lost the passion. But i also love electronics, that's why i make it as a hobby and i hope to not have to make it as a job, otherwise i'll lose the hope you say.
there are too many stupid people in this world that is the problem. i am working in i.t. for about 20 years now and the amount of stupidity i encountered is unbelievable. why can't everyone just be civilized? And how are non technical people even got put in charge of some projects at technical companies?
FixDaily - Electronics hi, I’m 40 and I loved programming as a child (BASIC), since then I’ve always wanted to program, but for reasons I chose another path. I’d like to have programming as a hobby (not even freelance) do you think that’s posibble? What sort of things would you do in such situation? Thank you (of course I love electronics as well, from a tourist’s perspective tho’)
I genuinely don't usually like most other coder/coding youtube channels. But from what i've seen sofar of your content, you definitely seem to offer solid advice. Well said.
Ehy mate, just wanna tell you that I subscribed after 5 minutes you started :). I've been working in this industry for more than ten years and I got so frustrated that I feel I can't take it any longer or at least not in this way. I relate completely with what you said and I'd like to thank you for the advice. Great content and looking forward to check other videos out, thanks :)
How do you stay positive though? In my career, I have remained bold and didn't let anyone push me around; whether to compromise on code quality to meet deadlines, to choose the latest hyped up stack etc... I have always been super transparent and straight forward with management at all places I worked, and never feared expressing my opinion/refusal to do something in a way I knew was going to compromise the project. I even on several occasions put myself in front of the team to voice our concerns with management on behalf of those afraid to speak up. Etc... What have I gained from being bold? nothing. It actually played against me often: management always feel a transparent and opinionated engineer is a threat. Coworkers for whom you volunteer on their behalf to voice concerns with management, almost always get revealed as professional brown noses, first to back stab you to get cookie points that could get them promoted etc.. Before you know it, what you thought was the noble and right thing to do turns against you and creates a bad reputation for you. Staying positive is a good thing but seldom always feasible. In this field, you gotta walk carefully and slowly; exactly like you would do walking in a field full of land mines. Integrity is a double edge sword in this domain.
Hey there, I’m really sorry to hear this. I’ll start by saying man can I relate. I wish most people were ethical and straightforward but as you know it only takes a few bad actors to throw everything off. My recommendation to you, which as I always tell my career coaching clients you should take with a grain of salt, is to learn more about figuring out what motivates people, signs of trust issues, and other consulting skills. There are definitely times when being too transparent and vocal have gotten me in trouble. These days I refuse to lie when asked a direct answer or withhold crucial information. But I also don’t get into details or expect support from people who I don’t know well enough or have put up red flags. Hang in there! You don’t need to compromise your ethics, but you may need to be a little more patient and strategic about making change. I hope some of that maybe helps you (or someone else reading this).
@@HealthyDev Yes, strategic is the right word. I adapted mine to compare moving on in this domain with walking between land mines. ie keep moving forward but while keeping an eye around so i Don't get hurt personally. I just found your channel today, thanks for the quality content and for speaking about this important topic.
I've had a very similar experience. Every company says they value people that speak up but very few of them really do. Unfortunately the best way to survive is to keep your head down and your mouth shut.
4 года назад
...which is why you never, ever approach management like this on your own. Get management to come to a meeting with the team/group. Prepare beforehand so that as many of the team as possible take their turn to speak and forward plan answer variants and, as always, offer solutions. If you get little/no additional help then quite simply, that team ain't getting your help to make things better. Of course, you'll be reassessing things after that. The bigger the organisation the more you are just a 'number'.
I’ve been a dev for 6 years now and just started at a big software house that uses scrum and everything. Your videos continue to give me confidence as I build my career and how to navigate a lot of this big cultural stuff I’ve been wary of
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This is what we want on the Internet, not some fake programming gurus
lmao so true
As a millionare, ex-Google, ex-Facebook engineer
@@igorordecha Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well :D
So true, this guy deserve my subscription
I've really never seen anybody approach the difficulties programmers face this way. It's interesting.
"Is all I'm here for just to write code, make money and purchase things?"
Jesus Christ this cut me deep
Jesus Christ cut me deep 🤣. You’ll understand if you watch the “My Recovery from Programmer Anger” video. 😉
@@HealthyDev I'll have to watch then.
Thanks for this video. Comforting to see so many comments from devs. I'm not alone.
Still, Id like to get to that void point in my life . Then frustrate, then watch this aeesome videi
@@finonomastropiero4261 Trust me you wouldn't... It hits you really hard haha. But good luck ;)
Stephen Anthony that’s the definition of miserable.
Wow! Wish I'd seen this video 15 years ago when I retired from software development for many of the described reasons. Money can buy you guitars but if the guitars just sit in the corner because you're too busy to learn to play or to perform, then that money isn't buying happiness. It's just decorating your so-called life.
Thanks. I wouldn’t have been able to see this stuff clearly enough to make this video 15 years ago! 🤣
Why? You retired when you were supposed to and good for you! Programming is shit anyways. Just controlling things. No interaction with sane humans, no social life, just code and money. Faq that.
Sometimes people insist on getting an estimation and I say "3 months" and they go "wow that's ridiculous" and I'm like "well if you want a more accurate answer then give me time to investigate"
@@ollydix Prolly "do an application"
I once gave a 3 year estimate. Turns out it was still too low.
@@ollydix A financial advisory firm made a number of changes to their formulas and I had to translate those changes to C#. I didn't know the extend of the changes, the good thing is that we already had unit tests in place so we could put the same inputs in their system and compare it against the outcome of our unit tests, so in the end it only took about a week.
@@ollydix Haha I also had a BA telling me "but... this is just a single page application!!! You should be able to get it done quickly, right?" and my answer to that was "well Facebook is also a single page application" O,O
Just thought of something, but not sure:
Asking a software developer for an estimate of how long it will take to code something is a bit like asking an author of fictional literature for an estimate of how long it will take to write their next novel.
You may not realize, but this applies to way more other jobs and careers out there than you might expect. Which makes this video and topic even more important than it already is.
I agree. As an upcoming high school junior aspiring to be in the computer science field, I find that many bits of advice given in this video have helped me look at my situation from a different perspective. For instance, his advice on not being afraid to ask for help definitely hit very close to home, as I had perceived myself as weak for asking people for help. Another piece of advice that I had found applicable was to further acknowledge and inform people of uncertainty. I had always felt incompetent for speaking about things without certainty. As CaptmagiKono said, I also found this video helpful and concur that these pieces of advice are readily applicable outside your intended audience.
also agree. i'm a scientist in academia that codes and found that the majority of points this guy makes are relevant to either an experience i've had or am having. not the one about getting paid tons, though, LOL
But having and keeping a job is better than having none.
Similar to me in my past career in mechanical engineering. I think any highly technical discipline has the same issues!
Thief! You stole my comment! I worked in auditing/accounting for a long time, and it was exactly the same. I still wake up sweating sometimes remembering stupid small jobs from 15 years ago were I was given bs estimates to complete the work. To say nothing of the number of times I was flat out told to compromise the quality.
Some tips for students and fresh graduates:
1. Don't be a perfectionist.
If you are passionate about programming and didn't get into this just for money, then you probably always strive for best design
and try to obey all good practices. But your manager and customer don't care. In the end software is just a tool and if it gets the job done,
then it's already good enough. No one will appreciate beauty under the hood, so don't try to make a sports car if you're asked for a scooter.
2. Develop your soft skills.
Let's be honest, programming is an ideal field for people with unusual personalities and/or huge egos.
Learning a bit about psychology and negotiation will help you understand them and improve communication.
Might also help with getting a raise.
3. Take another person's perspective.
Your supervisor asks for impossible? You have the right to be angry, but what if he has to face even greater demands?
Think about it before you lash out at him, it may save you from feeling like a total jerk later on.
Try to find out what he really needs, maybe when he says "We need to finish this functionality by Wednesday." he really means
"I need something I can show to the customer." but doesn't communicate it well enough. In this case there may be some room for negotiation.
4. Avoid touchy subjects.
Don't discuss politics, religion etc. even if the company has relaxed atmosphere.
There's little to be gained here and a lot to lose.
5. Strive for financial stability.
You will feel much better knowing that if everything else fails, you can just walk out
and slam the door.
Great advice for life in general, i completely agree.
When pushing back it can be difficult to just say "no" to your superior. In such situations I have found it easier to give the boss or manager a choice:
"You can either have it the way you want in 6 weeks, or you can have it in 3 weeks but we will need to compromise on feature X, or code quality."
This way the manager gets to make the final decision of how to spend the company's money. You're not the stubborn bad guy.
(Whispers: And you can often present the choices in a way that will get the response you want!)
Good advice. If you haven’t seen it already, you may get some other ideas for saying no more effectively from another video I did on the topic. It’s by no means exhaustive, but some things have helped me be more successful: ruclips.net/video/gGTOPoxVFsE/видео.html
Nice one!!!
Shows control and professionalism.
But there's still the danger of burning out if you are forced to operate against your personal values often. Compromising on code quality and clean code go against my personal values. Those compromises make me feel like a code whore as opposed to the artisan I really want to be.
@@sail4life yeah I understand. I think the key word in your reply is "often". We all have to compromise occasionally, but if we do it all the time - definitely a big cause for losing hope!!!
Yeah yeah.. and then they started saying bad things about your code and your incompetentcy on solving issues. and you stressed out having to explain the short time given
Not to gatekeep or anything but:
I see many programming people on youtube that are like "Programming is easy, I can make a Python TCP socket in 2 minutes, server and client. You can too learn Python in a week".
Sorry to burst your bubble but no you can't. Yes you can learn the basic syntax of a language in a week or 2, but not "programming".
Programming is so much more difficult than anyone would like to admit, it isn't only the coding part. Hell, I'm coding around 50% of the time, the rest is spent thinking about the code (sometimes I lay in bed, I eat or do anything else that isn't me sitting at my pc).
Some people have this idealistic view of "Oh, programming is just writing some lines of code and I can make the Witcher 3". There is a reason for a frontend and backend...
I'm not trying to discourage anyone into programming or anything, I'll gladly help someone struggling with their projects, but the expectations must be kept realistic
I don’t see this as gatekeeping at all. This is just letting people know it can be difficult. I’ve chosen to focus on the relational and personal challenges with software on this channel only because in my experience that’s the biggest problem.
While some people are clearly not cut out for programming, I see many who have loads of potential but aren’t given the support or time to succeed. Couple that with a “cog in a wheel” mindset where many companies think most programmers are basically the same so you can swap a more experienced person with a cheaper hire and have the same results, and the system then actively underdevelops the workforce.
It’s in this environment where I believe programmers need more sophistication in dealing with people so they can protect the integrity of their craft enough to keep growing and deliver despite the dysfunctions you run into any time multiple people work together.
Inexperienced managers can point to this attitude as perfectionism, but there’s a big difference between aiming for perfection and struggling to deliver absolutely unmaintainable code in the appearance of success by hitting deadlines.
I’m guessing you already know all this, just putting it here as a clarification in light of your observations. 👍
@@HealthyDev Oh boy, changing programmers because "they are all the same". Trust me when I say I've seen plenty of people in my studies that are solely in it for the money. Most of them fail enough to drop out, but some manage to get their degree and live off the "I'll get paid more than if I hadn't gone for this" mentality.
I'm currently struggling with the balance between finishing something really quick, then people will tell me "how difficult could it be if a just graduated student could do it that quickly", and delaying it with the "Other people can finish the same work in less time, hurry up" bullshit.
I have to delay my work a little (just simply working less hours a day from home) to give my work more value than if I don't do that... How rediculous is that? It's not like I'm delivering subpar work, they tell me it's up to their standard, but if I don't delay, they think less of the task...
Sorry, I just kinda wanted to vent a little :s
@@rednassie1101 this is when I like to ask people "I know you're under pressure to deliver, but if delivering products with the skillset of junior developers could produce everything, there wouldn't be any senior or lead developers. If I take longer to deliver a feature than a junior developer, it's because I'm protecting you from a bigger loss down the road. If you want me to stop offering you the full value I bring as a developer, I can take shortcuts that you have to cleanup later, but you'll have to explicitly ask me to do that."
A programmer can produce useful code in any language, if not always easily. Programming is about identifying a need, breaking the need into problems that need solving, breaking those problems into workable sub-problems, solving those sub-problems, assembling those solutions into grander solutions, and ultimately fulfilling that initial need. Coding is one aspect of solving the sub-problems - the rest is about planning, integration into the overall system or design, analysis and optimization, documentation...
Just because I can unclog a toilet doesn't make me a plumber. Being able to write some JavaScript, Java, Python, Fortran, etc. doesn't make you a programmer.
Yeah anytime I see a blog post, tutorial or documentation telling you it can be done in 30 mins is really telling you that you can get it done in 30 mins if you already have lots of experience in the related tech/API.
There are tons of developer out there who will teach you react, vue, angular, node, python but we need people like you who can teach us actual things which happen in software carrier, thanks please continue this we need more help on topics like this 🙏
Glad you’re finding value in this! Thank you. 👋
The thing that saved me was I stopped caring. I still care enough to get the job done, and do a good job, but I don't care beyond that. Caring was killing me. Now I care about other things in my life more, and that's where I get the fulfillment I was looking for.
Excellent video. Subscribed and liked.
This is still very hard and painful for me...
Dont worry be an asshole. It is the best attitude. Peace
This is a good advice. This also have saved me.
Everyone who cares too much is prone to burn out. I'm in that pot as well. Hopefully I am reflecting on it soon enough I can overcome this. I've already learned to not care about at least some things, or at least not care that much. Once people like us realize it's not worth both their mental and physical health, they actually do something with it, with themselves, to avoid such damage.
In my case, I wouldn't say that I stopped caring, I just give credit (or blame ... yeah, mostly blame) where credit is due. You give me an unreasonable deadline? Well, that's not my deadline, it's yours.
When first started programming after I graduated from college, my coworkers were cruel and toxic. Every little knowledge that they had, they made sure that it was only them that knew it. All I know is that, I did not want to end up like them. Got out of that company and did consultanting work, and saw that you get a lot more done sharing information and working as a team. I also learned how to get other people to do work for you 😭
Really great developers won't keep things to themselves. In fact, they'll chase you down a hallway to breathlessly talk about some exciting thing they discovered. True passion isn't possessive, it desires to be shared.
My job has taken me to many different employers. I first worked for my last employer 25 years ago. Everyone was protective of their knowledge ("Its for me to know and you to find out.") which didn't help anyone. I wasn't a newbie and when my new colleagues saw that I freely shared my knowledge, they started to share theirs. Today it is a totally different place. They even mentor college grads now. If you can't persuade your team to share the knowledge it is definitely time to look elsewhere though.
I worked with a team who really worked to bring me up to speed and give me new skills but i always kept coming to the same issue of not knowing where things were stored when I needed them. I relied on another team for this information and it was often hard to get the information i wanted. I was always thinking that i was not explaining properly or it was because i did not know what i didn't know to make the right requests. One day I was having a long conversation with this team and a newer person came along asking for something and were given a deliberately wrong steer. I asked why they did this and they plainly said that they didn't want new people taking their jobs. This despite the fact their work had previously belonged to another team.
@@DryPsylocibin These are the best. People who are where they are because they are interested. People who live and breath IT even when not at work, self taught from childhood, training themselves, keeping up to date themselves. IT mentality is experiential like a language (above coding languages). Its why companies recruiting look to experience before qualifications. Then there are people who moved into these areas because of pay or because it sounded good or employer re-organizations put them there. For these the attitude can be that they think they can just go on a training course paid by their employer and then continue to put in 9-5, switch off all interest afterwards and be equal rated employees to the ones you refer to. Soon as long hours appear or work becomes mentally arduous they are looking for promotion or sideway moves to escape and any deficiency in their skill is due to the employer not sending them on enough training courses
"Is all I'm here for just to write code, make money and purchase things?"
Jesus Christ this cut me deep
You have no idea how much I wish I could have seen this a year ago. As a junior-mid engineer struggling to get out of a pigeonhole in a crummy part of the industry, thank you so much for this!
Happy to help! It's a great job, just keep going and try to learn from your mistakes. That's the best we can all do!
I'm a 22 year old software dev just starting out in the industry and i have already been faced with many of these problems. Thank you so much this is exactly what i needed to understand. You caught me before i trapped my self in a vicious cycle. Moving forward i will be more cognoscente of these things and continue to improve my self.
You have no idea how happy it makes me to think that people like you might not make some of the mistakes I did! ❤️
You're blessed if you start out with some warnings many had to learn the hard way. Or unfortunately, many never learned at all. If I may hand you one piece of advice with my limited 12 years of experience: don't stay longer at some job than necessary when you're starting to feel underappreciated, stuck or overly frustrated. There's gonna be some downsides everywhere but a change of environment can be incredibly eye-opening. It's easy to start feeling very loyal to a company and completely responsible for the software you create. It becomes a matter of ownership and pride. But trust me on this one... It is entirely possible to walk away, never ever look back and accept it's their responsibility now. Always put out good work with a sense of care for whoever will maintain it, be it your or someone else, but understand that it's THEIR software and they accept both the good and the bad.
Pace yourself, pay attention to HOW you use the computer. poor ergonomics can put someone "on the bench".
I have foolishly been using a computer wrong for over 25 years and now carpal, and other bad ergonomic injuries have made long sessions working frustrating and painful. Not to mention one's vision changes with age and reading things on the screen can become frustrating.
So, take care of yourself, don't grind in front of the screen for hours and hours, get up take breaks, exercise, stay healthy.
I gave up hope because my body no longer plays along with me.
@@peterbelanger4094 oh my gosh 😅 I am swd for 11 years + 5 years of education. And all 11 years was thinking that that herman miller is too expensive for me. Even though I earn 3-4 those chairs a months, I still can't allow it to myself. It's just crazy. I grumpy old men while being 32 years old 😅
@@Youvko I'm 52, it gets worse. No chair is perfect. What our bodies need is to be moving around. I have found that a pet is a good "nag" to remind me to get up and stretch and take my eyes off the screen.
Decided to get into hobby electronics and 3D printing to see if I can come up with new controller ideas.
This video is the gospel. You, sir, with this video, have earned a "like" and "subscribe" more than any other RUclipsr in the history of RUclips.
Bravo, Good Sir. Job well done.
Agreed! A church should be built on the spot from where you made this video! :)
Your first point hits home SO hard. I'm a perfectionist and HATE cutting corners. Even on my own personal projects, it pains me so much to cut corners and stray from the best practice. I'm actually in awe because this is the first time I've heard someone speak out about this. Strange how most programming-youtubers pretend it's all sunshine and rainbows.
I love the words "Cognitive Overload". It actually perfect fits so many situations at work. Having to provide ELI5, ELI10, ELI20, ELIBOOMER explanations to different groups of people on your team (junior engineers, managers, principals) is another layer of mental taxation above understanding the systems in the first place
3rd year in a computer science course and all this emerging trending technologies are killing me. Opportunities want the capabilities of a whole IT department in one person... I'm regretting loving computing in the first place... being a farmer would have probably been easier and still as satisfying
Oh man I feel you. I completed my degree in CS with a first class in 2018. The emerging technologies and the requirements to know about 5 of them in one go its just plain crazy. By the time u finish mastering them the company gets taken over by somebody else and new trends are introduced. Its a night mare indeed. Frankly I regret too loving CS. I hv seen people who r mechanical engineers for example hving a great time since the core technology is still the 40s tech with easy to master current innovations. They dont hv to keep learnign about new engine systems and all things. Am in Africa currently and there is a farmer I know who is just enoying his life. I sometiems look at him and think to myself what on earth am I doing.
@@silentlessons4221 that is very correct, I did not want to become a doctor as my cousin was all the time studying, now CS engineer is the same.. Eventually my cousin stop studying.. Gained experience and became well paid.. But I keep studying after 20 years in CS field... I made a mistake. Like is not to keep up, like is to arrive and enjoy... No arrival for me..
Go look for videos about Cow scratchers. Farming will look even more fun :)
It’s easy to imagine another field being more exciting until you’ve actually worked in it. Kind of like the saying...” grass is always greener on the other side...”. Technology is a fast moving field and the job listings will always ask for an unrealistic amount of qualifications. Don’t let that stop you from applying. Be honest about your qualifications. Do your best to show that you have good fundamental knowledge and are willing and capable of learning new things.
@@kosbebot6360wow....pretty sure there's no programming thats as satisfying to watch as watching cows,chicken,pigs or even just ducks enjoy themselves on a farm....thanks for the gold mine suggestion ;)
Thank you. I have been programming computers professionally since 1986. I still love it and the constant learning over my career has kept my brain agile. Your words ring very true, and I've found what keeps me positive and empathetic is to gently help others get better at what they do (vs belittling them) and in turn learn from everyone. You don't know it all regardless how long you have been doing it or how intelligent you are. You are also not perfect so cut yourself a break when you slip up and fall down that path you know is wrong. Just keep steering toward what is right.
Mangers play a key role in absorbing pressure. Many times we are all spineless and become a YES man to every client demand but a manager (especially a technical and experienced one) can see the shortcomings and push back. I have worked under a manager for 5 years when I started my career. He used to fight with the Senior leadership for the team every time. Every one was happy under him, every one wants to work under him. As you said he was Empathetic. He won many awards because of his skills and overall cheerful and optimistic attitude.
Unfortunately he got promoted to more senior roles, pulling him away from the core dev team. Now the team is being managed by a manager who is a YES man puts a lot of pressure on the team. The team members slowly started to resign one by one and the original team was all but gone in 6 months. Leadership/ People and Communication skills play a very crucial role along with technical skills once you advance in your career.
Thanks for sharing this. Great points all around. How someone can collect a paycheck for being told what to do and then just force others to comply is beyond me. That’s not managing - it’s being a pawn!
@@HealthyDev BTW subscribed. Its a good thing that next two days are weekend.. need to cover many of your videos ;)... Did you make a video on transitioning from a individual contributor/ senior dev to a Technical Lead position by any chance?
This one doesn’t cover everything but I believe it’s on point with your question: ruclips.net/video/Fp5oQyNV_ws/видео.html
@@HealthyDev Thank you very much :)
This describes most managers I've come across
Nobody talks about this stuff outside HN comment threads. I love that you chose to make these videos.
What is HN?
Wow, found a fellow HN reader!
@@jacobbdavis There are dozens of us! *Dozens!*
@@Communist-Doge There are millions of us tho
@@InfiniteDesign91 Hacker News.
I am a nurse going into software development and this video is a great "heads up". I've been a nurse for almost 17 years and burned out hard about a year ago. It's good to hear someone be actually honest about pitfalls and things to be aware of going in. Great video!
Pay attention to core knowledge. And you can start as QA, while its a bit easier and you will get less income its software development already and you will be able to learn.
While this video is a kind of joke, it still a good starting point to get into software development. Go through each point and read about it, or watch a video. ruclips.net/video/-uleG_Vecis/видео.html no need to dive dip, just understand what it is and go to another point.
What's QA?
@@07Flash11MRC quality assurance engineer, the person who is testing software, manually by clicking different buttons, or in automated way by writing scripts.
are you sure want to be software developer? as a backend engineer I would say it has difficult roadmap to be an expert, comparable to be a doctor I think.
Oh my god, the time management software. I don't think management types understand how hindering it is to log all the daily minutia (so they can say I'm not meeting quotas) when I've got other stuff to do with that time, like say, meet unrealistic timeframes.
Agreed. You may get some insight from, or at least relate to another video I did about precisely that topic, “Should You Really Measure Progress on Software Projects?”: ruclips.net/video/0yxfb-drlE4/видео.html
And you get it wrong by 30 milliseconds or file it a minute late, only to get some scary discipline warning e-mail 10 weeks later CCed into 40 other people and demanding answers. It's like being in court.
Dude, I'm 20 years of experience as Software developer and you just said exactly what I was thinking many, many, many times.
Same here
I don't work in software, but this advice applies to other fields as well. I got rid of all the negative people in my small business and suddenly the employees are taking pride in their work, going on to develop other related skills, and encouraging their friends to join us. Customers call to give us good reviews regularly and our business is growing.
I was so frustrated that everyone in the company was so incompetent and literally every one of them were bothering me with questions and requests. One day I threw a
hissy fit at a QA who was always good to me. All he said was, "I am sorry that you are going through this. It is okay if you yell only at me". I feel so ashamed now and I can't be same with him anymore.
Great story. I've been stopped in my tracks by people who are compassionate in the face of my frustration too. It's humbling!!
Woah thats a good QA!
I never comment on RUclips but damn, "High Income Forces Seeking Deeper Goals" really hit hard. The same thing Simon Sinek talks about in "Start with Why".
I love Simon Sinek! He has great humility and insights - absolutely. 👍
I have been developing software for nearly 5 years professionally and am currently going through these same issues, every day is more difficult than the previous one and I don't want to lash out because of that. I am definitely going to try to adjust my behavior and approach to management/development based on your advice. I cannot stress this enough... Jayme you deserve huge things. Your channel has helped me understand and improve the quality of my work, despite the above issues. I will share from now on every single video with my colleagues in the hope we can help you as much as you have helped me. Great video!
Thanks for the kind words, I’m really thankful to hear my videos are helping you! Thanks for spreading the word.
Don’t hesitate to offer feedback or ask any questions. Welcome to the channel. 👍
Was the top of my class throughout university, then went into the industry and became the dumbest programmer in the building. Thankfully I was able to recognize this. I find that appreciating the hard work of 99% of everyone in the office rather than getting mad at 1% of the stuff that is mismanaged (which is mostly due to lack of understanding, not malice) is the key to longevity :)
I accidentally clicked on this video while scrolling RUclips home page on my evening video escape session. This was the best video I've seen in months. You said so many right things I've always think of, but never got to understand. Thank you man I got shivers and had to laugh just because such an ocean of truth. Thank you, you made my struggle a bit easier. Or at least I understand why I struggle.
10years of develop experience and also sometines think of moving to farming as others mention in coment section. :)
BTW comment section is also gold.
Welcome to the channel! 👍
For me its was just unhealthy lifestyle, before my office job i played sports had a nice tan, basically was very physically active and pretty fit.
Once i got the office job, i ate shitty city food, sat 8 hours a day in the office and another few hours at home programming personal projects. I got no exercise, no sun, i became white as hell lol
a year later i got transferred to night shift and that's when i truly burned out and had chronic fatigue.
4 years later i don't work in the office anymore, i barely program my own stuff either because every time im about to sit down and get work done i become filled with like a pavlovian dread responce feeling like i really really really don't wanna work on whatever i gotta do.
Ill never work in an office again, but i will get back to consistently working on personal projects, that stuff used to be fun i want it to be fun again.
HEALTH IS NUMBER 1!!!
When you're in good health you have a natural sense of well being, its like your "spirit" is able to come forth from within and you feel a unforced motivation to just do stuff and live.
Good luck to all sedentary workers out there lol
hello man. i was about to ask in the comments but your story seems more apropiate to my doubt. so, would say that these complaints listed in the video go away when you do freelance jobs? im asking cause im thinking about learning programming for freelance jobs only, for the same reasons you said about office job. many thanks, be safe.
@@raphaq9192 I don't know for sure because i never really worked freelance.
If you can avoid the office environment that's a great start.
If your freelancing forces you to regularly spend 12 hours a day in front of a monitor, then it's not a good move in my opinion, cause you'll feel trapped by your freelance contract obligations if you feel like taking a break.
I now work in construction. Sleep much better.
@@sakayapapaya9589 I worked construction briefly, i remember after a hard 8 hour shift i had way more energy than after an 8 hours office shift.
@@ItsAllGoodGames So what do you work with now if you don't mind me asking?
Don’t know how this popped up in my feed but literally this has sort of solidified (the exact word I’m thinking of is on the tip of my tongue...) so many ways I’ve been feeling intuitively but haven’t been able to organize into actual thoughts. And I am the only programmer in my group of friends, so especially the money thing is so hard to relate to people, since we’re all in our early 20’s (I’m 24), and I’m the only one that makes decent money, so like the goal thing you described no one understands since all of them have the goal of just making money and hold the belief that once they do it will solve all their problems and make them happy. I try sharing my experience to show that it doesn’t, and in some ways the opposite, but I have to tread carefully since I don’t want to seem like I’m just acting better than someone else because of my job, since I’m not and literally don’t feel that way at all in my heart, but even still sometimes people interpret it that way regardless,, so like oftentimes I just won’t even try sharing how I feel because the meaning gets lost in transmission. Idk, but thanks for this video, I appreciate it
Edit: I wonder how much of these kinds of feelings are subconsciously part of what’s been driving me towards trying to become a writer...
Thanks for the feedback and sharing your experience. It speaks highly of you that you are even aware your financial situation could put people off... I was pretty clueless about that early on and pissed off some people - luckily I had some chances to reflect and change. The world can never have too many good stories. If you feel like writing, I’ll bet it will help stay detached from drama at work? Music has done that for me (and having a family). When I let myself have healthy relationships and activities that have nothing to do with “progress” outside work, it amazes me how much more productive I am when I need to. Thanks again for your commentary I know others out there relate...
It drove me to the point that I quit my job
Good thing I don't have to write my exact thoughts. Somebody have already done it for me. #DRY
This is what I was looking for. I'm starting my career as software engineer and I get anxious listening to people talking about complaining about this and that, burn out, and other scary stuff. I just want to do what I'll do for several years. Thank you for sharing your experience and promote a healthy way to work with software and collaborate.
Been in the Software industry for 20 years now .. since 2000.. programmer at core.. a Tech ProgMgr now
I am feeling frustrated I am not able to keep up with docker, CI CD, ML , Mobile , Integration (BTS) and web Dev ( angular/ SPA / MVC).... and Microservices.... Cloud ... ohh man
its hard .. its so Hard.. its so many articles.. so much of catch up code .. its was easy a 10 years back .. Java / VB and SQL certificate is all that you need... now its like the medical fields.. hyper specialization .... is needed and being a generalist .. curiosity kills....
Other Non tech people ( Functional / Pure Management ) in the company .. think its still the same as 10-15 years back.. I feel empathy for the new Dev coming in .. as this is not a complex field .. with to much to catch up .. and sad that non-tech, still feel they can read a article on the train on Microsrvices and think they no it ... and say scalable and agile ... ha ha !
This video is fantastic
Just be agile bro
Don't know if it will help, but you forgot to also add k8s, terraform, aws, azure, oci, agile, scrum, kanban, ml, computer vision, mentoring, augmented reality and the eventually brew and serve coffee, as it seems that is in every job requirements these days.
@@markistheone947 coffee brewing is essential!
Am from the VB6 days and C++. Stuff used to be so easy. Till the java train shot for the stars with frameworks left right now center. I have had to embrace it and now dabbling with the new trendy stuff to keep psyched up. Otherwise am keeping my focus on one stack with a keen eye for platforms.
it's because they overcomplicate shit for no reason lmao
I have been in this industry since 2007. Th last year I just reached the highest level of frustration. I just lost hope and left my job. I did not want to come back again to the exact environment that you are describing in your video. Additionally to that, I constantly faced with gender bias, never being treated seriously by my colleagues who actually started this path much later than me. For this sabbatic year people kept asking me Are you not into programming anymore? I always replied and still reply 'I like programming, I simply do not like other programmers'. I came back to work earlier this month and now I am trying to look at it with a fresh, unbiased mindset. I will definitely remember all your suggestions. Thank you for such a good video.
Thanks for sharing your honest experience that people need to hear about working in our industry. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts are on this - I feel like the fact that the success of a project depends on people collaborating, but that we’re independently measured, brings out the worst in us. I hope your colleagues treat you fairly and you can find a way to detach from those who don’t. This job is hard enough without having to face sexism, racism, and stereotypes about management vs engineering. Adding that on top, it’s incredible that anyone is able to stay positive. I hope your break restored some of your strength so you can find the resilience to get through it all!
How's the sabbatical worked out for you? I'm on somewhat of a similar situation, going almost 6 months without a job in the field not trying to worry much about the job gap or improving my skills, specifically because I'm too am fed up with the industry and corporate/startup culture, definitely taking a break... How was that experience overall? Have you had to explain your job gap for recruiters and how'd you felt about that?
@@k-yo hi! Overall, I need to admit, the fact that I didn't update myself with new trends in the industry and became a bit rusty played against me in terms of getting the position in some top 5 companies. However, I don't regret that. I found a company where my team lead told me on first working day "your programming skills are not that good, I hired you because you have strong problem solving skills, that what matters here".
Regarding a gap in a resume: people asked, and I told them I wanted to dedicate time to my own projects. If people don't get it, it's even better for you, because you want to find a place with modern and flexible mindset, and if they don't have it you will benefit from their rejection.
My advice: have a great rest and don't even think about work first, recharge your batteries. Once you feel like coming back, just spend some time to update yourself on the domain and come back with a new fresh understanding of what you want in your career.
Good luck and I hope you will change your life for better!
Gender bias? From 99% of open source contributors that are men however nobody prevents a women from buying a computer and commit code. I tell you what , i dont like working with women because they are looking for excuse and compassion instead of improving their skills. When i am not good , i either quit , or fight , buy books and acumulate experience to get a better coder. Its a war , mam. You look for emotions and empathy will coding is about cold facts and keeping emotions away to have the most neutral vision of concepts. This is why you are statistically not at good for programming. As the opposite of this , there would be 'gender bias' against me as a social assistant because that what was genetics and life is all about. Genders are complementary , not equals. No matter wether ideologs like it or not , genetics and natural selections rules the world.
@@HealthyDev A bias you seldom see mentioned in the software industry is ageism. I once worked for a software company owned, run and staffed by people the same age as my son. They treated contractors my age just the same as they treated me. After the first year it starts to wear you down. I have never regretted leaving the place.
For me the most frustration thing in software development is the lack of comments in the legacy code. And, of course, there is no other kind of documentation either. I have probably spent more time on figuring out what the code is meant to do, than the original developers spent on coding the first release.
I'm one of the verrrrrry few people who has ever written a comment in any codebase at an company I've worked at. I write comments everywhere, all the time. Useful ones. I sign them with my name and take accountability for them if they're wrong. I don't care if other people don't like them, but everyone has loved it so far, and some people have even started copying my style. You're welcome. Set a good example for others to follow, that's all most people need.
this is happen just two weeks ago and beside this no one is here to help you and you have to figure out everything by yourself
other people: sees a comment button
SWE: appreciates the effort of the amount of architecture behind it in making a good comment/submit button that not only saves into a cache messaging system and database and possibly gets sharded or distributed into clusters for better access via per region but to then also get analyzed using AI and gets curated by algorithms for analytics and more metrics before appearing to other users to read.
Ahah true that.
Meanwhile I see an error message for the 10,388th time and realize they must have hired the most pathetically incompetent losers imaginable.
@@Jenacide Are the losers the poorly trained programmers or the managers who only care about marketing and don't care about good software and thus hire them? Just raising the question.
As an engineer who is trying out management this year, your videos are super helpful in helping to navigate some of the harder conversations with my teammates. So glad I found your channel.
I love the point about quitting because someone is trying to push you around and compromise.
This is why I don’t work for anyone anymore. I got tired of the endless obsession with short time frames in all companies. The whole world has an obsession with doing things as fast as possible for no other reason than to do it as fast as possible. I see car factories trying to produce as much cars as they possibly can, only to see those cars parked on the street for longer than it gets used. I say to myself why did someone have to rush their work when there was no immediate need to rush their work? The world has more cars than we need already we aren’t in desperate need for more cars. Same thing with building applications. The moment you finish building something then it’s off to the next application. There’s no stopping or appreciating anything. You just produce and produce for the sake of making more money to pay for money you borrowed yesterday. The hamster wheel goes faster and faster but you don’t get anywhere.
Danielle Douglas pretty much any menial job wants you to work fast. Factory jobs, construction, even in retail and restaurants everything is always about doing things quickly.
@@robertlopez6092 I would agree with you (and others that have said similarly), that this exists almost everywhere. Ironically I do think it stems from technology giving us access to speed up production in almost every industry imaginable.
Combine that with how the same technology has allowed the planet to be more interconnected than any other point in human history. Access to a global market equates to more selection for consumers, which breeds competition among providers, which I would imagine, forces businesses to work more efficiently than ever before. Efficiency often increases speed of production, with a cost to quality.
The point made at 5:17 of this perception of difficulty/value I think is incredibly important, because my personal prediction is that it will get worse as technology gets more complex. More complexity leads to an increase of specialized professions; more specialized professions means the educational sector will focus more on what an individual "needs to know" and choose to ignore knowledge that come from other disciplines.
In turn, the veil between the various disciplines will get further shrouded in more mystery, which leads to more misunderstanding, conflicts, and confusion.
And to top that all off, it's interesting to consider that the increase of all of that negativity might help facilitate a desire for more autonomous systems, free of human interaction, paving the way for more technology that probably caused it in the first place.
Aaron Morgan this is why I stopped using my engineering skills to build things for employers and I now only use my skills to build myself my own autonomous tools. In colonial times, the rich had slaves that did all the work for them and their families. Now I believe that technologies such as IoT are the new slaves of the up and coming class. I work much less than before but I have more than ever before. If you’re a mid-senior engineer in this modern day and you’re still working hard, then you are doing things wrong. The purpose of inventions is to make life easier not harder.
@@aaronmorgan2300 That was already precisely my problem with the standard STEM fields in college, at least through the mid-level courses I got to as of two years ago. There was so much for major requirements to cover and so much within each individual class to get through that it became much more about rote learning of concepts than an exploration of their possible ramifications, but none of the concepts on their own was difficult or complex enough to be rewarding. My most useful learning in math, engineering, or programming classes was almost all done outside of class, unofficially and on top of the homework they assigned.
@@rifewithpotatoes Yep, I'm attending a public college, going for a CS degree (which the college is decently known for), and I'm about midway through. Looking at the course requirements for the program, there is very little allowance to explore other disciplines.
What's odd, is that despite that, I still don't feel like the program is thorough enough to cover things that I want to learn about (such as UI//UX) and I feel as though I need to go look for that education elsewhere, on top of my already difficult, time-consuming coursework.
I think the pattern is that the educational system (in the U.S. at least) does not know how to adjust to how the globe is constantly changing, and as a result just doesn't work anymore.
Although I certainly am fully for any given student being thoroughly prepared for their careers, I am also apprehensive to the idea of a person not having a decent amount of knowledge in other areas. Inevitably a person will be making decisions at some point in their life that requires knowledge in other areas, such as political science and the behavioral/social sciences.
As a result, I would argue a person, as they exit from the school system, will take a lot of the information from the media, which is normally very skewed and uninformed. When that happens, there's a chance they'll be making life changing decisions, or potentially affecting public policy while not having the full story.
The lack of QA is what was getting me down at the start of my career. Always being told to forget about testing because there wasn't time. Always being under pressure by insane deadlines that could only be met by cutting every corner. Always releasing buggy code, hoping that the customer would never find out just how bad it was.
Whatever pride you might have had in your job is quickly beaten out of you.
Lately though, what's had me reconsider my choice of career is the emergence of the gig-economy. So much work is now outsourced to consultants and freelancers. There seems little place left of programmers working within the company itself. You might be hired for a few months. Maybe a year if you're lucky. But there's always the threat of getting fired without warning, often without being given a reason. How can you build a family life when you can't hold a job for more that a year at a time?
Sure, you can complain about it all, but what's the point? Even if you could afford to leave (and many of us can't), it's nearly always a case of new-boss-same-as-the-old-boss.
It's incredibly stressful to be always living on the edge, always facing long grueling hours in order to meet impossible deadlines. You don't survive for long in that kind of environment without getting incredibly cynical.
So yeah... I hate my job. And I've got no hope left. It's a rotten nasty world out there, and I see no sign of things getting better anytime soon.
why not just stay for the experience and move on to a job with more freedom later, even freelance?
As a newer developer, I've been in the industry for almost 4 years now, you put a light on something I couldn't put my finger on before. The nihilist negative attitude of many developers puts a damper on the energy in the office, at least for me. If they switched from "everything is terrible", to "everything will be fiiine", it would make such a huge difference. Life consists of what we can perceive, and if you perceive everything as terrible, the energy you put forth into world will reflect that.
You’re going to do well my friend 😊
This was a big reason I was hesitant to get into programming. I'm an extroverted incredibly happy guy, and when you look at the tropes around "software developers" they're all atheist, nihilistic and depressed.
Probably why I have an easier time talking to the bosses than the programmers.
@@ThatGuyDownInThe It is what it is, you get an introvert to sit at a desk and be in their head all day, it becomes difficult to get out of your head when it's time to socialize. The bosses are talking to people all day so they don't get into that rhythm.
Not to get into an argument here, but veeery few programmers I've met are atheists. From my experience, about half are religious and the other half is most agnostic or 'spiritual'. Apologies if I am assuming wrong, but it comes off as you are religious, and many times religious people confuse not conforming to a structured religion as atheism, when that is not the case. Besides, when you list atheism beside nihilism and depression, you are making it out to be a negative thing, which is insulting to those who hold those beliefs (I do not consider myself an atheist, just fyi).
@@spaghettienforcer4896 No, I have no religion, I'm just spiritual. Since the job has to do with logic heavily I feel like some developers go overboard and start to see the universe as a soulless machine.
But that's definitely a good thing to hear, and Idk, I used to be an atheist, I'd prefer not to be around them, it's a pretty morbid belief and I know I was a wreck when I held the belief.
Just seems that a majority of atheists are nihilistic so my bad for making the comparison
@@ThatGuyDownInThe Wow, we atheist are not nihilists because we don't see a supernatural hand in the universe. You can be positive, enjoy the life you have, and not need that sort of stuff to survive. And unless you know the majority of atheist on the planet then blanket statements are not the was to go. That gets people in trouble. Now we devs can isolate ourselves and turn inward into our work. Something that most other people do not understand. It could be soul crushing after a while. I must admit I do see the universe as a soulless machine but that does not take the wonder and mystery out of the universe.
Wow, this articulates so many thoughts I have been having. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and be vulnerable. We need more content like yours on RUclips... and less of this “day in the life of” / “make 100k as a new dev” content that really doesn’t reflect reality for many of us in the field.
Thank you, so much. I needed this.
Thanks for the support! Awesome to hear this helped you. 👍
This is so relevant BEYOND Developers! WOW spot on dude thank you!
I have 20 years professional experience and started coding at 12. I feel the constant flow of so called new tech and langage is killing us all. A long ago , when you learnt a langage you could use it for 10 years at least. Now i would say 5 at most. And it alls keep updating and chaning all the time. We are wasting time on this. People thinks switching to better techs will make them better coders ; instead they should become more competent about the language they have in hands.
I agree completely. I'm all for innovation but things do seem to be getting out of hand. There's a good chance you might get something out of two other videos on the channel related to your comment. "Why Are You Making Programming HARDER?" ruclips.net/video/s87Y-6EgwFI/видео.html and "New Framework Disease (NFD) in Software Development": ruclips.net/video/NCEABmfE2YQ/видео.html
I completely agree! Many of my friends are constantly changing between languages, trying to use the most recent one, but by doing that they don't give themselves the chance to get very proficient at one!
Companies want to use newest technologies and compete with each other. For this they need programmers who know these new technologies, when there is new one/more efficient, they should employ people who know it and end the cooperation with previous ones, there is nothing wrong in that, that is how free market works.
Due to high requirements, programmers get high salary and if someone doesn't want to learn so fast, he may take for example one month break, during which he would catch up with new technologies and he would do it every year. If someone is genious he doesn't need it, people are different.
I completely agree. Within the last 6 years I finished a Master's in Software Engineering to bring my development skills up to date and it feels like I needn't have bothered. I received the highest grade in the School of Computing for the year but tech changes are moving so fast with the pace of updates to languages, CD/CI and cloud technology that there isn't enough time to get to grips with what was the current state of anything before your skills are already outdated again. You never get the time to get competent at anything anymore. And certainly not enough to get thru an interview if you are forced to change jobs.
Everyone wants you to have 10 years commercial experience of the latest thing, even if you already are a generally experienced programmer in that particular paradigm.
Then for each new role the number of complementary skills you're supposed to have keeps increasing. So having struggled to acquire skill S, for the next role you're expected to have S + T, U and V...
After 30 years in software, I finally walked away from it because it was causing me mental health issues. It took me 4 or 5 years to get over it. These days, I still program occasionally but I am no longer active in the programming world.
Perhaps I missed it in the video, but another issue is the constantly moving goal-posts. As soon as you get something well understood or working well, the language changes or the standards or frameworks change and you have to rewrite a perfectly good system just to keep it going. People rarely seem to understand that some software lasts for years, maybe decades. I see adverts sometimes looking for COBOL or RPG II programmers because a system from the 70s or 80s needs changing...
Same here. 30 years. 25 as a professional software developer
if it's not secret, what're you switched into?
@@demetreusdm - These days I skipper sailboats
Im almost in the same boat, been in the industry for 25 years, now I'm unemployed and suffering depression and burnout, im honestly kinda scared about my future I dont know what Im gonna do, only recently came off some incredibly horrible anti depressants, so I am starting to feel better and stronger but I am shitting myself about my future career, hope youre still doing good! it gives me hope.
@@phutureproof - yes still going. Money is short but I am slowly coming back to programming but on my own terms and my own way. Considering I used to do 15 hour days, I now maybe do 15 hours a week. My life is totally different and there are days, usually when I am on deck in howling wind and cold sea spray, that I think "Why didn't I stick with programming - nice, warm, indoor work with no heavy lifting"?
There are always other options, even inside IT and if you do change direction or jobs, you may be poorer but nothing pays like being able to sleep at night or not being terrified if the phone rings. Whatever you do, I wish you all the best and good fortune.
Barely two years working professionally and I already relate to some of the things you said here. Hopefully, I can put your suggestions to practice and make my career happier.
A big part of the problem is that we spend so much of our time interacting with a thing that is stupid, stubborn, and utterly unempathetic, that it is hard not to bring to our interactions with _people_ the habits of mind and attitude that make that interaction tolerable and effective.
Absolutely - we start treating people like code!!
thats brilliant
I’d like to upvote this 1000x
In our country Bangladesh, there is this abundance of Computer Engineer, people of all sorts of background take some crash course and get into the job field. As this opportunity too good to be true for them they said yes to wages of really low rate, thus hampering the whole it sector. People who are undergrads are getting depressed and hopeless for it. Also there is this assumption is that CSE is all copy pasting thus the market leaders dont want to pay more and thus the softwares are bad and it is hurting the images of CSE Grads
I’m sorry to hear this. 😞 They call this a “race to the bottom” when engineers are “sold” by price alone in a market.
What has helped me in my career is going beyond what others are doing in some way. You or I probably can’t change this cultural problem ourselves. But if we’re working at a company, we can kindly educate people about the value of engineering beyond just being “code monkeys”. And as individuals we can create personal projects to show in interviews, and learn to communicate better to demonstrate our being worth more. I’m sorry you’re having to cope with this currently broken system.
My hope for Bangladesh is that their leadership eventually learn to see the money being lost on focusing on price alone and treating engineers as a commodity. It sometimes takes several regime changes at companies here in America for those mistakes to be overcome.
Dude. They can't fucking do that to you. I just read an acm article section about India's booming tech sector. That article filled me with so much hope for dark skinned people. What the hell are they doing to you guys over there?!
What great advice. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience! I think the main thing that pushes people to not say "no" to completely stupid expectations and asshole bosses is that they're afraid of what others think of them. All of these problems you point out are the result of immaturity. Obviously it's not just a software developer problem; I was in the military and I saw this crap first hand ALL the time and it lead to the exact same problems as you pointed out here (yes, the military in fact does NOT have its shit together and it never actually did- it's just always been good at pretending it does).
Many people are simply emotionally immature because their parents haven't taught them basic things like empathy and treating others with respect and kindness, much less patience. Having humility is important and many people seem to lack that. If we all reminded ourselves that we're actually not better than anyone else it will lead to better treatment of people all around. I will never understand why some people feel the need to drag others down just because they feel shitty about themselves or their life. I teach my kids to make it a point to look out for people who are lonely or scared or ostracized and try to make friends... or at MINIMUM just talk to them. Some people are really hurting and need the help that you might be able to give them!
Thank you for the great video. And for anyone who arrives here: the comments are a goldmine of info about how developers feel and how their career progresses. You'll find things you deeply agree with and things you didn't even know you felt before you read them. It seems this video really struck a chord with many programmers.
I feel so empathetic hearing all the five points you mentioned in this video why programmers tend to lose hope. I have experienced this myself, especially meeting deadlines and compromising on quality of code, lack of testing and staying longer at work than required to ensure my code doesn't break the entire pipeline. It does get stressful sometimes, but lately I noticed that my productivity has improved when I started taking preliminary steps before someone gives me tasks, anticipating what the problems can arise during production. I respect the point that you mentioned about standing up for yourself and not letting other people dictate how long it should take for you to write a certain piece of code, especially if they never engaged themselves with contributing towards the logic that you have been writing.
You're actually a genius at self introspection, and great at communicating it to others. Love this!
Damn your very very right, I didn't think I would find a video like this. Especially the "Say no with grace" and "Communicate uncertainty" sections.
100% Agree and you're 100% correct. I've been on web, robotics and now 2 years into game development and I faced those things in all areas.
Hope things got better to you dude, dunno why the algorithm only recommended this now.
Thanks Marcos I’m doing much better these days. Appreciate you thinking of me!
I just found this recently while I feel lost in my carrer path in College as a Computer Science Student.
Felt unmotivated due to me being overworked on program deadlines and eventually I got sick..
But these videos are a huge help. Will be subscribing to your channel
This means a lot...
I always keep watching this video to get inspirtation! I think the courage of say "NO" is something we achieve only with time. Every developer will have to deal with frustation to compromise the quality of the solution sometimes because of the way the organizations works, but with time and experience he or she will be able to deal with it. I'm facing this chalenge right now in my new job.
Hang in there, glad to hear you’re trying your best to accept things you can’t change while not giving up! 👍
Man, i wish if u have uploaded this video long ago,
You have no idea how much of positive energy u spread here, all what u have said is on point can't even argue with a word u said
Thank u for the video and keep posting these healthy videos
Thanks for the feedback and kind words! It’s really great to hear this one gave you some encouragement. 👍
Just started my first job and hoping for a long healthy career myself, glad I've found the right youtube channel.
Welcome!
As a kind of in the middle developer (around 15 years) this is so refreshing, your channel is amazing and this video should be watched by every professional imho, I’ve always been annoyed by our career’s people attitude, thinking we’re superior to the rest of “dumb” people, there’s a huge lack of education in ethics and soft skills, seems like the most valuable thing is how many technology trends I do, rather than how valuable will this be for our end users and how good I make it for my fellow devs to take over. Of course I’m totally guilty of having these flaws and negative thoughts in the past and wish I had been more critical of myself a bit earlier. Anyway, thanks for the great video.
I think i hit a variation of #4 after being promoted to senior dev. When i was starting out i always saw this destination as the perfect state of being. Now i just make these products i don't care about, barely doing anything challenging, and find no satisfaction in my work. So i started working on a personal project, doing things i find interesting and in my own way. I'm not sure it's going to be profitable, but i haven't felt so good about coding in a very long time. I think in software development we all hit this valley of despair, but i also think we have the tools to fix it ourselves.
I just found this video now, 6 years later. Another frustration I would add is that no matter how much you study, you'll never have that feeling of "now I know stuff", because technology is moving faster and faster, and we as developers always feel like we're falling behind.
In any case, thank you for the great video, and for the suggestions!
Wow, your thoughts are so deep. Really valuable look on the job. You pin pointed the crux of the issue. The first step is to recognize the issue, as there is a lot of tensions from the lack of clarity about the emotions.
#4 Hits home for me right now. Sometimes I just sit, look at nothing, and think about the purpose of existence. I don't know what to do with that. Now I'm just waiting to find an answer or for the feeling to magically go away.
In my experience, most programming classes are thought by instructors who are not skilled as teachers, and have very little to no social skills. More importantly, when it comes to explaining complex concepts and breaking it down to simple terms. I had yet to find a programming class that really help me understand and appreciate programming. I also agree that most jobs have unrealistic goals and always push the team to rush the job.
This is why, looking for the best possible resources online, and being disciplined, make being self-taught better in many ways. Another alternative is formal education for the qualifications and then learning on one's own on the side. Obviously, that is pretty time consuming though.
Really great video.
Quality should not be compromised, keep your integrity and craftsmanship.
I recommend any developer to read "Clean Coder" by Uncle Bob.
It is an eye opener, specially the chapter "Saying No".
There's also a chapter in "Code Complete" about "managing your manager".
I've been a software dev for over 20 years and this is so right-on! Yes yes yes! Thank you for this exposé
One other thing that makes me feel hopeless is that the most I learn, the most the "industry" or other devs or youtube channels say that it isn't enough. Everyday there is a "new tech/programming language/cloud/and/so/on" that is better that what I'm still learning and, because of that, they make me feel like I'm losing my time learning things that aren't the new hype. I study a lot, create projects to practice and learn complex things and then, someone shows up and say "hey, why are you learning 'this'? You need to learn 'that', because 'this' is dead and bla bla bla"
I feel like i'm lost in a desert. I don't know which direction to take, and when I decide to walk, someone appears saying that it is the wrong direction. "You need to go to the other direction". And if you do that, another guy appears and say the same! Man, this is so tiring....
I've been around the block for a few years and I've discovered that statement is mostly bullshit. Technology doesn't rotate out THAT fast. In fact it doesn't rotate much at all, it just grows. There's still work being done in COBOL or FORTRAN. IMO, to get out of your rough patch you need to do some soul searching and what you want to do.
What is your goal? Is it to get a job? Well, open some job ads in your area, and see what people are hiring for, try out some of the technology they use until you find something that sticks to you. Is it to build something interesting in technology you never used before? Think of something you'd like, or a problem you'd like to solve, then research for technology built for that scenario.
The most important thing however is the fundamentals. When you grasp solid fundamentals and understand programming paradigms then things get easier.
Remember the "mostly" part from my initial sentence? The hottest technology does indeed come with the bigger paychecks and the more interesting work, probably from scratch so you'll get to make important decisions early on that drive the project.
Remember you apply for a junior, your seniors will be ok with you not knowing everything. That's why there will be a pay gap, learn as you work and mlve up the ladder,
Don't compare your sprint times with Usain bolt, start with being the fastest in your neighbourhood
I feel you, but some times the one that can save you is your own personal favorite language :D. Some one said to me vb is just for kids but still i'm using it for my works to create a lot of tools to help me, and it was so happens the tools that i create from vb language save my company project so very often lol
Just learn C/C++ and only apply to companies where that is the main requirement. Problem solved.
@@ThorIsHereGames If only it was that easy
I just recently quit my job as I ended up arguing with my team lead about almost everything. I was given 20 minutes to fix a bug I didn't even know the exact reason for (and which required almost 2 days of proper fixing), I was accused being not productive enough while at the same time put in almost every meeting the company held, even though it didn't require my presence. My pull-requests kept hanging at her for weeks as she didn't find time to go over them and I had to take over some of her projects as my number of open issues was way lower compared to the others. Over time I just lost interest in putting myself more into the work as all I ended up with was working from home in my spare time for a couple hours more (without being paid for those hours) just to please her or my boss and avoid constant confrontation at work. I therefore can relate so much with what you've said ...
Ugh, sorry to hear. 🤦🏻♂️ I’m guessing you’ve heard the expression “people don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses”. Hopefully you find a more supportive lead soon.
her? there lies your problem.
That sucks....but seriously, don't ever work for a woman. Ever!
@@Gaming4BoringGrownUps The problem was definitely not her being a woman, if so, it was more related to her constantly underestimating overheads on certain tasks and our views on what is more important. To her, clearly, the roll-out of new features was more important than overall code-quality while I am still a defender of code-quality first and shipping features when they are ready.
I am pretty sure that I'd have had the same issues with a male lead if he valued the same things she does. I also believe that more women in lead positions could actually improve overall working conditions, at least when their working attitude isn't typically competitive-driven as those couple of leads I had to work with seem to have all favored.
Statements like the one in your comment, IMO, either stem from either unfulfilled wishful thinking that the female lead might have a personal interest in you (and thus some kind of rejected feelings) or from believes that women are less capable of doing the same job equally good as one-self. I'm pretty sure for every study that claims women are less capable of doing X there is an other study that just proves the opposite. I still believe "how you communicate" and how you treat each other is way more important than whether your lead is male or female.
What is this woman hating bs? Misogynists.
You had me at consumerism!
One thing that programmers on offshore companies sometimes struggle with is that their product is not used by people in the society they live in. It leads to a very specific kind of alienation from our work, as we don't find that kind of fulfilment in our work.
Before I was a programmer I was a welder at a DOD shipyard for about 11 years so I was used to overtime, hard deadlines, jerks for foreman, and appalling working conditions. When I got into programming at 27 I was way behind the curve, but knew what it was like to work hard in bad conditions. My first 10 years programming was mostly grunt work on a OMS / WMS product with specs, estimates and hard deadlines. I can remember getting questioned for going over estimate and under estimate. The next 12 years to present I have been on a new development team where we get some relatively simple requests for new functionality which is pretty easy to estimate, but I have also many times been given directives like " I want a Google like search for our parts database(IMS not relational) and I want it in two weeks. They meant it too. After years of shit like that and a VERY demanding manager I learned that I would try my best to hit the deadlines, but wouldn't plan for hiri kiri if I didn't make it. All they could do at worst was fire me and least was to bitch incessantly until I got it done. Never got fired. For years I was an app programmer and one day I was told to build a website for the company to enter cost savings suggestions. I told my boss I'd never done web programming and it was a totally different skill set than what I had and he just said "Just do it and you have 4 weeks". He didn't care how I did it, just get it done.
What programmers don't understand sometimes it that what we do is magic. When someone uses software it's like turning on a light switch and getting light, or turning on the faucet and water coming out. People have no idea how it happens and most importantly don't care. When a programmer comes to the understanding of that AND that people want what they want and don't care how you get to that point, you'll understand your profession and be able to come to grips with it. Good full stack Programmers are magicians, don't let anybody tell you differently.
How did that web programming assignment go?
@@Laroac Not bad. They assigned another .Net programmer with me that had a little web experience but hated web programming with a passion. So once we figure out what we wanted it to look like he would create the ASP pages and I'd write the code behind them. Once I saw what he was doing with the page creation then I was doing both. It took us a good 1.5 months to maybe 2 before it was ready to go to production and we changed and enhanced it many times after that. It basically became my job to upgrade and maintain it for years after. It looked nice and had good functionality, but neither of us were too impressed with it, but those in the field loved it. A few years later when our company merged with another, they saw it and loved it so much I had to integrate them into it. That sucked, but they just loved it. At the end of the day if you know how to build good user friendly software it doesn't matter if it's web, app, batch processing, you can do it.
As a side note I left that company to go do web programming for another and before I got to do any real web stuff for them, they found out I knew COBOL and asked me to help out on a project they were having issues on. I hate COBOL, but I like solving problems. So far it's been interesting. Maybe I'll get back to the Web stuff later but who knows. Whatever makes the money right!
I'm 34 and will be completing my software degree in a couple of months............to finally begin my new career in software dev..............so this advise is truly invaluable. Half of what you say is actually relatable to me already because much of those issues can be experienced in different careers (though a lot is more specific to dev work I imagine).........the big reason why I took a career change is because I became disillusioned with working in lower skilled jobs and feeling like an unappreciated commodity (as well as the fact the work I did was simply not 'me'), but its clear those feelings can exist even in dev work so its important not to needlessly find yourself as unhappy as you was in your last career............I also completely get what you say about finding purpose in your life outside of money and impulse...........because they can become very old very fast if that's all you live for.........work/life balance is the key to prospering in both your work and your life.
Comment is a year old, but I'm curious. How has it been?
Man... you deserve way more subscriptions, this is GOLD
This is what I needed to hear right now. Thanks very much. I have to get out of the negative mindset somehow.
You’re very welcome. Nothing wrong with struggling, it’s a tough career. Anyone who doesn’t think so hasn’t been in it long (personal opinion). Hang in there!
Refreshing to hear someone talking about the human perspective in all of this, we are all people first.
Everyone keep saying that they're agile, but they don't value transparency when people are being honest about actual issues.
As an upcoming project manager, I feel that this will be one of the most important part of the job, to work with people and create a team that trust each other.
I couldn't agree more. Your team probably doesn't realize it, but they should be thankful as a project manager they have someone who gets that! I talked more about trust on software teams in another video that you may relate to, "Is It Safe To Make Mistakes On Your Software Project?": ruclips.net/video/-dhLuNcMUIo/видео.html
@@HealthyDev thank you, I will check it out 👍
Just found this video now and its exactly where I currently am, I've was working 16 hour days for a long time with intense deadlines and it destroyed me, I'm still at this company currently and I've been so burnt out for the last 4ish months, I havent been able to really get excited over this work or do my best. I'm putting in my months notice at the end of this month to grow my own company. I've realized that I'm destroying myself for someone elses legacy and success and I'm done doing that.
Best of luck on your new venture! Consider getting some rest before you start your new thing.
I'm learning how to code and this will probably help me along the way
This applies to any workplace and any job. I have quit jobs because of racist or misogynistic attitudes of the workplace. I have worked in an atmosphere that felt like friends working together and rewarded my efforts to promote that condition. I still have friends from that time 30 or 40 years ago. Promote the attitude you want in a workplace. Relationships are as important as knowing how to do your job well. If the team succeeds, they will know that you helped them succeed.
Learned Helplessness. I really needed to hear this, thank you so much.
you put my thoughts into words so well, great video man.
Thank you RUclips for recommending this again. This is my 3rd time coming back to this video and I’m glad I did.
I work at Amazon. This is so true. Thank you so much.
You’re very welcome and I appreciate you sharing this. I try to tell people this stuff is going on even in the Industry leaders, but many would rather believe that everything will be perfect if they get a more prestigious gig, than do the work to have a healthier career anywhere! I hope you’re doing well. Hang in there!
What you say sounds very reasonable. I'm usually very critical about RUclips videos with similar titles. But I've gone pretty much through the same process to reach the same conclusions give or take. I feel that I would enjoy working with you.
What makes me lose hope? Seeing more and more this industry get overwhelmed by people with no genuine interest in it and barely any ability.
Having the fix their mistakes, pick up their slack, counteract their dogmatism, trawl through their nonsense articles and posts that obfuscate the useful information.
The rest is just how businesses function. It's the same everywhere.
Third video already and it’s hard to pick the best one!
U are fantastic, keep going man!
Thanks Henrique, glad you’re digging em!
You're spot on with the deadlines and estimates... and a whole lot of other stuff.
5:34
You can place that blame on the community at large itself.
The egos that run in the community is one of the most if not the most difficult barrier for novice programmers to surpass, there are only a few people that are truly willing to teach and/or have the patience.
But this is not only noticeable between experienced and novices programmers.
The attitude in general of "completely effortless talent" that programmer handle themselves with; the...: "That's so 2004" or the "you don't know how to code if haven't code in this or that"....
The: "Yeah, that's super easy"... mocking glaring mistakes, and every attitude, phrase, (it doesn't even have to be rude)... at diminishing your peers efforts ... is noticed by everyone around you...colleagues or management.
It is so easy for them to conclude: "If you are so talented, and its so easy for you, then lets pay you the same for doing more then." Its easy guys.
Be more humble, respect everyone around you, and respect your own job instead of showing off how fast and good you code.
The easy way to pass this barrier as a novice is to realize that these people arent actually any better people because of their experience or their age, they are just people too, and you can learn everything they learned too. If they condescend you that only means they are dicks, not that youre bad at programming.
Thanks for the video. Watched this several times, and not I know what has to be done :)
I used to think that it's important to build "great" software rather than software that works for the business. Learning to identify with business needs and scope for the tradeoffs that experience gives you, empowers you to advise from a position of knowledge rather than some curmudgeon that "knows what's best." And yeah you gotta push back and learn to scope properly. For personal experience, scoping projects was the hardest thing to learn and was a source of much stress early in my career.
Great video!
Thanks Dave, absolutely true. It took me a LONG time to really take this to heart...
Hardware / Firmware dev here.
I used to work at a company where we usually made almost everything you can imagine,
ranging from high quality embedded printed circuit boards (hardware and firmware development) to back-end and front-end applications ...
The company had one of the most awesome dev-teams you could imagine, junior and senior devs respected each other as nowhere else...
Then our current manager (who was an engineer himself) was replaced by a new one, after complains from the arts and design department inside the company.
Apparently our old manager didn't give them (artists and designers) enough freedom in design choice, as he respected quality more than fanciness.
New management instantly decided to outsource all hardware related development.
Apparently most managers see no difference between electronics and screwing in a light-bulb,
forget about them understanding you actually have to program most of modern circuit-boards.
They then contacted the cheapest freelance companies containing mainly designers, designers playing with Arduino's creating the biggest junk you could ever imagine.
Heck, instead of having an actual circuit board I discovered electronics component directly soldered onto wires in multiple of their creations,
some of their junk was an actual fire hazard (and yes one of their creations really started a small fire), and so on.
But it looked beautiful on the outside, so management went with it.
Stayed there for over a year, mainly to drive around and fix those freelancers their delivered junk, that would break on daily basis.
After a couple of months I was alone, as the entire dev team left, either because they found another job or got burned/bored out.
Tried to explain to management that I signed a contract as firmware dev, and not to drive around and play repair technician.
They promised to look into that issue and maybe hire someone else to do the repairing for me.
Months went by and nothing changed. I went to HR on regular basis to complain about the high amount of repair work they gave me.
After a while I started to notice they would give me some small front-end development work shortly after each of my visits to HR.
This meant working in team with the biggest egotistical ar** of a designer probably alive on this planet.
He would literally interrupt me out of my concentration every 30 minutes for minor details, force me to change 90% of the design one day before deadline,
sometimes he didn't provide any wire-frame so I had to guess what he wanted, to afterwards be insulted by him cause my creation wasn't beautiful enough, and so on...
This combined with a bunch of PM's that didn't do their job even half decently.
They would only inform me about a project one week before deadline, I would be the one sending mails contacting the designer, translator, graphical department to plan a meetings.
Even after a meeting months prios, I would still receive some of the requirements the day of deadline, or the day after deadline.
To make it complete, every time the project was overdue I was blamed for it...
So I quickly hated that part of the job more than driving around, fixing others their hardware failures.
After a year I found the courage to leave for another job, and yes the grass is in fact greener somewhere else.
Hey there thanks for sharing this story. It’s really hard when you’re on an awesome team and the culture slowly devolves like that. Knowing when to stay or leave is an art in and of itself. Glad to hear you made it out relatively unscathed and haven’t let that experience jade you too much. 👍
May I ask what your current job is and why you prefer it?
@@Mustis1524 if you're asking me, I'm a consultant for software companies/teams in the morning, and a career coach in the afternoon.
I love career coaching because it lets me give back to other struggling developers and help them avoid the mistakes I made so they can keep growing (same purpose of this channel).
I do consulting mostly to pay the bills and support my family, but I prefer it to being an employee for all the reasons outlined in another video I did, "Software Developer vs Consultant - What's Best For YOU?": ruclips.net/video/28Uh9erOyLg/видео.html
I'm a defense attorney and computer science student. This video was really valuable for reflecting on my years as an attorney and my future as a programmer. Thank you!
Being a happy software developer is all about constructive communication. Learn your soft skills and be a part of a good team. Work in a company with a flat hierarchy if you can. Don't lose your hope, change the environment if you are not happy with things. Always improve yourself, so you can have a card to hold on.
I would say as a cs undergrad there are many things that I can relate to in this video. It's terrifying that sometimes we wouldn't even notice that we have become more toxic and are comparing ourselves with other people. Really appreciate how you've shared these feelings with us and provided these great suggestions on how to fix this. The purpose of life is really like a non-stoping question and hope we all will find an answer to it eventually...
"What is my purpose?"
"You write code."
"Oh my god..."
"Yeah, welcome to the club..."
what is your "god"? money? tv?
You lose hope in any job you love when you firstly start to do it, because bosses and clients make you do things you don't believe in and they don't respect you.
That's why if you have 2 passions , choose the one you less like the most to make it as a job and save the other to make it as your hobby :)
I use to love IT and software developing, then i started to work for a company and they were very "Do this and this, i don't care i just need you to do this and this" so i lost the passion. But i also love electronics, that's why i make it as a hobby and i hope to not have to make it as a job, otherwise i'll lose the hope you say.
this probably doesnt make sense to many/most people but to people who have experienced this in some way it hits home, thank you
there are too many stupid people in this world that is the problem. i am working in i.t. for about 20 years now and the amount of stupidity i encountered is unbelievable. why can't everyone just be civilized? And how are non technical people even got put in charge of some projects at technical companies?
FixDaily - Electronics hi, I’m 40 and I loved programming as a child (BASIC), since then I’ve always wanted to program, but for reasons I chose another path. I’d like to have programming as a hobby (not even freelance) do you think that’s posibble? What sort of things would you do in such situation? Thank you (of course I love electronics as well, from a tourist’s perspective tho’)
I genuinely don't usually like most other coder/coding youtube channels. But from what i've seen sofar of your content, you definitely seem to offer solid advice. Well said.
Ehy mate, just wanna tell you that I subscribed after 5 minutes you started :).
I've been working in this industry for more than ten years and I got so frustrated that I feel I can't take it any longer or at least not in this way. I relate completely with what you said and I'd like to thank you for the advice. Great content and looking forward to check other videos out, thanks :)
Thanks Piero, welcome to the channel!
How do you stay positive though? In my career, I have remained bold and didn't let anyone push me around; whether to compromise on code quality to meet deadlines, to choose the latest hyped up stack etc... I have always been super transparent and straight forward with management at all places I worked, and never feared expressing my opinion/refusal to do something in a way I knew was going to compromise the project. I even on several occasions put myself in front of the team to voice our concerns with management on behalf of those afraid to speak up. Etc...
What have I gained from being bold? nothing. It actually played against me often: management always feel a transparent and opinionated engineer is a threat. Coworkers for whom you volunteer on their behalf to voice concerns with management, almost always get revealed as professional brown noses, first to back stab you to get cookie points that could get them promoted etc.. Before you know it, what you thought was the noble and right thing to do turns against you and creates a bad reputation for you.
Staying positive is a good thing but seldom always feasible. In this field, you gotta walk carefully and slowly; exactly like you would do walking in a field full of land mines. Integrity is a double edge sword in this domain.
Hey there, I’m really sorry to hear this. I’ll start by saying man can I relate. I wish most people were ethical and straightforward but as you know it only takes a few bad actors to throw everything off. My recommendation to you, which as I always tell my career coaching clients you should take with a grain of salt, is to learn more about figuring out what motivates people, signs of trust issues, and other consulting skills. There are definitely times when being too transparent and vocal have gotten me in trouble. These days I refuse to lie when asked a direct answer or withhold crucial information. But I also don’t get into details or expect support from people who I don’t know well enough or have put up red flags. Hang in there! You don’t need to compromise your ethics, but you may need to be a little more patient and strategic about making change. I hope some of that maybe helps you (or someone else reading this).
@@HealthyDev Yes, strategic is the right word. I adapted mine to compare moving on in this domain with walking between land mines. ie keep moving forward but while keeping an eye around so i Don't get hurt personally.
I just found your channel today, thanks for the quality content and for speaking about this important topic.
I've had a very similar experience. Every company says they value people that speak up but very few of them really do. Unfortunately the best way to survive is to keep your head down and your mouth shut.
...which is why you never, ever approach management like this on your own. Get management to come to a meeting with the team/group. Prepare beforehand so that as many of the team as possible take their turn to speak and forward plan answer variants and, as always, offer solutions. If you get little/no additional help then quite simply, that team ain't getting your help to make things better. Of course, you'll be reassessing things after that. The bigger the organisation the more you are just a 'number'.
@@gullijons9135 yep, the more experience you have the more you realize this is the sole truth working in corporations
I’ve been a dev for 6 years now and just started at a big software house that uses scrum and everything. Your videos continue to give me confidence as I build my career and how to navigate a lot of this big cultural stuff I’ve been wary of
Thought I was the only one with issues like these. I quit software development recently.
Why? I wanted to be one
Man this video is a breadth of fresh air. As a junior fullstack dev that is close to moving up, I 100% resonate with everything you said.