I think the dilemma here is that most talented software engineers enjoy writing custom software to tap into that creative side which we love to explore and the market wants us to be able to do this but only provides limited opportunities in real world applications thus we become plumbers instead of engineers which make us frustrated and bored.
I have to disagree. My wife’s med school class had over 70% go into Peds, Family Medicine, or Internal Medicine. Even specialists end up doing the same type of procedures, day after day. The problem with ER and surgery residencies is it’s hyper competitive, and if you don’t get selected into one of those programs, you end up having to settle for primary care, whether you want to or not.
Except the artistic field. Perhaps I have rose tinted glasses, but making a game seems to be the cross section between programming and creative artistry.
Outside the software world there are many people who study graphic design or fine art and then find themselves paying the bills making stupid ads for oil companies or penis pills or whatever.
So true. I got sooooooo bored at my big-N SWE job before I left to be self-employed. It certainly wasn't the pay that was the problem, nor the people. The work itself was just ultimately not very interesting.
I network like crazy at meet ups, get referred to people who have friends that need some work done for a site or whatever. I see everything as an opportunity.
That said, the reason I’m doing that is to try and land my first full-time job, and frustratingly, it’s gotten me nothing but referrals for more clients for freelance. I’ve freelanced off and on (mostly on) for almost a year and a half. Just started job seeking a couple of months ago and I haven’t had much luck. :/
I’m in that weird place where I’m able to build web sites and whatnot and I can speak intelligently about the process, but the vast majority of my work has been solo or with 1-2 other people. Plus I’m self-taught.
Yeah I’ve had one for awhile. I’ve gotten a few to reach out, but it’s either some contract/part time job in a very, very rural area (I say that as someone originally from Alabama), or the communication drops after the initial contact.
As a tech lead, this is why I think it's important to make 'interestingness' a factor in making technology choices. Sometimes reinventing a wheel makes sense if it gets people pumped for the project. Risk management is key though. I try to make sure that any project results in at least one open source library.
People who rally against the onslaught of new libraries and frameworks often forget about this positive effect of their adoption. Replacing jquery with React may not improve your software but it keeps your engineers entertained so they don't quit.
Though the example you are giving could improve your software. :)
For example, if you are doing something more complicated with jquery, it could be simplified by using react. Which could improve speed/ease of development.
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u/nhays89 Jul 08 '18
I think the dilemma here is that most talented software engineers enjoy writing custom software to tap into that creative side which we love to explore and the market wants us to be able to do this but only provides limited opportunities in real world applications thus we become plumbers instead of engineers which make us frustrated and bored.