tj0 · HackerTrans

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

Can attest to this experience as well.

When I was in high visibility roles in start-ups, I dreamt of a place where I could fall through the cracks and kind of breathe -- or at least what I thought would be breathing. I found that spot, and after a couple years feel like taking the offer was a monumental mistake in my career. Nothing is a challenge, my output is minimal yet when I actually do produce something, I get massive praise, and yearn for somewhere that I can throw myself into interesting work.

I think that next phase is coming, but I've definitely stagnated a bit and wish I'd spent more time using the required seat time (have to be visibly online 9+ hours a day) doing something fruitful instead of wasting time on HN and occasionally toying with various project ideas.

The soul crush is real in this kind of position, and as OP said, always being "half on" emphasizes the mental toll that all of my output has suffered both personally and professionally. Or I might just be burnt out.

tj0

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

I worked in Texas for a stint, and completely understand what you describe here. However, don't look to the PNW as a place it's any better.

Both Oregon and Washington are at-will states, and have the same laws with the same kind of work cultures -- you're a cog in a system, and if you start grinding or upsetting the status quo in some way, the candidate pool in this region is strong enough, they'll replace you. However, the expectation still remains that when you choose to exercise your same rights under at-will that you give two weeks notice. Can't say any employer is going to give an employee that same courtesy when letting them go. Not to mention if you're salaried, you might as well accept that your role is nothing more than indentured servitude branded as capitalism (to clarify, this may not be at all companies, but definitely is a strong cultural trait I've seen at the ones I've worked at).

All that being said, the PNW is much prettier than many areas of Texas, and while natives are hostile towards transplants, the quality of life is leaps and bounds better than that horrendous mass of land called the Lone Star State.

tj0

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

  Location: Vancouver, WA
  Remote: Yes (100% only)
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: PHP, Python, Ruby, JS (Angular, Vue, React, jQuery, Vanilla), SQL, Linux, FreeBSD
  Résumé/CV: https://www.thomasjost.com/cv/
  Email: [email protected]

At this point, I am eager to move into a more senior level position with opportunities for mentoring and to work with newer technologies while obtaining a better work life balance.

Ideally my next position will be in DevOps or SRE type role as my skill set aligns well with those responsibilities, and my latest role has afforded me the opportunity to learn many more facets of SRE. Full stack development is also a viable option, for the right opportunity.

tj0

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

This definitely resonates with me as well to an extent. However, I've identified the core issue being related to where I'm working, and not so much the career itself. I'm in my early 30s, been in full stack development for the entirety of my six year career.

As another poster said, startups are tricky. I've worked for two, and the first was a poster child hostile work environment, doing subpar work for angry clients with ridiculous expectations. The second was an incredibly positive experience though the pay was junk. Now I'm at an enterprise, and burned out like I was at the first startup, but have identified a different path forward (heading into SRE now) as I know the root cause of this mentality now.

At the end of the day, if you're not interested or passionate about what you're working on, and you don't have clear upward mobility within your org, it's time to move on. Otherwise, it feels like your career stagnates and you think the career itself is the problem, not the current employment situation.

tj0

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

  Location: Vancouver, WA
  Remote: Yes (100% only)
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: PHP, Python, Ruby, JS (Angular, Vue, React, jQuery, Vanilla), SQL, Linux, FreeBSD
  Résumé/CV: https://www.thomasjost.com/cv/
  Email: [email protected]

tj0

vor 5 Jahrendiscuss

My teenage/early 20s self is triggered by this bug report. Luckily I evolved and switched to Debian haha

tj0

vor 6 Jahrendiscuss

  Location: Vancouver, WA
  Remote: Yes (100% only)
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: PHP, Python, Ruby, JS (Angular, Vue, React, jQuery, Vanilla), SQL, Linux, FreeBSD
  Résumé/CV: https://www.thomasjost.com/cv/
  Email: [email protected]

I enjoy learning new technologies and working on inspiring projects. In addition, I prefer to work throughout the full stack as my background has required full understanding from UI through to the full backend infrastructure. I have an even split of experience both in enterprise and startup spaces.

At this point I'm looking to move into a DevOps or SRE type role as my skill set aligns well with those kind of responsibilities, and my latest role has afforded me the opportunity to learn many more facets of SRE. Full stack development is also a viable option, for the right opportunity.

tj0

vor 6 Jahrendiscuss

  Location: Vancouver, WA
  Remote: Yes (preferred)
  Willing to relocate: No
  Technologies: PHP, Python, Ruby, JS (Angular, Vue, React, jQuery, Vanilla), SQL, Linux, FreeBSD
  Résumé/CV: https://www.thomasjost.com/cv/
  Email: [email protected]

I enjoy learning new technologies and working on inspiring projects. In addition, I prefer to work throughout the full stack as my background has required full understanding from UI through to the full backend infrastructure. The majority of my experience has been in the startup space, and I'd prefer to move back into that type of environment over working for another medium/large corporation.

I'm also very passionate about security and am studying to pursue the OSCP later this year, so any roles in secure development or appsec will catch my eye over full stack roles, though I'm open to most opportunities.

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