I find computer science concepts and the power of programming pretty cool but I despise my day to day of debugging problems with a convoluted stack, constantly context switching to deal with random issues, moving slowly while collaborating with other people, etc. I just find it incredibly draining...
Very few coders are actual engineers. Even at Google, yes. Most people just copy paste existing best practices with a wee bit of change/optimization to fit their development environment / product. It's like making something out of Lego really. Very very very few people are actually designing new Lego bricks.
This is a stupid comment, putting together those LEGO bricks is engineering. As well designing LEGO bricks
Define an engineer because your example from above is poor. Most civil and structural engineers are doing essentially the same if you change stackoverflow for books (and let's be honest they arent doing that). Very few engineers are designing new ways to make bridges.
Same, it has only been a year since I left school :(
As a programmer, I liked solving difficult problems, but felt lonely not talking to too many people, which is why I switched to business/technical consulting. It really depends on your personality, skill set, and actual role. Some people will argue it doesn't matter whether you like SWE or not because the TC is better than what you'd get in most other positions, but I just dont look at life that way.
I'm not a good enough developer to get an SWE job, but I really like what I do as a support engineer. I solve interesting problems all day and get to work with people. I know the prestige and TC aren't as high and devs see me as the equivalent of level 1 helpdesk, but I like it for similar reasons.
It is draining! Pick a career, work is typically draining. I love what I do (way more than just swe) but I still go home drained. To be honest the people part of my job -- bickering, arguing, political maneuvering (aka back stabbing) I hate. But office politics is simply something you cant escape, find a friend who works in a fast food restaurant and ask them about there immediate superior and coworkers. Bet there is also stuff that Wendy's could do to get things done better. Anyways I digress. Work is typically draining, find the part that's really sucking the life out of you and try to find a new approach or make it better (without making everyone else around you miserable). If you can then you're a better person than me, I've never been able to find the right switch.
What else do you want to do? Carrying bricks?
My typical everyday task requires less brain power than a physics or mathematical finance class. It’s probably a different story if you’re in ML, research, platform etc However, it’s still a lot of fun building things. Try being in biochemistry lab for 20 hours 🤦♀️ and you will come back loving being an SWE more than ever.
That is why u get paid
No. Now tell all your friends to not bother so they I can have all the TC to myself..
I like the building aspect of it. context switching and moving slowly bc other people are slow are just side effects of the job. I would program for free but it wouldn't be a smart idea in a capitalist society.
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