I feel like I am a bit burned out from tech lately, my last couple of gigs have been at big companies (Netflix, Facebook) and I am kind of tired of corporatism and empire building within it. I have also worked on smaller start ups and companies and it has not help my satiety. I do enjoy interesting and difficult problems, I have enjoyed tons working with some teams but due to various reason (ie corporate mergers, reorgs, projects evolution, etc) it hasn’t lasted more than 6 months. This might be a “mid career crisis” or something like that but I don’t feel like I know exactly what to do next. Has anyone been in a similar position?
Stay in tech but out of startups and big tech. E.g. Albertsons, etc
Had me in the first half. Ngl
Not everyone can get into Albertsons. This thread is for that other 99.99%.
I was and perhaps still am in the same boat. However, I ended up joining a new company with a new team where transparency is important. This has allowed me to share how a true work life balance is important for me. I have also come to terms that my current position is where I am the most comfortable in. I am no longer chasing after that big promotion and instead only focusing on problems I am finding interesting to solve. This, along with a good work life balance, has helped with my burn out and state of mind. I'm enjoying life more now.
Genuine interest; when you say transparency, what does that mean in your situation? Like examples on positive differences compared to before.
This.. 15 years in the industry and growing sick of chasing promos, I am going this route soon.
how's your love life op?
Happily married, no concerns there
what's your purpose in life op?
I was . After a decade at big corp, I took off due to being not satisfied. I relocated to the Midwest and vastly scaled down my lifestyle ($3k / month for a family of 4). I started doing my own thing. Consulting on solving problems for early stage (like founder is thinking about idea stage), plus worked on my own SaaS product. I also did LC in the background. I ended up working 50 hour weeks of pure joy, and five years later made about 2.5 million (same as I would have in big tech). When I did this I had a savings of $800k and wife had a small business that covered our expenses. Funnily enough my 800k actually grew to 1.7 million without me doing anything. I am now back as an L6 with ~500k TC but recharged….
Where are you now?
Heading to Google.
I plan to. The joy isn't there anymore. Moved from smallish tech to big tech. YoE 15-20. TC from 180k last year to about 350k this year (am not in bay area). My plan is to chase a net worth bump, then move to the middle of nowhere, scale my lifestyle way the hell back, and just be for awhile.
same boat here, i like to write code and solve technical problems, but i end up doing a lot of process as part of ‘expectations’. Also, what burn me out more is the constant of proving yourself all the time, every moment, every project, every single task you do.
This is exactly what I feel. I waste more time and energy on marketing my work and creating documents, just to defend myself on performance reviews, than do what actually needs doing.
I gave up and increase my TC by jobhopping.
If you do find your way out, please share here. I’ve been trying to leave this toxic industry too. I can’t get paid this much elsewhere for generating needless paperwork. Got a mortgage to pay.
Hahaha THIS.
This
It’s even worse working for big tech if you’re outside of North America. Lower pay but the same expectations around impact self marketing.
True that!
Bingo!
I’ve gone through all the phases and back again. For me it’s my frustration with my chosen discipline. Specifically, how it’s been hijacked, balkanized, and diluted by every single 4-week bootcamping vocationing tourist. It’s driven the brand value down and set us all back 15 years from where we should have been. And, of course, any mention of this only results in online bullying and gatekeeping from the ultra wokodox cultural extremist karens. Love tech and my field specifically but can’t f’king stand the self-righteous indignation of the discipline appropriating squatters.
Curious as to what is chosen your discipline? I too am facing the same problem.
Why aren’t you saying what the “chosen discipline” is?
Nope. In tech for 28 years and going strong (SWE).
Still IC or moved into management roles?
That speaks of Microsoft culture and why it grows along with the employees