How do I get out of the mud and actually live life!
I won’t say I was forced to software engineering or computer science. After 10th, I literally had no idea about the options. I didn’t want to be a doctor. That’s the only thing that I knew. Commerce and arts used to be looked down upon, so science field was the only option. Inside science I only knew about Doctor and engineer. My brother chose engineering for himself. After 5 years, I blindly followed everything he did. I completed bachelors In computer engineering and got to work. Pay was pretty good. But looked at the salaries in US and decided to pursue MS. Finished masters and got into Google. Now I realize I don’t like software engineer job so much. That just doesn’t feel like my passion. I don’t know what my passion is. I like solving small problems, mini projects using code. I love solving LeetCode type problems (brain teasers using code), it needs some interesting thinking And I love that part. However I hate going to office And work. At this point, I am not sure what I like. I have to keep working to earn money. If I have to work, what is better than being a software engineer and get top dollars. But I feel very empty at the end of the day. Life doesn’t feel interesting at all. Anybody in similar boat? How do people change careers? I don’t know if I have any other skills either? Switching careers is so daunting. At this time, I really think product management would be something I will enjoy but I am afraid if this is just because I haven’t seen that yet. I worry that i will not like that as well. I don’t know. 26 years old.
Experiment. Change teams or products. Change companies. Change roles. Or make money, invest, and retire early. You didn't even say what your interests are. P.S. Product management is a more diverse role, but it can be extremely hard and at times frustrating, because you have less control over things.
Don't chase ur passion as your source of income. Keep them separate. Work is for money. Passion is for fun.
Become freelancer
Look into research type roles.
I think it’s just google, too much about clean code, process and readability as opposed to rolling out features. Google’s approach may be better engineering wise but it also removes the fun out of coding?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-life_crisis Could it be this?
Interesting 🧐
Yes, I hate software engineering. I've done it, I'm not terrible at it, and sometimes I really enjoy writing code. But as a whole it's just not for me. I felt like an absolute failure admitting this, but once I did, I saw a lot of opportunity pop up along the way. I've worked as a solutions architect, product manager, and in various consulting roles. Not all of these have gone well, but overall I'm in a pretty decent place. I might be making more money if I was a SWE, but there's more to life than TC.
Have to try things to find out if you like them, no way around that. Luckily, very few need you to commit years of study beforehand. Just have to be ready to give up the paycheck.