I worked hard to get to where I am, much more than most but that’s not the point. I wanted the prestige and respect of being an “engineer”, and of course the money. I’ve been a SWE for 4 years at 2 big companies now and I’m bored out of my fucking mind. It’s like, ‘I made it, now what?’ [I don’t give a shit about writing a couple more endpoints and hooking up the ORM. I sure as fuck don’t want to write some more Dockerfiles and provision some shit on Azure. Don’t even get me started on wasting any time in life on FUCKING Leetcode.] I know I have to get out of Microsoft somehow ASAP, but am I SOL in being happy as a software engineer? I can do the work, I just DO NOT care to at the moment. I have great soft skills and one of my degrees is in Economics/Business, I am strategic and critical, like daydreaming and coming up with ideas, and wonder if I’d be better as a product manager? Or maybe I need to leave the Bay Area for a few months and be a beach bum or something before coming back to SWE? I’m seriously questioning my life. I have a house, an ex who I split custody of great kids with, find it easy to get dates, and have a few great friends here in SF. My life isn’t empty to where my job has to fill a big gap. What the hell is wrong with me? People would kill to have my job. Have you ever felt this way about being a software engineer and how did you overcome it?
Sounds like it’s time to leave the big MNCs. Take a break, sorry but you will need to do some Leetcode while you’re resting, come back and look for a smaller company where you are a significant contributor. I’d suggest that before throwing in the towel. It seems that SWE is just a stepping stone to something else. During your break, also pursue those interests and think about how you can parlay your SWE experience. Being a SWE is about solving problems, defining and executing projects: these are transferable skills that not many are good at.
Yes. I was there, ex wife and kids included. For me it turned out to be about people, working with great people who appreciate me, making a difference in the world, and working on really interesting side projects. I also recently found love again, so it’s all coming together really nicely. Good luck friend!
🙏🏼
Seems like you have a higher purpose than being an engineer, which is probably the modern era version of an artisan? Writing another dockerfile doesn’t sound much different than making another widget. I dont see much excitement in that repetitive mundane job either. But then there is always the things you want to do and the thing you are good at. I’d rather be a rocket scientist or an economist or an inventor, but i seem better at writing dockerfiles so far, that’s probably why im still an engineer right now..
That’s why people change areas , go to mobile or try to go to manager position But 4 years of experience is just not that much... at the end of the day is just work,a lot of people think because is not physical work or because it’s areas you might like (tech , video games, crypto ) it’s not going to feel like work but it always will You’re in one of the career path with more variations and flexibility. I ran into the same issues some years ago and switch from backend to mobile I was pretty bad making UI and put an effort into becoming good , now I understand a lot of Ux concepts and work with the designers giving my input to them , I also work a lot with PM to talk about feasibility and implementation
Are you working on the infrastructure side of software? Maybe try doing more application development? I find that working closer to the users more interesting and less abstract. You have to think more like a product manager.
You should Join Uber and see if you can succeed here
Welcome Now in 4 year you see how bad the industry. You right no wasted time. We all jokers think we big
Consider pre-sales or consulting. Great $, get out the office. Leverage your skill set.
What does it mean to be a SWE consultant?
I would avoid consulting; whereas the problems you're solving will be unique the code you're writing, for the most part, isn't very interesting. I'm in a similar boat where I've been in SWE consulting / solution architecture (small firm so I end up doing both) for going on 5 years and currently looking for another role because the work hasn't been particularly interesting. Looking to transition into a role that drives strategy and direction. The nice part about pre-sales is because you're close to the $$ there's good job security, but it seems like you're a talented SWE so that doesn't need to be a deciding factor.
How old are you?
Nothing wrong with you, it's common to get bored in you current function. How about change to PM to test those soft skills?
This is a good idea. Within your current company it might be easier to try out another job family. It’s not easy to try for an SDM or PM position at another company when you lack that experience.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe you can always go back to sde after PM so this would be pretty low risk as well.