7
baewulf
6y

[Fairly existential career question] How fulfilling would you say your career in development has been?

[Long rant] for years I had been planning on becoming a rabbi, majored in religious studies etc, until I realized there would be no way out of my rapidly growing debt if I chose to continue on that path. i had to drop out 3 years into my undergrad due to financial issues, and as it is now working full time im barely holding my head above water. I spent a lot of time being sad about it until i decided to change things and started getting into accounting before I discovered coding. I am SO GLAD I discovered coding cause accounting was so boring...Now I'm excited to be going back to school for software development and I'm in a bit of a pink cloud having discovered something thats both exciting/fun/challenging AND lucrative... But i do worry about 5, 10 years in the future, will i still be as stoked about it? Religious leadership was and is something I know i would feel ~fulfilled~ over a lifetime, and while my newly discovered passion for coding literally keeps me up at night getting fired up on solving problems and writing my little newb programs, i think I'm afraid of burnout?

[Tl;dr] I'm making an education+career switch to software development and i wanna know how folks feel about their career years into it, do you still love it just as much? Feel jaded? Regretful? Happy?

Comments
  • 1
    I really don't know how helpful this will be but mostly what matters to be happy in this world will be your passion and mindset...

    Some hate this, some love it, some have a love-hate relationship with it... I believe everyone will come across those shitty projects with shitty clients and regret, but if you persevere, you will get those amazing projects with amazing people... And even at those you might someday feel on the motions... So, it's about your experience, your path...

    If you love learning and solving problems this is a area that can give you that on a daily basis, if you work to get there....

    On another note, people say that if you do what you love you won't work a day in your life... However, if you need money work is always an obligation and even your passion is tiresome... Perseverance is the golden rule... Focus on the good things and you will always be happy
  • 1
    I would also like to add: don't second guess yourself that way...

    If you love it, dig into it... Obssess about it... What you thought you were going to do didn't work out because life is that way... But it allowed you to go into a new world you never thought about...

    If you second guess yourself you will be living in the past... In the 'what if'... Look forward, enjoy the ride and always ask yourself 'what now'

    Btw, both paths are not mutually exclusive, they just seem that way right now
  • 2
    Thats actually a really helpful perspective!
  • 1
    I've seen people of almost any age switching careers, included myself in the early studies. The thing about technology Jobs is that it's coverage of human activity is almost everywhere nowadays, you can become an expert (with time) at any industry you would like to switch, or, if akin, switch to management if you get bored of coding.
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