Software engineer progression
Wasn’t particularly sure of where to ask this but has anyone else been through a wave of burnout + imposter syndrome + aimlessness and more? I joined a big tech company mid last year (can’t say which one but I’m sure you can figure it out if you’re really interested) and I just don’t know where to go from here. If anyone else has gone through this I’d love to learn about your experience and if you’ve gotten out of this ‘rut’ and how?
Here’s what I’ve tried (but failed at miserably)
1. Building side projects - as soon as I start something I end up dropping it within the first 2 weeks because it gets too complicated too convoluted or too messy
2. Then I think I need to learn about some technical stuff so I go off and try doing a course, like a next js course tutorial or something
3. Then I realize a course won’t do much so I go solely focus on my job and try to move up the ladder there but the progression seems very vague (I have to “own a piece of tech” and “demonstrate my knowledge”)
4. So I go off and try to do another project (back to step 1) and then the cycle repeats itself
To any of the experienced devs who’ve been doing this for longer than I have, is this normal? How did you get out of this? What pushed you in the right direction?
8 Replies
Do you drop side projects within the first 2 weeks because you're bored of them?
Honestly really depends, I have my 9-5 and I workout in the early mornings and by the time I come home I’m exhausted, I have a side gig where I teach comp sci student fundamentals on the weekends so I practically work 7 days a week. Because of that I barely get time and when I do sit down barely make progress and get bored
Yo that totally makes sense. IMO there's just normal human burnout involved here.
I don't think I have answers for you homie but I empathize.
Yeah it is most likely just overworking and burnout. Part of life
if you already work 7 days a week it's gonna be hard to find motivation outside of that. Is there any chance you can take on more challenging/interesting task in your job or ones where you'll be able to take time to learn and research? It'll probably be a risk but it might be worth it
i once even made something outside of my given task that i know will be useful but my boss would think not worth doing had i asked prior to making it
To recover from and avoid burnout, set boundaries and work on your work-life-balance. Time-box your work time.
Big companies aren't for everyone, some find it more stressful than others.
Personally I thrive in small companies, where I can see/measure my impact. Also it helps to work on a product that I believe in.
I spent a couple years in this rut and don't know how to get out of it really. I'm hopeful though--just take some time on the side to play with new toys and doing it with a friend, but we both get busy a lot (kids) so progress is slow
But imo it really depends on what your options during most of the work day are -- at least for me "owning" part of the tech helps a lot and depending how big the company is, that could be harder
Honestly I’d have to drop stuff to make time but that’s for the suggestion 😅
Honestly makes sense, I kinda just go with the flow, need to start being intentional with my time
Yeah with Big Tech owning something meaningful is hard, you just have to mess around for a while