[hluska]

Do you like writing code?? If yes, you're in the right field. If no, get the hell out as fast as possible.

Some of the best developers I know couldn't pass a whiteboard interview if their lives depended on it. Conversely, the worst developer I ever worked with absolutely dominated the whiteboard phase of his interview.

If I were you, I'd look outside of the big four. There are plenty of amazing companies out there doing some very interesting things. Hell, I work for a company that I guarantee you've never heard of, but I work on the most interesting problems that I've ever encountered.

[voltagex_]

I dunno. Some of the best programmers I know treat programming as strictly a 9 to 5. I'm the outlier at the moment - I go home and keep programming.

I can't help but feel that the "passionate programmer" is a construct created by SF and SV to trick people into working far more overtime than they need to.

[wccrawford]

Are you saying that you don't like writing code, and yet you go do it as a 9 to 5?

I have never worked with anyone who was a coder that didn't enjoy coding. I'm not talking about being evangelical about it, just a basic satisfaction in what they're doing and not having a desire to be doing something else. (Note that I'm talking about the coding aspect, not the other BS that goes with it sometimes. I've met many people that hated the politics/etc.)

[voltagex_]

No, I'm talking about the difference between a person who codes out of hours as well as working, as opposed to someone who codes just during their job.