[settsu]

To confirm what others have said: becoming a developer will not inherently "[cut] out bureaucracy and office politics" and certainly does not hold any guarantee of being "paid decently."

That doesn't make it any less feasible if you find yourself dissatisfied with your current path. Just don't fall for an illusion of greener grass on the other side of the fence.

For a personal view: I was programming in BASIC at 12 and coding HTML not long after. And while my professional journey has been... meandering (I'm whatever the opposite of a Type A personality is), after 10+ years (not contiguous) of having some variation of web development as my primary job responsibility, I'm pretty well bored and unmotivated at this point. I've made more than I do now and been less happy and I've made less and been happier, had more/less autonomy, and in a relatively wide variety of environments: large corporation, small businesses, not-for-profits, freelance, healthcare, verticals, consumer-oriented.

And frankly, if I had ideal working conditions and made double what I do now, would I happier in general? Sure. But I wouldn't necessarily be any more excited to wake up and do that work than the day before. Because the factors you cited, while not inconsequential, can vary and change due to factors entirely out of your control. And they have no causal relationship to any particular work.

In other words, if you've eliminated all bureaucracy and office politics from the equation, and you secure a generous income, it still doesn't mean you'll feel different when your head hits the pillow at night and your eyelids lift to greet the morning.

With a 12-24 month timeframe, you may want to reflect on what your core values are—what really drives and motivates you.

[thefuzz]

Hi! Thanks for your reply - I really appreciate it.

To give you a bit of background, I'm an immigrant in the UK (from a 3rd world country, one of these: Brazil, China, India) as a sponsored employee. This means that I've been stuck in a job I didn't want, to be to be able to live in a country I wanted to live in. In the next 6-8 months, I will get a permant resident permit allowing me freedom to work anywhere I like without restrictions on minimum salary (like I have now). This is huge because I've been in a job I don't like for 5 fucking years!

I have a background in being self taught at the basics of HTML, CSS, some wordpress, a bit of javascript. I have designed a few projects in the past and it's super exciting to be able to create as a job. I feel like problem solving as a job sounds like a good fit because that's something I'm good at (once I know the syntax i'm dealing with).

After 5 years, I kind of feel like a slave and just want to spend a year (at first) doing things I think I might be good at, while doing things I know I like doing and I want to do more of.

[settsu]

Wow, what a journey you've made! I can see where you're coming from, literally & figuratively.

(If it wasn't obvious already, background is firmly rooted in white, male, American privilege. My family wasn't the Western stereotype of rich but by any reasonable measure, I was unquestionably fortunate.)

> it's super exciting to be able to create as a job. I feel like problem solving as a job sounds like a good fit because that's something I'm good at

I'm right with you on both the creating and the problem solving, both are key for me as well. As others have said, explore the various languages, platforms and such to discover which might click for you. Could be that you find operating as a generalist the best route or you may find a niche that you dive deep into. There are so many possibilities that fall under the umbrella of "developer" at this point, the sky literally isn't even the limit any longer.

Sounds like you're in a good place to make the leap soon and I wish you the best in finding an opportunity to land on!

[thefuzz]

I just saw this, thank you for the super encouraging reply! While I've never been poor, I come from a place where the thinking is very narrow and I've been super lucky to get out and have a chance at living on my own terms.

Your idea of starting an online diary is also very interesting - I'll definitely consider doing everything in public. I'm just a bit paranoid about putting my (sometimes opinionated) thoughts out there for future employers to see. Maybe it can be a strictly advice, wins and losses.

[settsu]

Wanted to add that you might consider writing about this then build on that by continuing to share the progress of your journey. At the very least you would have something to reflect back on but moreso I suspect there are others who would find encouragement in what you've been through already.

Just a thought...