[jopx]

Actually nothing, which makes me really frustrated.

I'm just building boring CRUD systems for boring companies. I can use a lot of concepts/buzzwords, like microservices, serverless... But at the end, just CRUD apps.

How can I improve? After 5 years just doing this, I don't feel capable of doing something cool like some of the posts in this thread.

[chrismeller]

Ehh, if you’ve only been developing for 5 years I’d say that’s fairly standard. Think about other fields: after 5 years practicing medicine you’re barely out of residency and still working 24 hour shifts doing the dirty work no one else wants to do. After 5 years as a lawyer you’re likely still an associate working 90 hours a week doing the same.

Just focus on learning new things as much as you can. Whether that’s from more senior guys at work or in your own time with side projects, all that matters is you learn. Then start applying for new jobs. You’ll probably be disappointed at first with rejections and/or the pay they’re willing to offer, but that’s fine - their feedback will show you where you need to focus your efforts to improve.