[codethief]

> But you know they are bad, no tests, no best practices, not even consistency between code.

The question is: Why do you get away with writing bad code?

That's as much your fault as it is your manager's or the product owner's. My advice, therefore, would be to go find a job where you're held accountable and where you get pushed (to learn how to) to deliver quality work.

I myself am working for an IT consulting firm that predominantly hires math/physics graduates fresh out of school. And while they're usually very smart, they typically lack programming experience and might be rather bad coders. When they start. After one or two months of extensive training (both on and off the job) and a ton of advice by their colleagues, they're usually much better already. Years later they will be among the best coders under the sun because that's what our firm – and especially our clients – demand from them.