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My current job is in biotech, writing cloud software which helps clinicians (and researchers) gather supporting evidence for their diagnoses. The install base is small, so it'd be hard to claim it makes the _world_ a better place. But it's a start. I'd love to do more with it, because the software could actually help discover and refine the biomarkers which would inform diagnoses, instead of the other way around. But the FDA (and other similar regulatory bodies) have strong opinions on the distinctions between Clinical Decision _Support_ software, and _Diagnostic_ software. I think this job could have a much larger impact, but it's going to take the industry another 10 years worth of iteration to get comfortable with how modern cloud software changes medical device development. My job before this was in ad tech. Another poster said everything I would, so I'll just say No, nothing in ad tech makes the world better. Before that I was a teacher at a for-profit university. This is a harder call. I had a measurably positive impact on students, who have turned around and had their own positive impacts on the world. (I regularly see at least one former student here on HN.) But I left the job, at least in part, because the financial burdens the students were bearing wore down my enthusiasm. Before that, I worked for a company which made office and art supplies. We had some pretty good school supply programs, and I got to see kids light up when we brought in boxes of paints and clays. Arguably, this job made the world better, albeit in a small way. |