[jayroh]

It's funny how fast and profoundly "perspective" will hit you. When I was a young programmer I always dreamed of that promotion and comp adjustment. Constantly looking for that next step. That's not inherently bad, per se, but once you reach a particular place you come to find out what the commensurate responsibility looks like. Sometimes -- dare I say, often? -- it's just not fun. That's what they pay you for, though, right?

The friends and colleagues in my cohort, the ones NOW with larger financial and familial responsibilities, curse their former selves for not knowing how good they had it.

I guess all that is to say, as cliche as it is, "be careful what you wish for".

[zeroonetwothree]

Grass is greener etc.

Other peoples situations always seem better/easier. We don’t have enough data and are just too poor at objective evaluation.

[at-fates-hands]

>> Grass is greener etc.

This is so true.

After spending a decade in software development, I'm finally staying put where I am. So many times as a developer you hate something about your job. So you go out and interview, build some stuff for show on GitHub, and then finally land that job that's going to take away all your worries and grievances you have with your current employer.

Only to find out all you did was swap one set of problems for another, totally different set of problems which weren't an issue at your former employer.

You either accept this stuff as just something every company has, or you'll go crazy trying to find a perfect company/startup/agency to work at and you'll never get any further in your career.

[linuxftw]

Is everyone just making lateral moves? New job should mean new money, that's the only reason to move jobs, unless you really want to build your resume in an area in order to... make more money in the long run.

[marssaxman]

Some of us have motives other than acquiring money. What is that money for? Work takes up a larger share of your time and energy than anything else in your life. If your job makes you unhappy, how much additional money will it take to make up for that?

[linuxftw]

I try to maximize my earnings during my working hours (M-F, 9-5ish) so I can enjoy things outside my working hours. Most of my work related unhappiness comes from the idea that "I should be making more money." I'm finally at a spot, where if the market rebounds a little, I'm in the top 10-15% of pay for an individual contributor, I think. Full time remote for the last 5 years, low cost of living state, and my annual income is somewhere between $350-$450k depending on how the market does (or much higher if things really turn around). I'm on year 1 at this new gig, so I won't feel that amount until bonus time comes around early next year, but man, it's bringing me a lot of joy, I can tell you that.

The only question is, do I buy a boat, a beach house, or a lake house? I live near a lake and already have a jetski and a friend with a boat, maybe I should just buy a tract of land to drive my jeep and some ATVs. I mean, maybe people get a lot of happiness out of work, I certainly don't. I like to have fun.

[marssaxman]

Ah, well! Congratulations on finding a life that works for you.

There is nothing I can spend any amount of money on which will make my free time happy enough to make up for the misery of a job I do not care about. It cannot be done. If a better job means I have to take a pay cut, no matter; it's worth it for a happier life. Any job I could possibly take at this point in my career will pay enough to live well, anyway, so I don't see much point in trying to maximize income. Hedonic treadmill, diminishing marginal utility, etc.

[Jistern]

As the adage goes, "Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have"

[phil21]

The grass is never greener, it's just a different shade of brown.

[rxhernandez]

I think if I were homeless, a FAANG SWE job would definitely be greener.

[flashgordon]

Ah except it doesnt go directly from brown -> (supposed) green in one step :) It is a whole bunch of slightly browner shade transforms. (Missing a few intermediate steps and no dissing on any of the stages) it might be something like:

Homeless -> Volunteer worker -> Govt job -> Non Faang -> Faang -> Enlightened that you missing out on life.

[rxhernandez]

A lack of ability to imagine something shouldn't cause someone to believe it can't happen. There are any number of ways someone can go homeless including under the conditions of having the skills to program. I've been able to program since I was 12 and definitely could've gone homeless any time between now and around 3 years ago (which is nearly 2 decades of time).

[flashgordon]

You are spot on. The "progression" I gave an example is (mean to be) fully free of any judgement or superiority etc. Any of us can go homeless in an instant (eg FAANG eng buys a crazy expensive house on a H1B, suddenly looses job in a bad market). My point was that when someone is going through those stages, assuming you had never been in a advanced stage etc, a linear path means you are incrementally loosing a part of yourself and you dont realize it until the end. Does that make sense?

[taylodl]

I remember when homeless employees working for Google made headlines. People had good paying jobs, couldn't afford housing - or at least didn't desire to put the entirety of their income into housing. Looks like things may be headed back that way again.

[wccrawford]

I caught this perspective early, and would be very clear in interviews that I didn't ever want to be a manager. I had a lot of interviewers ask, "Don't you have any ambition?"

My answer was always that I did, I got to where I wanted to be, and I intend to stay there. I'm a programmer. I program. Ambition realized.

And with the money that programmers make, it seems even more ridiculous to suggest that I had no ambition while applying for a job as "senior developer" or "lead developer".

[Sohcahtoa82]

Management and engineering require two completely different skillsets and are two completely separate jobs.

Just because someone is a great engineer doesn't mean they'd be a good manager. I'd be scared to work under a manager that doesn't acknowledge and believe this.

[3-cheese-sundae]

I’m in this position as well, but over time I’m becoming more concerned about getting pushed out of independent contribution by ageism.

[mattgreenrocks]

Learn and do things other people say are hard, and that you find interesting.

[taylodl]

That's why I've never gone into management. It's not an honor to be a manager, it's a skill - and that's not a skill I want to develop. Better to work for a company that recognizes technical talent is a skill that's at least as-important as management and will financially compensate accordingly for that skill.

[hgsgm]

Being more successful younger makes it easier to handle financial responsibilities later.

Partying when you are young isn't something always looked back on fondly. Fun is good now and in future expectation.

[Jistern]

Those are wise words.