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by n_time 885 days ago
There's a lot of programming gigs in the public sector or in larger boring organisations. They pay less but are also have lower expectations and more structure which are both great

No PTSD but dealing with burn out I needed to find something else, and that's what I tried. So far it's paying off.

3 comments

Be careful, there are also programming jobs like this that pay less and also have less structure and higher expectations.

It's not an absolute rule that "boring" companies or whatever are walks in the park.

In a lot of cases they aren't because they actually have to make a profit and so they tend to be incredibly understaffed at least by the standards I kinda got used to in the tech industry. I can only speak for finance and insurance though, maybe the government really is slow paced but people said that about insurance before I got this job and its the hardest I've ever had to work and it isn't even close.

Now if most of the stress is actually coming from fear of layoffs, that genuinely is better in my experience, there havent been any programmers laid off in the three years I've been here, but only because you are working so much harder that they literally cannot afford to lay anybody off. Checks would probably stop going out on time if they did.

Anyway, definitely people should look into it and maybe interview around, I'm just warning everyone not to take the tech industry meme about sleepy banks and insurance companies at face value without a lot of evidence. If you think about it it never made much sense but I think everyone in tech falls for it due to us having a tendency to think we are the smartest and the dude-bro-fratboys in underwriting or <other stereotypically boring job> are all hanging out having a party all day.

I hear you. It's definitely important to be careful; less prestigious jobs can also just mean getting treated with less prestige AKA like shit.
There are also a lot of tech jobs which pay well which don't involve programming!

(Everyone assumes a poster is a SWE here - not necessarily the case)

Tech jobs not involving programming:

- Support - Ops - TAM - Networking - Architect - etc.

Seconded.

Especially since you're a veteran, look at government (and in particular DoD) contractors. The pace is slower and as an SME you could contribute in many areas.

I’d especially recommend the VA: they’re both generally inclined to hire veterans and specifically against writing people off, and they have a ton of modernization projects which will improve matters for millions of people.