Ask HN: How do you get out a career rut?

Glad and sad to hear that someone is facing the exact same problems I've had in the past. There are several underlying problems in your situation. It took me a while to find out about all of this. Though now I have a clear vision of the problems. In 2017:

1. Software Development is not fun anymore. It used to be 10 years ago... today it's all about how many resources a company can utilize to implement a solution that has already been defined. All it needs is a set of arms and legs. No more creativity in software development, you don't use your brain.

2. Companies evaluate and hire software engineers based on CS principles (big-O and all the crap we learn at school). In real life, it's all about code architecture, integration, modularity, maintainability, etc. Software Engineers (because of companies like Google) are not operational anymore. Which means, there's no code quality anymore and products go out of the door full of bugs, poorly implemented. Look at iOS and OS X today. It feels like Windows Vista. %80 of your job as an engineer today is to fix all the mess (bugs) versus %20 new features.

3. Companies do not spend any effort in selecting their interviewers. You might come out of FB, google, etc. then get rejected by a small company after the first round because the interviewer asked you something way too specific. Like a bug he or she ran into one day, spent 3 weeks to fix it, thinking it would make the perfect problem for a 30 minute phone interview. If you get the solution in 30 minutes you pass, if not, you're not the right fit for this position. That makes sense right? Hell no.. And that's when you're lucky enough! Someone can ask you to write a program that rotates a matrix in a notepad, using a correct language syntax in 30 minutes. If you don't deliver you're out.

So, because of these 3 underlying problems, people can end up in your situation fairly quickly. This is 2017 and it's getting worse everyday. So the solution is to run away from coding... let the "machines" do it for you. Act now and jump into another field.

> Which means, there's no code quality anymore and products go out of the door full of bugs, poorly implemented. Look at iOS and OS X today. It feels like Windows Vista. %80 of your job as an engineer today is to fix all the mess (bugs) versus %20 new features.

This is it for me, just about everywhere is fixing shit that was made over the last decade. Companies don't even want it fixed they want it patched to keep running. Even when I've worked on new stuff lately it's usually mandated that we repeat all the mistakes that made the old software so bad. Architecture isn't about how fast or clean you can make things, but how many layers you can add.

For the most part, those 20% new features are handled and implemented like a fix or patch.

>So the solution is to run away from coding... let the "machines" do it for you. Act now and jump into another field.

Was that the Sarcasm there?

I can relate to this. I joined IBM right out of college to work on tooling for realtime data pipelines. While I anticipated c++ development, I discovered that most of the core project had been implemented and the remaining work was not in my area of interest (which is systems).

It's hard to pass phone screens when you feel burned out. Have you considered taking time off?

I've had a couple ruts. I don't presume my life lessons are worth reapplying, but a few thoughts...

1) Immediately after both my undergrad and grad experiences, my ego was WAY too high. I was too full of myself, and not completely lacking humility. It took setbacks and tough times to ground me. Nobody likes to work with a big ego.

2) Once your spirit is broken, it's time to go. Don't quit before you have a new job, but start searching.

3) You mentioned "Big companies" twice. Early in your career the brand of the company matters very little. Optimize completely on "Will I respect my boss?" and "Will they give me time?" Everything else (learning, long term wealth, happiness at work) follows from that.

4) Sometimes it takes a while to appreciate the lessons that you're learning. But you're not paid to learn. That's a benefit that comes from what you're actually paid to do.

Good luck. You have good skills in a good economy, and in the long run you'll be fine.

Does the brand of company matter later in your career?

Sometimes. In Sales brand is a negative signal. "Anyone can hit their quota if they're selling SAP" In engineering it can be helpful. "We hired the VP of BlahBlah from Google, she knows how to scale"

If you're at FB, reach out to me (nbm is my unixname). 100% privacy guaranteed or your money back.

Otherwise, you should consult with your manager and a trusted (but not necessarily intimate) peer or mentor about what your options are in the space before resigning and trying another company. If you just repeat the same story at your next few places, you'll end up more behind. Perhaps you can come to value the work you find dull, find a way to prove your value to the more senior folks and be let in on the "actual work", or move onto a team with a different focus or problem set or composition.

Don't stick it out if you hate it, but make sure you give yourself the chance to find a better fit - this sort of thing translates whether it's a big tech company, a startup, or just your own confidence.

I have two comments.

1.) Have you ever considered that the job is fine, but you are the problem?? I am almost 40 and have been in and around this industry for a long time. To me, it sounds like your senior developers don't trust you. From what I'm reading, it sounds like you are bored and have tuned out from the job. Senior people tend to have a very good nose for juniors who have tuned out. And frankly, it is frustrating to deal with juniors like that. When I've been in that situation, I more commonly than not give them the absolute shit tasks in the hope that they won't f* up anything too critical.

2.) Has it ever occurred to you that you might not be a good fit for one of the big tech companies? I don't know you, but it sounds like you have a bit of an ego. That's fine, but in big companies, you are going to have to prove yourself before you get to work on anything truly interesting. If your ego is bigger than your contributions, you may never reach that point. There is a whole world of tech outside of the big tech companies. Consider taking a look at some smaller companies. Startups would likely give you the challenges you feel you deserve.

Good luck and I hope that this hasn't come across as too harsh. You're in a tough spot, but tough spots are perfect moments for self reflection. Take some time, think this over and trust me, this will get better.

You haven't mentioned whether you've mentioned this to your manager. Your manager is there to help you chart your career. You should be having frank conversations about this.

If you don't have that kind of relationship with your manager, figure out it it's you or them. If it's them, that's your real problem and it's indeed time to go.

"but most of my time is spent doing mundane stuff. It's important work, but it's extremely dull."

I feel like you have unrealistic expectations. Unless you are in a startup with no senior developers (or senior compared to you) as coworkers, you will be spending the beginning part of any job working on mundane/boring tasks.

As you get more experience with the project (and gain the trust of the more senior developers), you will be given more responsibility.

The same thing may happen at your next job.

But it doesn't sound like you're happy here and you should try to find another job.

I got out of my 'rut' by finding a new job. Then I realized I wanted to work for myself and started my own company. 6 years later, my company is still going strong.

> you will be spending the beginning part of any job

It's been over a year.

Well, it sounds like you haven't gained the trust of the more senior developers.