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Comment by _davebennett | Hacker News Reader

I haven't left, but I'm thinking about it (despite still being early in my career lol). For me, it's the frustration of "nothing really matters." I value helping people, and building software actual people will use is one of the ways of doing that. Unfortunately, I have not had that opportunity. I've had to work on multiple projects that served no real purpose. It's extremely annoying.

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I have found myself with a similar issue. Haven't been in the industry for too long (been working for over 3 years), but the constant shitshow that is FE development is really taking a toll on me. No matter what you do, people keep changing things, sometimes for the better, other times for no particular reason other than to work on new shiny things. If what I am writing right now will be thrown out soon or rewritten anyway, then why bother? Same goes for some BE stuff, Go language seems to be the new hip thing to do stuff in, repeating the cycle once more.

I have begun trying to find things I truly care about as a countermeasure to this fatigue, so far it seems to be moving in the direction of just helping with repairing and refurbishing used computer hardware. I know how to do it for my own purposes, it's less mentally taxing, you get to save useful stuff from going to the landfill and you will also help cut down on consumption. It probably helps that the results are immediate (broken device -> working device), but going this route will have a minuscule impact also on a larger scale.

> but going this route will have a minuscule impact also on a larger scale.

I think people trick themselves into thinking that "changing the world" is their ticket to happiness. I think looking more locally is the key to happiness. Make your community better in some way and the results are immediate, and you get to be a part of something meaningful and present. If you become the local guy that fixes people's old computer hardware, then you'll be genuinely impacting people's lives for the better.

So, rather than maybe help lots of people a tiny bit (hard to see the impact), help a small number of individuals a lot.

This!

I feel exactly the same. I’ve had a great career within web development and UX design, in pretty significant ways, but it’s still not fulfilling and I’ve lost purpose in it.

I’ve turned my UX interest towards city planning, and I focus more on nature, farming, exercising. Whatever energy I have left I spend on a few startups.

Also, I’ve gone through all the medical and psychological steps to be a helicopter pilot (old dream) and I’m applying to schools at this very moment.

Looking to make the switch more permanent soon, I still have a day job as frontend developer.

Purpose and intention is all.

> be a helicopter pilot (old dream)

Careful with that, its one of "those jobs" that people flock to, but very hard to make a living in. A relative of mine did that, started rich, got his own helicopter, isn't rich anymore.

But is he happy? That's the big question (I used to be a fixed wing flight instructor, poor but happy).

There is tons of help needed in Medical software, I made the jump to work in Radiation Oncology in 2014 after working at a large travel website and I do not regret it at all. The key is to find a company that maintains high security while still being "agile". That way the work is meaningful, and still similar in pace to working other programming jobs.

I find my work far more impactful, knowing millions of patients are being treated by my software in some way.

Thanks! I will look into those types of jobs.

Look into working at a university, "research programmer" is the title to search for. It won't pay well, but the benefits are usually world-class, the environment is incredibly fulfilling, and you can take courses for free.

Same here. I start feeling anxious any time I think about it. I think we spend a lot of energy to serve commercial purposes. I am on a huge project, that uses a lot of modern technologies like AWS, Angular, etc... just to sell products.

It is boring. So like you said, I just try to find an opportunity that could help, but it's hard to find.

A reason why I could not leave my job right now, is that it's well payed. That's a high risk when you have a family with kids.

I wonder if you pick a company that is both small (<20 people) and doing something you believe in if you'd have a different experience.

At a startup, you get to have a large impact on the company so it definitely can feel like you're making a difference.

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