I need an exit plan but I have no idea where to go. I want a job that's about half as technically demanding as fullstack-wear-every-hat jobs at $70k-80k.
Could I get some ideas?
Another option, which may be unpopular is to find a less demanding job. No one wants to hear it, but theres a plenty of development jobs, especially in non-tech companies where you don't have to be that good, you won't do much outside the standard 9-5 hours, pay what you want,and you can coast at for a very long time as long as you aren't a total incompetent. These ofc come with their own issues, but it might be the most realistic option you have, although you haven't gone into much details as to why you want out.
What / Where are these companies and where could one look for such?
Bear in mind that by being a borderline slacker you exclude yourself from any promotions and from doing more "interesting" work, but in many places you'll still get paid. Also, tech moves fast and, if you don't learn, you'll have problems 10-20 years down the road.
But now things are bit more established. If you're a good Java 8+ engineer who's worked on complicated large systems... do you really think that will go away?
If you work with a range of external customers, opens more avenues for escape, also. Pure development is pretty tedious, you are treated like a cog.
Not enough people talk about how much software engineering actually can suck. I couldn't stand having a "SCRUM MASTER" breathing down my neck, demanding timelines for every bug, dragging and dropping tasks on me.
I have worked as a consultant, sysadmin and developer but I was a fresher (when developer) at a $BIG_FIRM and everything had a process (Requirement gathering, analysis, etc. etc.) so it was not that Agile. curious to see how it is right now.
Another thing, though. Depending on how old you are, 7 dev jobs is a lot of dev jobs. You should consider whether you think the technical demands are really what’s making you unhappy. Because that many changes, depending on career length, suggests maybe you’ve given up too easily on a few. A successful career change requires both optimism and commitment. So keep your chin up, zero in on what you do want, and consider whether leaning into your current career and doubling down on your commitments could get it for you. Otherwise, best of luck. Go pick up a welding torch/green visor/trucker hat.
Anyway, point is, there’s plenty of variety out there!
Where can we find those? Almost every job posting ever needs 6-7 different technologies with multi-year experience in almost every.
I moved into high concurrency, low latency back end programming, jvm tuning sphere. Much more demanding and satisfying. Plus, no cookie cutter BS. I never want to go back to web dev again.
However... skimming through some of those, they actually look like pretty typical "work on a team" positions (e.g. "...technical guidance and mentoring of Computer Technicians with focus on accurate completion of work orders and execution of standard operating procedures..."), not "this cupboard has spares, this cupboard has rations, see you in 6 months, good luck!".
Any hints for finding something that's closer to the second option?
I feel your pain XD
Another question if you don’t mind -
>>Seek employment elsewhere when able!
Were you talking about some specific roles? Like software developer or something?
I loved the first 3 years of my career, but then the company showed its politics and started to screw me over... and over...
I'm upvoting and hoping to see some good responses.
Here, the most of cognitive load of will be talking to people, thinking how to design product and getting work done.
Okay, this might seem a lot at the moment but this is something to think in your position.
If the problem is stress, consider discovering the source of that stress and if there’s a solution besides leaving the industry.
It's a good set of questions to keep in mind, but I'm not sure it always leads to a feasible course of action.
What I like is working independently on a gnarly problem for some extended period of time. That explicitly includes spending the odd day "spinning my wheels" without being immediately being pushed to ask others for help -- because bumping my head against stuff while working alone is the way I like to learn stuff.
This way of working seems to be under fairly vigorous attack in favour of "everything needs a team", and I'm not quite sure how to work around that. Just pointing out that I'm getting things done does not seem to be sufficient.