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Comment by handmodel | Hacker News Reader

I more or less have a no show job. I am a programmer but for a private company whose business is entertainment. About 5 years ago I came up with something that traceably earned the owner millions. The owner/CEO loves me but I report directly to him with no other co-workers so a bit hard to "move up" I get paid 150k a year to work maybe 40 (flexible) hours a month? For the last two years I've pursued side projects (more artistic than business) but haven't reached the brake even point.

I've thought about leaving many times but it always feels like best case scenario I'd maybe get a 10%ish salary bump but one that is way more demanding. I know deep down this is bad for the long term but also hard to give up such a nice lifestyle especially when I've been able to fill it with other pursuits that were fulfilling.

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How's it bad for the long term, you have a fantastic low stress job.

If this really earned the company millions, maybe you could negotiate with the CEO where you start a new joint venture or something.

150k a year is not bad money, outside of fang, that's actually closer to the top of the market.

I think the hesitation is that your skills might atrophy as well as your ability to work in non-chill environments, in case it becomes necessary to move on in the future. Company could go under, get acquired etc etc

>I think the hesitation is that your skills might atrophy

Sounds like OP has more opportunity than the average person to keep skills up to date on company time.

True, but not the support of colleagues and work that puts it into practice.

Reading about Foobars at Scale isn't the same as working on them at Netflix or wherever. (Even if you try to put what you read into practice and it's somehow free/cheap to deploy at massive scale and load test it, it's still not the same.)

This is reasonable, though on the flipside, the commenter could also become stuck in a role at a large corporation where either the work is repetitive, or the skills are non-transferable to other companies (i.e. the work is highly specific to internal tools not used elsewhere), with no on-the-job time to improve one’s skills.

You’re right that conditions could be far better for skill improvement, though having paid free time is also a great environment (e.g. for potentially earning a graduate degree online from a reputable institution).

I agree and wouldn't turn such a position down :') - I just wanted to point it that it's not a completely rosy skill-building scenario. Depends also on what you want to be learning, and how you learn I suppose. (E.g. I think I learn best from textbooks, at least as a first step, so I might fare better than someone who learns better with instruction, or less theoretical more hands-on stuff.)

> as well as your ability to work in non-chill environments

This is a real thing, at least for me personally. I've been self-employed for the last 4 years and have been lucky enough to live a very cushy life. I make twice as much now than any job I had in the past, but all my income is more or less passive and has nothing to do with how much I work. That being said, I know my current situation won't last won't last forever and every so often I get pretty stressed out at the idea of having to go back to a regular job. As a result I probably work 40-50 hours a week on other projects trying to find something else that will 'stick' in case my current income source disappears. It's still cushy in the sense that I get to pick and choose when I work and what I work on, but the thought of going back to a full time job, or god forbid an office, is pretty stressful.

I was once in a similar position as handmodel, for about two years, and absolutely terrified that my skills would atrophy. But now I realize that was just fear-driven and everything cycles, or is replaced, every five to ten years. So if you can skip one of those cycles you can avoid wasting a lot of effort.

That is sorta how I hope it gets resolved. I do think I'm a quick learner, still. My job sounds extremely impressive on paper though when it comes to nuts and bolts I feel like I have atrophied for several years.

I do feel like my skills have atrophied. I've def taught myself some skillsets over the years - I love to learn - but mostly things that seem fun/interesting/challenging and not things that would transfer into a similar paying job.

Thank you. This is why I have not quit but why I responded to this thread of being "fired". I feel like it would make the decision for me and be a relief and work out in the long term. Just no time in the short term has it appealed enough to me to pull the trigger.

I do the occasional job searching - but not a ton. And my network feels smaller than it was when I started the job.

Why not a paying, small-scale technical side project to keep your skills up?

(This is an actual question. I really want to hear your answer, no matter what it is, as I am in a similar-ish boat.)

I probably should. I think it has been hard for me to find one that is part-time and worthwhile.

I taught myself circuit design/CAD/3d modeling over the last couple years since I've been doing some amateur product design. I feel like I've made progress but also this has consumed a lot of my spare intellectual time and although I had a few people reach out to me after seeing my amateur projects online have not made any formal progress into the business.

That's a dream job. You could work remotely on a regular job and keep this one.

https://www.reddit.com/r/overemployed/

I’ve had similar situations and I empathize with you. I like to “own” things and build and feel excited about what I’m involved in. Collecting money for being alive and sharing wisdom sometimes when called upon leaves me very depressed. Everyone says “what a great job! Do whatever you want!” But what I want to do isn’t a side gig, I enjoy earth changing adventures in building amazing stuff that’s really important and hasn’t been done before. I enjoy the excitement of inventing new things as I fall asleep. I don’t get that from side projects.

Conversely I enjoy throwing myself into an empty pool head first and it leads to burnout and high stress levels that impact my health. So I swing between these poles in my career.

I relate to that. I have some personal side projects that I enjoy though I worry they may not be sustainable if I start to have a family. Before this job I very much had a job I had complete ownership over and really loved it - even though it was not very well paying.

I'll take your position if you decide you want to leave.

It's a great problem to have. I think many of us here are in a similar position. Nice comfy jobs, well paid with no chance of promotion. I've been at mine for over a decade. I know it's going to be bad when its over, however there is also the real possibility of this position lasting until I retire.

I think you may be under estimating luck. Maybe you are not underemployed, maybe you are overly lucky?

If that is the case, then let it ride!

Ultimately that's close to what I'm doing! Not jumping ship until something finds my way that is definitely better.

I think I "want to be fired" because it would take some of the stress of the decision away from me. My girlfriend makes slightly more than me now - even though years ago I made about twice as her - and I admit I feel some pressure to keep up.

> know deep down this is bad for the long term

It’s bad for your sense of self-worth, even if it’s not objectively a bad thing.

One day you might ask yourself “Where would I be if I went all-in on something exciting rather than just putting 10% effort into my work for all those years?”

That is a terrible way to live your life. If a person has interests they should pursue them, not act out of fear that one day they will be called to judgment.

Do some contracting on the side in an area you find interesting that would flex your tech skills?

If youre only doing 40 hrs a month, finding a contract for 2 days a week or something would add workload, but ideally something you'd enjoy

Where would one find these types of contracts?

Look out on the monthly threads here and reach out asking if they're open to it.

Build your network through previous jobs or events and then sometimes they reach out to you or you can reach out to them and ask.

Not super helpful sorry, but they definitely exist.

I'm also curious about how to get these kinds of contracts

Keep this job.

love these first world problems. enjoy :)

How about getting the additional full time but potentially demanding job?

Negotiate a percentage of profits on your next venture with the company.

this is epic enjoy life build cool things and study or game all day

I have been building a lot of cool stuff the last couple years in the hardware space. I think in my mind I thought I'd been able to spin it off as a side project? But so far its the type of things I post online and amateurs find it very interesting/artistic but hard to monetize/make sustainable.

sounds good

keep using your free time to improve your skills and/or building something on the side

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