How do you deal with being forced to work with something you don't like?
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You do what you can to put food on the table until you're able to do what you want.
I'm not sure how many cookies it makes to be happy, but so far it's not 27. JaxCoder.com
Mike Hankey wrote:
You do what you can to put food on the table until you're able to do what you want.
Dang skippy! During 25+ years of consulting (in one form or another), my focus was being marketable. My career started in a recession and I've survived several more. I had assignments I really liked, and I had assignments where if I was given the choice of going to work or being skinned alive, I'd have to think about it. ;P These days? I'm in a job I like, mostly doing things I want to do. But my focus has not changed -- marketability. Never let personal desires get in the way of supporting yourself (and your family, if you have one). If a job really sucks (and I've had a few that did), find a new one. Keep in mind that technology and languages change -- frequently. 30+ years ago, change was slow enough that learning a given technology could mean employment for a decade. Things change a lot faster today -- remain flexible and keep learning.
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Hi again people ;) I have a question. You who are software engineers with many years of experience. If you don't like to work with a certain programming language or a field that you are not intrested in, for example you are intrested in embedded systems but you have to work with web development. Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway? Or maybe you love programming that much that you don't mind, as long as you can program? I'm curious :^)
You grin and bear it. They don't pay you because it is fun, they pay you to come back and do it again tomorrow.
Pragmatism is a necessary survival tool.
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Hi again people ;) I have a question. You who are software engineers with many years of experience. If you don't like to work with a certain programming language or a field that you are not intrested in, for example you are intrested in embedded systems but you have to work with web development. Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway? Or maybe you love programming that much that you don't mind, as long as you can program? I'm curious :^)
It's not just some environment/language you don't like. Sometimes idiotic new management comes in, the company moves to a new location, whatever. Don't stay at a place which you hate to go to. Life's too short, jobs are disposable. Just go get another one where you're more likely to be happy.
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Mike Hankey wrote:
You do what you can to put food on the table until you're able to do what you want.
Dang skippy! During 25+ years of consulting (in one form or another), my focus was being marketable. My career started in a recession and I've survived several more. I had assignments I really liked, and I had assignments where if I was given the choice of going to work or being skinned alive, I'd have to think about it. ;P These days? I'm in a job I like, mostly doing things I want to do. But my focus has not changed -- marketability. Never let personal desires get in the way of supporting yourself (and your family, if you have one). If a job really sucks (and I've had a few that did), find a new one. Keep in mind that technology and languages change -- frequently. 30+ years ago, change was slow enough that learning a given technology could mean employment for a decade. Things change a lot faster today -- remain flexible and keep learning.
Well put
I'm not sure how many cookies it makes to be happy, but so far it's not 27. JaxCoder.com
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Hi again people ;) I have a question. You who are software engineers with many years of experience. If you don't like to work with a certain programming language or a field that you are not intrested in, for example you are intrested in embedded systems but you have to work with web development. Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway? Or maybe you love programming that much that you don't mind, as long as you can program? I'm curious :^)
I immediately thought of the Crosby, Still, and Nash song, “Love the One You’re With” Having a job - paying the bills - is obviously a priority for most people. However, if the task you’re assigned is so onerous that you’re repulsed to your core, or the job is so far off from your career path that it’s just not worth it: find a different job. If, however, you can bear down, and just do the job, perhaps you can find something in those technologies that you can learn to appreciate, and perhaps learn some useful techniques. Life is learning, sometimes learning about things outside yourself, sometimes about yourself in particular. Good luck!
Time is the differentiation of eternity devised by man to measure the passage of human events. - Manly P. Hall Mark Just another cog in the wheel
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I can suggest two solutions: 1. 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 2. 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
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The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. -
You do what you can to put food on the table until you're able to do what you want.
I'm not sure how many cookies it makes to be happy, but so far it's not 27. JaxCoder.com
Yep
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Hi again people ;) I have a question. You who are software engineers with many years of experience. If you don't like to work with a certain programming language or a field that you are not intrested in, for example you are intrested in embedded systems but you have to work with web development. Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway? Or maybe you love programming that much that you don't mind, as long as you can program? I'm curious :^)
wow that's me. I used to do a bit of embedded professionally in one of my past jobs, I loved it so much that I was looking for a new job to just be doing that, and keeping it as a home hobby also. But couldn't find work nearby for that, and not in a position to move either. Now I'm doing Web Development, it pays well and has great benefits but I miss the days of hooking up a jtag debugger to an embedded device and stepping through the instructions and figuring out how much data I can pack into a single int for flags and such, and where every byte and every instruction counted. Web dev is okay, and I'm helping people directly which is nice, but it's not just as interesting to me as embedded work. This might be my last career move, at my age I'm more concerned about bulking up my retirement and making sure I have great healthcare for my family. But once or twice a year I still build something for myself in the embedded area, to kind of keep track on what's going on there and not completely loose those skills
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Hi again people ;) I have a question. You who are software engineers with many years of experience. If you don't like to work with a certain programming language or a field that you are not intrested in, for example you are intrested in embedded systems but you have to work with web development. Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway? Or maybe you love programming that much that you don't mind, as long as you can program? I'm curious :^)
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Hi again people ;) I have a question. You who are software engineers with many years of experience. If you don't like to work with a certain programming language or a field that you are not intrested in, for example you are intrested in embedded systems but you have to work with web development. Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway? Or maybe you love programming that much that you don't mind, as long as you can program? I'm curious :^)
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Hi again people ;) I have a question. You who are software engineers with many years of experience. If you don't like to work with a certain programming language or a field that you are not intrested in, for example you are intrested in embedded systems but you have to work with web development. Do you change your job/ wait for another job oppotunity or do you force yourself to work in that environment anyway? Or maybe you love programming that much that you don't mind, as long as you can program? I'm curious :^)
I have yet to be able to work on an interesting project with the languages and tools I would like. I have been programming since 1972. Business programming is deadly dull, however people are willing to pay for it. So I do the best work I can for them. My home programming projects are what I use to satisfy my itch for interesting things to do with the languages and tools I want to use. TLDR; If you are being paid to program, do your best. You can have fun at home.
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I basically love programming. And paycheck dollars spend the same if they are from embedded development or web programming. Also, since C++ is my tool of choice, it tends to point me toward interesting jobs.
Sorry for the late reply but I was busy studying. This is actually what I was wondering... If there are, let say 1000 jobs for a java developer and few for c++, do you only look for jobs where c++ is used or you start to learn a language that you never used and don't like?
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Depends. Are you independently wealthy? Do you like macaroni?
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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Sorry for the late reply but I was busy studying. This is actually what I was wondering... If there are, let say 1000 jobs for a java developer and few for c++, do you only look for jobs where c++ is used or you start to learn a language that you never used and don't like?
Yeah, I have a few things to say about that. If it's Java versus C++ today, it's 1,000 Java jobs to 400 C++ jobs. If you're any good at C++, you can specialize on the tool you like, even if it is not the most popular tool. But if it's Java versus FORTRAN, perl, or haskell, there are 1,000 Java jobs and just a few perl jobs. You have to recognize that the world has moved on, and most people think your favorite tool is no longer useful, even if you are deeply in love with that tool. In this case, it is your love for an obsolete, obscure, or highly specialized tool that is the problem. It's holding you back, and you need to learn one of the two or three most popular tools, and keep working with it until you come to love it. The trick is telling these two cases apart when your own mind may be clouded. I guess one way is to look at the TIOBE index of most popular programming languages. If your favorite tool is in the top 5, don't worry. If it's down around 15, and there are languages on the list that are more popular than your favorite, and that you have never heard of, or maybe think are dumb tools, then maybe it's time to move on.
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Yeah, I have a few things to say about that. If it's Java versus C++ today, it's 1,000 Java jobs to 400 C++ jobs. If you're any good at C++, you can specialize on the tool you like, even if it is not the most popular tool. But if it's Java versus FORTRAN, perl, or haskell, there are 1,000 Java jobs and just a few perl jobs. You have to recognize that the world has moved on, and most people think your favorite tool is no longer useful, even if you are deeply in love with that tool. In this case, it is your love for an obsolete, obscure, or highly specialized tool that is the problem. It's holding you back, and you need to learn one of the two or three most popular tools, and keep working with it until you come to love it. The trick is telling these two cases apart when your own mind may be clouded. I guess one way is to look at the TIOBE index of most popular programming languages. If your favorite tool is in the top 5, don't worry. If it's down around 15, and there are languages on the list that are more popular than your favorite, and that you have never heard of, or maybe think are dumb tools, then maybe it's time to move on.
You are right. I started to be aware of that. I think learning basics of c++ has widen my horizons and helped me progess in my java programming but I understand why java took over. I wanted to learn how to program GUI but in c++ it's a nightmare. The other thing is memory managamenet. I didn't even touch it yet... Otherwise I wouldn't write a single line in c++. Thank's for your insights. I focus on my java now. I'm just frustrated by the java books. They are so badly written, but I got a nice advice from another forum user to read oracle documentation and it really helped me a lot. I regained my faith back :-D
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I take jobs that interest me, so I'd not take a web development position. I would take work that involved a little of it, but not where I was the primary. I've done my time working on jobs I disliked when I was younger. I earned my way out of that mess - at least that's how I see it. I mean, not that I only do things I like for work. Work is work, otherwise it would be play. But the job itself has to catch my interest.
Real programmers use butterflies
honey the codewitch wrote:
I mean, not that I only do things I like for work. Work is work, otherwise it would be play. But the job itself has to catch my interest.
Real programmers use butterflies
I've had the enormous good fortune to virtually always having no distinction between the two. I always wanted to be a Chemist or Scientist - and so I was (or am, it never goes away). I taught myself to code and just spent oodles of time it in, eventually combining it with the Chemistry (instrument automation and Monte-Carlo modeling). Occasionally, there's been a project (with the latter) I didn't think much of at all - but then, that thing I've said before, somewhere or other, comes into play - and someone else came up with it long before me: "It's the journey, not the destination"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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honey the codewitch wrote:
I mean, not that I only do things I like for work. Work is work, otherwise it would be play. But the job itself has to catch my interest.
Real programmers use butterflies
I've had the enormous good fortune to virtually always having no distinction between the two. I always wanted to be a Chemist or Scientist - and so I was (or am, it never goes away). I taught myself to code and just spent oodles of time it in, eventually combining it with the Chemistry (instrument automation and Monte-Carlo modeling). Occasionally, there's been a project (with the latter) I didn't think much of at all - but then, that thing I've said before, somewhere or other, comes into play - and someone else came up with it long before me: "It's the journey, not the destination"
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
For the most part it has been that way for me, but I've had some bizdev stuff that i didn't enjoy. Mostly CRUD garbage and that sort of thing.
Real programmers use butterflies
