
Software developer tops list of U.S. News and World Report's annual best jobs - Varcht
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/01/08/software-developer-tops-list-u-s-news-best-jobs-2019-rankings/2471576002/
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ThrustVectoring
There's a selection effect that means that the best job for you might not be
the best job among people who have that job. Software development is
notoriously full of people who are really _really_ into programming. If you're
not that kind of person, getting into programming isn't very actionable
advice.

Like, professional programmers as a class are winners of a fairly strict
meritocratic tournament - either you can code to an acceptable standard, or
you can't. Of course it's good to be employed in a manner that's after winning
a difficult competition. Like, there's a difference between how good it is to
be an NBA player and how good of a decision it is to try to become an NBA
player.

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Varcht
_“Unlike some other jobs that do pretty well on the list, which are very
demanding, software developer tends not to be a really stressful profession, "
Koenig said._

Money for nothing and the clicks for free...

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mywittyname
Bangin' on the keyboard like some chimpanzee.

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Varcht
Guess that makes us a bunch of Code Monkeys?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYodWEKCuGg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYodWEKCuGg)

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thatoneuser
“Unlike some other jobs that do pretty well on the list, which are very
demanding, software developer tends not to be a really stressful profession,"
Koenig said.

This sounds like more propaganda from the tech industry to saturate the
workforce with more hopefuls to drive up the talent pool and drive down
employee costs. Don’t get me wrong there are some slacker software jobs out
there, but if you want “software money” then in my experience it’s usually not
a cake walk. We’re talking putting in many extra hours, way too many meetings
and being “on call” a lot of weekends. Maybe I’ve just been working in the
wrong places...

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smrtinsert
Once you factor in all the software jobs not in SV, I'm pretty sure this is
the general case. We aren't in a life or death battle like doctors, we aren't
poring over endless tomes like lawyers, we can fix mistakes with a commit
instead of rebuilding fallen bridges, we can work from home a lot of the time,
the list goes on and on.

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maxxxxx
On the other hand we have this constant pressure to stay up-to-date and face
age discrimination after only a few years in the career.

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extragood
> 4\. Dentist

That profession historically is also toward the top of suicide lists.

