
Ask HN: I hate coding, but it's all that's on my resume. What do I do? - doneweng
I&#x27;ve been a software engineer for over 12 years.  I went to school for CS.  I hate writing code now.  It shows too, my work is not great.  I&#x27;m stressed because I don&#x27;t know what to do.  How do I move on from here successfully?
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ggm
Coding is a virus, a meme. What you've got is 12 years of experience breaking
down problems, abstraction, functional analysis, debugging.

You have skills which other parts of the business cycle need.

If you aren't a "people person" then look to problem solving in logistics: the
routing and scheduling behind everyday delivery is a heinous problem. Or, in
the construction, mining and related sector. "for the want of a nail" problems
abound.

(hint: root cause analysis? duck typing in a process debug?)

Operations Research: linear programming to derive the maximally efficient
solution to a problem. Its everywhere.

Epidemiology: Go be a gun-for-hire in stats or data analytics for somebody
with smarts in another space, drowning in data. Yea, you have to code. So
what! the code will be fascinating and totally different

If you are a "people person" then non-product spaces like health are full of
middle manager roles. And.. gues what: its logistics, scheduling, process
analysis, root cause analysis. Supply chain behind masks and gowns has become
pretty topical...

------
smattiso
I've been there. My personal take is that the day in and day out life of a
coder sucks, big time. Humans weren't designed for it. If you are inventing
something novel and new and actually 'engineering' then that's different, but
pulling the next React feature from some PM's backlog, that's hell.

Look at your cohort, I would venture it's mostly 20 somethings men. Maybe the
odd older guy but certainly not a diverse set of people. It's a young man's
game because the burn out is real and for most people coding is just an
unsustainable profession. Come to grips with the fact that maybe it is
unsustainable for you.

It's a lot less tedious and easier in many regards working as an engineering
manager. Or a product manager. Or something entirely different. Coding as a
career isn't for everybody (wasn't for me). YMMV. If it isn't for you figure
out how to change it, it might not be easy but it is probably worth it.

Source: ex-FAANG SDE.

~~~
sushshshsh
>Humans weren't designed for it.

I don't know why, but I really love coding. I have an expected output of 0% in
my mind, so even the most mundane tasks can be fun for me because I'm
satisfied with producing any output. I try to learn something new with every
task, even if it's just a file path or simple SQL call.

And if it's some really horrible spaghetti code abstraction upon abstraction,
then my 0% success expectation is even more important for my morale.

If my manager isn't happy with the output? Quit and get a higher salary
somewhere else :) That's the market we live in right now.

------
skim_milk
Just an hour ago I read an article from a psychotherapist that dealt somewhat
about changing careers. I think the gist of it was some people might have to
learn how to deal with disappoing their snobby parents and strangers when
taking a step back to evaluate different potential careers, including those
that pay substantially less, in order to find a more exciting career that,
overall, adds more value to your life despite not outwardly looking impressive
to strangers. Something to think about?

[https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/what-should-
tr...](https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/what-should-truly-
motivate-us-at-work/)

~~~
burnaway
[https://www.theschooloflife.com/shop/tsol-press-a-job-to-
lov...](https://www.theschooloflife.com/shop/tsol-press-a-job-to-love/) this
book is a good followup on the article for OP

------
Solstinox
Do you know what you want to do? Do that. Don't know what you want to do? Sit
around and be bored for a while. Your natural curiosity will kick in. Follow
where it leads.

~~~
sjg007
I've found that for this to be effective you have to cut out distractions like
FB, Twitter, youtube, reddit, HN, video games, etc...

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eldacila
if writing software is what you don't like, you could try to go into something
where you use software, rather than writing it, like a database administrator,
a sysadmin, a systems analyst, or working in IT, or you could focus on a
different role in software production, like usability/design/ui/ux,
requirements engineering, QA, etc., or if teaching is something you might be
interested in, consider teaching cs/programming courses, you could do the same
thing there, if code is what you don't like, and teach courses about the
things around writing code, as an example, the course I've enjoyed the most in
my Computer Engineering program was about a lot of things around the code-
writing in software production, there was only one programming assignment in
the whole semester

maybe you'd like a managerial role? or if there's something you're interested
you could try to get a job in that, in one of the courses in the EE portion of
my Engineering program, a professor told us that after finishing all courses,
with just about 4 more courses we could pursue Audio/Sound Engineering as a
Career, if that interested us, it's basically some of the fundamentals,
applied to sound signals, you could consider something like that

if you don't want anything to do with software... then I'm not sure what to
recommend, give some more info about yourself?

like if you would think being a Mechanic is something you'd want... I've heard
soldering (like heavy machinery soldering) can be very profitable, and fun,
and the training for it takes around 6 months? something like that

~~~
eldacila
I read your comment to another answer, and I agree with the others, you have
to look out for #1 (this should always mean "look out for yourself"), work on
your mental health, work on your stress, and try to find a new career when you
feel better

oh, and don't quote me on the soldering training time, it's something I heard
in passing

------
companyhen
Get your TEFL certificate. Teach english online to Chinese kids or move to
foreign country and teach english.

~~~
itake
thats my retirement plan too. but its still difficult to live comfortably and
save on a salary of $20-$30/hr at 30 hours of work per week. I lived in SEA
and I still managed to spend $2-3k / mo making my life more westernized.

~~~
companyhen
I've been living in SEA for a few years now, my expenses usually range between
$1-2k/mo in BKK, what were you doing and where were you that you're spending
more than $2k/mo in SEA? I've lived everywhere from $150/mo studio apartments
to $1k/mo condo's in BKK and it was hard for me to break $2k/mo if I tried.
Usually closer to $1.5k/mo for me.

~~~
itake
I was living in Vietnam. I payed about $550/mo to live in hotels. I took about
1-2 flights per month to various countries or cities (~$80ea).

I also ate like a westerner (avoided street food, enjoyed the higher quality
food). Didn't own a motorbike for safety reasons, so taxies added up. Gym
membership is ~$100/mo.

------
SiVal
In general, you can't get a job in X without experience in X. The irony has
been recognized for generations. But if you have experience in X, what you can
do is get a job doing X but do some Y at the same company as sort of a
volunteer. People will often share some of their grunt work with you if you
don't insist on getting any credit or money for it.

But then, you get experience in Y. If you're good enough (sometimes just
meaning hard-working enough), you might get recognized for it and offered an
opening doing more Y if they decide they need someone. If not, you'll still
have genuine "professional experience" in Y to put on your resume.

------
ck425
I've felt similarly, on and off, my whole career (7 years since my first SWE
internship). Unfortunately I've not got the answers but I do have a thought I
want feedback on.

Maybe it's ok not to love it but to be satisfied regardless. It's an in
demand, well paid, flexible, reasonably interesting (even if I would never
miss it) career that allows me to lead a great life in other aspects without
giving up too much. Can't that be enough?

I worry that the current narrative of having to 'love' your job is damaging
and causing me (and maybe you) to always be searching for the 'perfect' career
which doesn't exist.

~~~
t_von_doom
Personally I think it depends on how you view your job with respect to the
remainder of your daily life.

To some, their job is the main source of fulfilment + a good proportion of
their social circle. For others it's a means to an end so that they can
fulfill their needs elsewhere in their own time.

The pros you listed are fantastic if you sit on the latter side of the
spectrum, but if you really view your work as part of your identity then just
being satisfied won't be enough

~~~
ck425
Are we fundamentally set on that spectrum though? Is it possible to make
yourself someone who views their career as a means to an end and is thus more
satisfied. My worry is that the more towards the 'job is the main source of
fulfilment' side I am the less happy I'll be;

------
codeslave5
I have the same problem. I just started at FAANG, make good money, and I. Am.
So. Miserable. I studied so hard for this job and now all I want is out. The
day to day logic is burning out my mind and making it hard to enjoy life

~~~
nexus2045
If it makes you feel any better, getting into FAANG is my life goal. Getting
in even just once is enough. I'd finally win my own respect, that of my
parents, and everyone else (though I'm sure no one really cares). I'm also
jaded about programming in general and I know I'm not going to love the work,
but at least the FAANG job experience will give you 1) proper credentials to
get an interview easier at other jobs if needed and 2) a surefire path to
financial independence. I currently work at a small company making around
1/3-1/5 your pay and when monthly expenses eat 60-80% of take home salary,
building up wealth just isn't as optimistic. So give yourself a pat on the
back.

~~~
ornornor
> monthly expenses eat 60-80% of take home salary

How? There are many places around the world that at first world and where you
can save 50+% of your (market) salary after all expenses. Maybe you’re
underpaid in a very high COL area?

Also, friendly but unsolicited advice: if you base your happiness on other’s
perception of you and your achievements, you’ll never ever be happy. There
will always be someone judging you and deeming you inferior and/or someone who
is way better at something than you are.

------
pushkar2911
I worked as a software developer part-time throughout school but never enjoyed
software development. Although I did enjoy other parts of CS such as
cryptography. After school finished, I was attending local meetups to find out
different opportunities in IT industry. At a local security meetup, I met a
security consultant (pentester)and ended up chatting with him. As his work was
interesting, I applied to a few security consulting companies. Since then, I
have been working as a pentester for 3 years now and I am pretty happy with
it. Maybe you could think about a similar change.

------
spaceisballer
Lots of good advice in here, my piece of advice is just to make sure you cater
that resume to the job you are looking for. As others have pointed out you
have gained skills during your work that can easily apply to other areas, so
you just need to showcase that on paper and in the interview.

Unfortunately I’m sort of in the opposite boat, I don’t know how to code and
have never successful pushed myself to learn much. A previous instructor told
me “maybe you just like the idea of it”.

------
legerdemain
Several former coworkers who had 6-8 years of experience and were roughly at
the senior/staff engineer level moved on to "investor" positions with Bay Area
venture capital firms. They scout out employees for startups in their firm's
portfolio and serve as occasional advisers.

...But if this option was available to you, you wouldn't be here, asking this
question.

------
hbcondo714
How about pursuing a software architecture role? You would be creating
diagrams that depict code instead of writing code.

~~~
itake
Do you still need leetcoding skills for that?

~~~
sjg007
Probably to get the job initially but not after that.

------
DoreenMichele
Have someone help you update your resume to make it sell you for something
else. Pick two or three job adverts that appeal to you, do a brain dump of
pertinent info, have someone help you turn that into a resume that says "I'm
qualified to do this other job."

------
duxup
What do you want to do other than coding?

Different careers have different paths and ins and outs.

~~~
doneweng
I don't know. I am also depressed and so, unfortunately, nothing at all
actually sounds good.

The path I know people talk about out of coding is Product Management. Are
there others? It always seems like a pay cut and I'm already always so
strapped for cash. Moving cities seems equally as overwhelming as changing
careers.

~~~
fgdfgddfg
Work on your mental health first. Changing careers itself is stressful. Your
code doesn't have to be pretty, you can use it as fuel for a hobby you
actually enjoy doing after work/weekends. It could be photography, plastic
model building, racing cars at track days, tennis, golf, etc.

The key there is also to join the communities to engage and learn, along with
getting outside.

~~~
PopeDotNinja
I might suggest an approach in parallel. If development sucks that bad for OP,
getting steamrolled by some shit while trying to pretend like they're not
getting steamrolled is maybe not the best plan.

------
memming
Do you have enough financial resources for a transition? How much time can you
invest in changing your career? Life is long. You can reinvent yourself. But
money often comes in the way.

------
eleitl
Have you considered transitioning to DevOps? Assuming you like operations, of
course.

