My first job as a junior. I worked with really smart coworkers. I got to build things that were used, and things that made money.
Most other jobs after that I ended up building things that were never used, or used to get some kind of grant or impress investors, and wasn't even what the user wanted.
A lot of the more senior jobs I get, I end up doing a lot of management and getting little work done. Sometimes when someone else does the hiring, I get complete idiots in my team, the kind who typo variable names, spend 3 days discussing specifications, but don't do them, refuse to use source control.
I would really love to get back into a job where I can just build things that people use, with smart people.
Have you thought about getting into consulting? A lot of companies, to me, have the kinds of problems you describe. Being an employee at one of them is a no-win situation.
I've been doing that for nearly 3 years. Part of the problem is that usually the client cares more about getting grants or ticking off some buzzword like "machine learning" or "uber for X". But things get better throughout the years as I learn which projects to avoid.
Yeah, this. Like the specifications say that the table name is "Product" and they name it "Products". An error every now and then is acceptable, but multiple errors create chaos among the team, especially when it's related to the API.
Most other jobs after that I ended up building things that were never used, or used to get some kind of grant or impress investors, and wasn't even what the user wanted.
A lot of the more senior jobs I get, I end up doing a lot of management and getting little work done. Sometimes when someone else does the hiring, I get complete idiots in my team, the kind who typo variable names, spend 3 days discussing specifications, but don't do them, refuse to use source control.
I would really love to get back into a job where I can just build things that people use, with smart people.