This post really resonates with me. I've felt the same way about a career as an engineer and have left many jobs in the past because of hitting a ceiling in terms of technical growth and ability to learn new things. I really started gravitating towards startups and consulting instead of big companies because of this desire.
But today, I have two small children and simply can't put in the same amount of time towards work as I was able to before. That makes the corporate environments more attractive, but I find it really comes at odds with my hacker mentality of wanting to learn and grow.
Recently I've come across a few roles within certain large companies where you can continue to learn and grow, but maintain a more sustainable pace than in startups or consulting. These types of roles seem to help strike that balance between getting a sustainable pace for someone with a family while not stagnating technically in a typical corporate job. There aren't a ton of these roles and they can be pretty competitive to get into, but I think they're a good choice to explore.
But today, I have two small children and simply can't put in the same amount of time towards work as I was able to before. That makes the corporate environments more attractive, but I find it really comes at odds with my hacker mentality of wanting to learn and grow.
Recently I've come across a few roles within certain large companies where you can continue to learn and grow, but maintain a more sustainable pace than in startups or consulting. These types of roles seem to help strike that balance between getting a sustainable pace for someone with a family while not stagnating technically in a typical corporate job. There aren't a ton of these roles and they can be pretty competitive to get into, but I think they're a good choice to explore.