Why Working in Tech Won't Make You Happy...

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Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:26 - "Work is a four-letter word"
02:26 - Software engineering isn't creative
03:53 - Software engineering requires continuous learning
06:21 - Very little variety in work
07:27 - Wrap up

[AnujSingh-wtqg]

"When you don't grow, it raises red flags" I can totally relate to what you said. I am in the same situation. Sometimes, I don't want to take new responsibility, I just want to work on things that I already know

[narasimhanmurali]

I resonate with you totally. "When you don't grow, it raises red flags" I have experienced it. I used to feel that I was more happy in my part-time job earning <10$/hr.

[Regular-Expression]

For me, number one problem of being a software engineer, is the fact that you have to put all of your energy in front of a Screen (the most time). Sudly, we are loosing connection with the outside word, and that kind of sucks.

Despite that, the potential is infinite <3

[manofacertainrage]

I took a "barista route" before I started programming, so I've seen both sides of this. Software engineering jobs can indeed sometimes just be work, but the overall experience is far better than many other jobs. Considerations you're just blowing off include pay, safety, brain-destroying shift work, coworkers that have invested time and money to do what they're doing (coworkers can make or break a job), and the feeling of your life leaving your body as you're brainlessly completing another shift while barely covering your bills. Also, I may be strange, but I like Obective-C and Swift and iOS. :-)

[johnjeremih]

I completely understand you. I don't want to continue learning more every time, but I have to be competitive.

[poojabennabhaktula]

It's youtubers like you and Nick who project all the sides of working in tech. Appreciate you guys for being real.

[DevonVanNote]

I like the point about doing stuff outside of work that you enjoy. I switched jobs this year to a more solutions role because I wanted to work more with clients, I thought. After doing it for 4 months, it's a bit too exhausting to me. Doing things outside of work I enjoy (fitness, gaming, watching film) definitely helps.

Something else to keep in mind is there is a lot of work I do that isn't coding. In fact there are whole days I go without writing a single line of code because I have to estimate a ticket or do some research into a bug or follow up with clients to get requirements, etc. I think this comes with experience (this is my 5th year as a professional engineer) so I can be trusted to get things done faster than a recent grad or someone with 1-3 years of experience can. So I don't need 4-8 hours to spin up an API (without tests), I only need 1-2 for example which is why I am given those other non-coding tasks.

I am still searching for that job that I generally enjoy day to day so I appreciate you touching on that in this video. I'm 26 and I forget that sometimes. I have plenty of time to find that job I really like and it's okay if I don't *love* my job right now. There is this weird "hustle" culture that the online software engineer community can make you feel like you need to be a part of. Like you need to be learning a thousand different JS frameworks and containerization and *insert infinite list here* outside of work or you won't be successful. I have to remind myself it's okay if I don't know the latest and greatest but be confident that I can learn it if needed.

Great video as always Kevin! It's been fun following your journey and since we are around the same age (and both struggled with our algorithm class in college haha), it's definitely inspiring.

[vdimension]

Great video! So much truth can be found here 😀

[tommulamoottil]

Hey kev you're videos are actually so nice I really like watching the type of content you put up. Keep going mate. All the best 🔥

[BigJhits]

Work is work I agree. But 60k of “work” vs 120k of “work” there is a difference. Nice video!

[AliMalik-ytex]

Felt this in my internship! The shiny object syndrome it's real.

[artus]

I have worked as a data engineer for 18 years. compared to the past, the issue I have now is the pace at which product versions are rolled out, it is very difficult for a developer to keep up. Every 6 months there is a new tech that comes out, and you may have to learn it !

[abhishah]

Thats so true I can totally relate that. As always best music at the end!

[dansal]

Love the vids, only thing that's a bit distracting in this format is the rgb background lighting, makes cuts in the footage super noticable due to the changing tones. I feel like for a video like this orange would be an ideal color to set the rgb lighting to, just from a color mood theory perspective, it would also make cuts smoother. Keep up the great work!

[huseyinbarin]

mental tiredness is always worse than physical tiredness. That's explaining everything.

[joann]

Peeped what you did with the leaned 😫😂

[benneal]

Great content! Very real and a good reminder to live your life as well as work hard.

[yourFavComment]

I’m again concerned about candles on the background!

[filmbyben]

Great video Kevin. Possibly in the future see if you can keep the background a static color, otherwise it distracts me from what you are saying.

[RobertMarinescu]

Hey Kev, I’m curious, what tech stack do you use at Google?