I’m a 25 yo British guy. I landed my first job as a dev in 2022 for a consultancy with a 1 year international placement, it was good but a few months after returning, the whole cohort was laid off due to corporate politics between the offices in the two countries. After 7 months of searching, I got my second job working for a small pensions fintech startup, it was fine but I didn’t find it all that fulfilling. After 9 months of working there, the CEO pulled me into a meeting and said they’d made a mistake hiring me and they needed a more senior developer who could help steer the company from a business perspective too, so I was once again laid off.
That was in January, since then I’ve had 2 interviews, both of which have gone nowhere. The vibe of every position that’s matched my CV has basically been the same sort of work- pretty mundane web dev roles and I can see myself being pulled into a cycle of mundane work then being laid off. I’ve wanted to be a developer for as long as I can remember, I started writing code when I was 12, studied CS throughout school so I could go to uni and do it for my degree - but now, I feel so disillusioned with the whole industry, where do I go from here? Does it get better? How do I find a job that actually feels fulfilling?
Sorry for the ramble, it’s 4am and I just happened to stumble across this community while scrolling. Thought it might be worth an ask.
TLDR; been laid off twice in about 2 and a half years, feeling pretty disillusioned with everything, where do I go from here?
The majority of people who got degrees in the last 20 years chose STEM
I couldn’t find work as a dev after graduating so you’re already doing way better than me.
I’ve been been in technology for practically my whole career. Going on 17 years. I honestly can’t say my career has been especially fulfilling. Most of my jobs have been either “bullshit jobs”, working on projects that were clearly DOA (at least it was clear to everyone except management) or being a corporate politician.
I haven’t loved any job I’ve had. But I’ve only hated one of them. I’ve stayed in tech because I enjoy it overall, I’m good at it, and it’s provided me with a decent living. I’ve been around long enough to have developed a healthy degree of cynicism. By that I mean, I know that no matter what any employer says, I am nothing but a expense line item on their income statement. They will get rid of me the second they believe it’s to their benefit.
But, I view them the same way. My loyalty is to myself and to the fact that I don’t want to work until I die. I’ll work for someone as long as they compensate me well and treat me well.
Aside from a good living, two things this industry has provided me with are lots of experience in a variety of areas and a reasonable amount of free time. I get fulfillment from volunteering. I don’t do nearly as much of it as I used to due to family obligations. Local not-profit organizations are always looking for help from board members all the way down to janitors.
In fact, whenever I’m asked in interviews which jobs I’ve enjoyed the most, my answer is always “the ones I didn’t get paid to do.” That usually gets a little chuckle but I’m being serious. Spending a little of my time and talents to help make other people’s lives better more than makes up for my boring ass (and often pointless) day job.
The UK economy is in the toilet they put it on you instead of just keeping it real. “They made a mistake” my arse. Just keep at it just like the rest of the working class. Don’t develop a negative complex. Peaks and valleys, the work place is adversarial this is how capitalism works. They never want to train. They only want to gain. And once they squeeze your juice, they throw you out. Who do they serve but themselves in the hierarchy shit rolls downhill.
they needed a more senior developer
It sounds more like your employers are unhappy with your skill or performance and not that you simply have trouble finding a job.
It sounds to me like maybe their coding performance was fine but the company actually wanted a leader.
I guess that goes back to my job description comment then.
TBF everyone hiring developers wants senior level skills for junior pay.
You’re not wrong, but I think the bigger issue is whether or not their performance lives up to the actual job description, not the pay grade.
I think one’s opinions on this issue come from if you need a developer or a job.
I personally empathize with the devs, since their rent money depends on being employed and a corporation will continue to function woth or without 1 developer.
Also at my office we don’t care too much about dev experience because we understand almost all software is either enterprise and doesn’t require devs, or unique to that one company and it will take the same amount of time to catch up a senior dev as it would to train a junior.
which office are you? I am missing such fresh perspectives. Everybody wants someone with 10 years experience in 5 different stacks on 5 different languages/tools.
I’m in the public sector.
Unfortunately due to the current administration, and the loyalist that was put in charge, we are under an indefinite hiring freeze. -_-
Idk about all departments so look around, but our department isn’t hiring and it’s kind of fucking things up.
The company probably wanted a savant for monkey’s pay.
I know everyone is focusing on the external issues, but serious question: could it be you? What have you done about working with your manager on code reviews and 1:1s for feedback around your performance? It’s entirely possible you’ve just managed to land in shitty companies, but it’s also possible you’re doing something wrong without knowing it and without fixing it and this is their way of being nice.
it’s also possible you’re doing something wrong without knowing it and without fixing it and this is their way of being nice.
That’s not being nice, being nice would be pulling him into meetings or going on a PIP to tell him what he’s fucking up and how to improve. Letting an employee go for not doing something right is asinine, assuming there isn’t a proper reason like misconduct or something, because (from the company perspective), you’re pissing away time and money already spent on the employee without trying to improve the investment before throwing it away.
I know that sunk cost fallacy comes into play here, but there’s a large spot before that’s relevant where you can try to spend $ to improve an existing employee instead of spending $$$ to hire and train a new employee.
True but a lot of businesses lack that maturity and don’t realize the cost differences even when spelled out. They don’t want to put in the effort around training and correct coaching.
Bot
Wut?
I landed what should have been my dream job and absolutely hated it. Not being fulfilled by your work is pretty standard, I think. I learned that I am most fulfilled by helping people directly. I switched from dev to IT. Helping someone and seeing the outcome of my work is far more rewarding, even if it pays less. I think you entered the market at a strange time, post-pan. Some of it could be that. Good luck!
Here’re my two cents. I’m in the US with nearly two decades in engineering for experience. And I started programming young, like you; it’s very much a passion for me.
There are great places out there. Look for the roles that are going to expand your skill sets. More money is nice, but long term you’ll benefit more from pushing your boundaries. Ask lots of questions about the team when you’re interviewing—that can give you plenty of insight. And get comfortable with AI programming. That’s a seismic paradigm shift happening right now and embracing it can help you leapfrog others. Right now I like Windsurf AI.
And I get how this sequence of events you laid out is dispiriting—it would be for most imo. Personally, I think it’s worth the pursuit if it’s something you’ve enjoyed since such a young age.
Happy to answer more if it helps.
That seems unusually unlucky to me. As you get more experience it will get much easier to get a job at least. Skilled developers are always in demand.
Skilled developers are always in demand
If you got in before like 2020 yeah. Otherwise I’d honestly suggest moving on. I can’t get fuck all having started in 2022.
I’ve got nearly thirty years of experience. My advice is to never get too comfortable at any one place. For lots of reasons.
That being said, the last three years have been particularly brutal, at least in the US. I haven’t clocked over 12 months in any positions since Covid. Of course, I’ve almost always been a contractor so that’s the nature of the gig. My first job lasted nearly ten years. I had another last 5 and I left on my own terms. Covid saw me laid off on my two year anniversary of the only straight job I’ve ever had.
That said, it’s been a great job for me. I have a passion for solving puzzles and mentoring. With two long exceptions, I’ve always had a new job lined up within a couple of weeks of getting laid off.
Hm… Having the exact opposite “problem”
I’m seemingly not able to leave projects and it feels, like I’ll never do anything new - relatively speaking for our brancheHey, I have an equal passion as you I think. I think your experience thus far isn’t indicative of the industry as a whole. I want to say it gets better but I also don’t know a lot about the non-US tech industry.
15+ years experience and have spent the last 5-6 years doing contract gigs alongside a salaried gig. Happy to chat more if you want.
Keep at it. If you can, get a government job, you won’t get laid off there
Except in the US
