As a software engineer I have adapted to the world turning upside down every couple of years and having to learn new concepts and technologies. However, I have been noticing other fields struggling to adapt as things change in a faster scale.
For example, some researchers have pointed out that the number of papers about ADHD increases exponentially every year. However, most mental health professionals, at least in my area, seem to be severily outdated, often using information that has been debunked within the last 10-20 years.
So, I was wondering if other fields are affected and how they are adapting?
Edit: Bonus question, assuming a 40hr week (a luxury for most), how much time out those 40hrs would you need to spend on education?
Well, I used to have an area of expertise… Then we adopted a kid.
Kids are hard. Kids who had years of neglect and trauma… can be a lot harder. I love him very much, but he takes up so much of my time and energy, I just don’t have any time for my own stuff any more.
Also, my field (IT) has gotten weird as computers have gotten weird. Nobody uses computers any more, they use “devices”. And these devices all suck. They’re hard (or impossible) to actually back up, you can’t deploy software to them in an organized way, they’re a security nightmare, and the interface just isn’t as easy to use as a freaking mouse and keyboard.
And if you want to talk about actual computers, those suck more every year too. Oh the hardware is improving by the day, but the software hasn’t been cooperative in years. Always online operating systems, fake settings menus to keep the user away from the real settings menus… Actually, nevermind, I don’t even want to talk about OSs, they make me too angry.
And then there’s all the software packages that would rather be services than what they actually are, a product. Poor Adobe, just not filthy rich enough yet…
Anyway, it gets harder to do IT as computers get shittier, and I am falling behind, because I hate it.
As kids get older they consistently show that parents, even enthusiastic adoptive parents, are falling behind. Enjoy your kid while they are young and they will enjoy you when they are older. Let the OSs and computers fall behind, trying to keep up with the kid is far more important.
Yeah, I’m doing DevOps but only DevOps. Only builds. Only Jenkins. At least I do best practices for Java, JavaScript and Python and done interesting AppSec stuff but they all do the same thing.
When I first started here, I was getting into some interesting stuff with AWS, but then they hired another me and we over-specialized
Yeah the trend for byod seems inevitable path for client side IMHO. Barring some zeitgeist change
I was asked how to support a large suit of client apps once and honestly to me it was use web apps, and VDI the rest. Strip the clients of as much configs as possible just advanced monitors and run everything in linux containers in k8s.
Let’s user drown in whatever OS they want to and keep our jobs sane and separate.
At least for enterprise and honestly at home do the same thing, but fully byod except those that need a managed desktop (then also Linux it).
Capitalism and the corporate environment have really sapped my enthusiasm for software development.
Corporate development makes me feel like SpongeBob in that one beach episode.
I often feel like I’m doing the devil’s bidding, only to be paid so I don’t starve, and then they’ll throw me to the wayside when I’m no longer “useful”. Makes me not want to learn, why should I? It doesn’t give me job security, or better hire ability.
I felt like that until I started working for a couple of non-profits and then later government. My job actually makes people have a better time in life. Its kinda nice nowadays.
Yeah I’ve definitely wanted to get into those sectors as well, but I don’t really know how to get my foot in the door or where to look, plus at least for my local government the pay is abysmal, any tips you have I would appreciate!
I agree with the sentiment around getting into government work. I somewhat stumbled into my current job but love a lot of things about it. Our company contracts with the US federal government and I work specifically with the VA.
Don’t know what specific skills you have experience in but I know we’re pretty much always hiring: https://oddball.io/jobs/
For government work, I stumbled into it. A friend got me the foot in the door. I really wish I could give you better advice on that but thats the truth. Its really flipping hard to get a job in my local gov area. Gov pay can be bad but it heavily depends on what/where you are. I make around -15% less than my last place, but I get a pension after a couple of years, so it evens out. Plus I dont feel like im selling my soul for a couple of bucks.
For non-profits, I simply searched for them on linkedin/indeed and found a couple in my area looking for software devs. The interview process is about the same as any other place, but they did take a look at my GitHub profile more than some others. At least when I got started.
So just like anything:
- Make sure you know your stuff.
- A portfolio of work is always going to be seen as a positive.
- Keep your resume up to date.
- Go to your local meetup groups on subjects you like (networking is important)
Hope that helps!
That’s right where I’m at. I just saw the whole third shift at my factory get laid off while corporate sends us emails about record profits. Some of those technicians had been working here for 14 years and I’m sure they’re wondering why the put in all that time to learn how to work in a highly skilled laboratory setting to just get let go. Not because the company needed to let them go to avoid bankruptcy.
No, it was to make more profit.
We have GOT to find a new word for us besides “Lemmings”…
I mean that myth of them following each other off cliffs was made up by Disney. But i get it lol
Wait…what did disney ddo/say?
I only know about it because I grew up with Sega Genesis.
They deliberately drove entire herds of lemmings off clips (which killed the lemmings) and recorded video of it. That’s because they wanted a “fact” about lemmings for a documentary and didn’t care whether it was true
That would require feeling like I was ever ahead.
No, that would require a pre-requisite of having an area of expertise:)
