[kevin_mchugh]

So one day I get it in my head that my current job stinks. I hate it and I would be better or jacking it in and going doing something I truly love.

I love to code. Be it developing websites or small pieces of software. So my brain figures. Why not getting a computing degree and change careers.

So I go to Uni. Do three years and leave with a 1st class degree. I am happy and fairly chuffed with myself.

I manage to get a graduate position with a company developing a .NET application. I am offered EVERYTHING I had ever dreamed of in the way of salary, benefits and working patterns etc.

So imagine my surprise then, when I finally sit down to do this job that I hate it more than I ever hated my old job and that I am desperate to go back to my old, unskilled, entry level job.

The really sad thing is I don't even want to do this as a hobby any more.

True story.

[tlhIn`toq]

There is hating the career field. Then there is hating one company's implementation of the job description.

Ask any truck driver: You can love to drive... Just don't do it for xyz trucking company. Programming is no different.

I love IT, computers and programming. But after a year at Clark County School district I was a royal bear that nobody could stand, not even myself. $100,000/year in the 1990's and it wasn't enough to put up with the workplace.

Now I make less and am far happier with a different employer.

[modi123_1]

Welcome to the human experience. I would apologize that a good job, good benefits, and something you are capable are doing does not create that warm fuzzy feeling you were looking for, but I won't. You took a gamble on something and it turns out you enjoyed something with less responsibility and less taxing. Cest la vie. It happens.

Are you planning on taking your old job back?

What *WAS* your old job?

[Martyr2]

You have to ask yourself "Why do I like the unskilled entry level job?" is it because it had less responsibility? Just hate to think all the time? Could it just be you being lazy (sometimes it happens)? Sounds like you just need to figure out what it is that makes you happy in life and just not what SHOULD make you happy.

Sometimes we all get caught up in the idea that if we had a great paying job, nice work hours, and a job that has us thinking all the time is suppose to make us happy.

Well I will tell you what, I have seen people who have low skilled jobs with enough pay to just maintain their rent, food and general misc bills coming home to watch jeopardy every night.. and they are happy with that. May not seem like the life for all of us, but if it makes them happy who cares?

Programming can be a mentally tough job at times. You are constantly hit with other people's problems that they ask you to solve day in and day out. It can get difficult at times. Sometimes it makes us all wish we had some job where no one was watching over our backs or demanding solutions to what we think are useless problems. Usually this is signs of pending burn out. Maybe that is what you have.

Take a break, relax. Go on a vacation if you can... at least 2 weeks and truly relax. Perhaps you will find that coding will become fun again. Maybe it won't. If that is the case then you might be ready for another career change.

[kevin_mchugh]

modi123_1, on 18 February 2012 - 02:35 PM, said:

Welcome to the human experience. I would apologize that a good job, good benefits, and something you are capable are doing does not create that warm fuzzy feeling you were looking for, but I won't. You took a gamble on something and it turns out you enjoyed something with less responsibility and less taxing. Cest la vie. It happens.

Are you planning on taking your old job back?

What *WAS* your old job?

My old job was in an accounting department, I simply paid the bills :-) If I could get my old job back I would BITE their hands of for it. I feel like I leaped of a cliff thinking I could fly, then discovering mid air that I couldn't and now all I want to do is get back on that ledge :-)

I know its just life, that you sometimes have to role the dice and see where you end up....but just in case their a someone like me out their, about to make the same decision I made. Well I really just wanted them to think before they leap....to continue the metaphor.

[Raynes]

kevin_mchugh, on 18 February 2012 - 09:26 PM, said:

The really sad thing is I don't even want to do this as a hobby any more.

You don't like programming then, apparently. You probably just need to find another career.

[wordswords]

kevin_mchugh, on 18 February 2012 - 02:26 PM, said:

So imagine my surprise then, when I finally sit down to do this job that I hate it more than I ever hated my old job and that I am desperate to go back to my old, unskilled, entry level job.

The really sad thing is I don't even want to do this as a hobby any more.

True story.

What has put you off programming so much? There are some really bad jobs in the industry. You might find that it is just a job that doesn't suit you, where others might. What don't you like about it?

This post has been edited by wordswords: 19 February 2012 - 02:01 AM

[darek9576]

Are you good at programing? A first-class degree does not mean that you are. Maybe, people at work require you to code all the time and your skills are not up to the standard so you are stressed and you are hating it. Maybe that is why you want to go back to old accounting job.

[cfoley]

You were unhappy in your old job. You are unhappy in this job. If you go back to your old job you'll probably be unhappy there too. Maybe you should look for a different line of work again but there is no guarantee that would make you happy either.

I found this TED talk very interesting:
http://www.ted.com/t...e_we_happy.html

It's a long time since I have watched it but the message I took is that we continually consider scenarios and simulate how they would make us feel. However, we are bad at it, and that no matter the outcome of the scenarios, there will be no effect on our long term happiness.

I suggest that this might be the case for you, that you could keep changing workplace but not much would change. Maybe you could redirect your search for happiness to something within. Maybe a change of philosophy, something spiritual, etc.

[Duckington]

I've found I suddenly quite hate programming as well.

Same as you: did 3 years at uni, got a 1st class degree. I applied for a few jobs and took the first one I was offered, since I don't usually interview well and it's hard to find jobs.

Been doing it for 6 months now and I hate it. It's dull, it's repetitive. The projects I have to do are all in someone else's codebase of classes and functions which makes it several times harder to make anything work since I have to first try and work out which of his classes and millions of methods to use. I hate the fact that I have to stare at code all day and by the time I get home my head, neck and eyes all feel like they are about to die.

I like programming as a hobby, and that's the only reason I went into it really, I started off teaching myself html, css, php, sql, etc... as a hobby so I could make a game for my friends to play. And if I didn't have to sit doing boring programming shit all day I'd probably still enjoy it as a hobby, but I don't. I have absolutely no idea what else I can do though, i'm only qualified for this really and it took me years and years of going back and forth to decide on computing as a career.

[modi123_1]

It happens but you have options.. Go be a software tester.. Support.. Project analyst.. Business Analyst.. The Army.. Release manager..

[darek9576]

Are you driven by money? Find a job where you will be earning shit loads of cash or a job that will allow you to make good money in couple of years ??

[The Architect 2.0]

Duckington, on 07 March 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

I've found I suddenly quite hate programming as well.

Same as you: did 3 years at uni, got a 1st class degree. I applied for a few jobs and took the first one I was offered, since I don't usually interview well and it's hard to find jobs.

Been doing it for 6 months now and I hate it. It's dull, it's repetitive. The projects I have to do are all in someone else's codebase of classes and functions which makes it several times harder to make anything work since I have to first try and work out which of his classes and millions of methods to use. I hate the fact that I have to stare at code all day and by the time I get home my head, neck and eyes all feel like they are about to die.

what did you think you were going to end up doing?

[Duckington]

The Architect 2.0, on 08 March 2012 - 04:59 AM, said:

Duckington, on 07 March 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

I've found I suddenly quite hate programming as well.

Same as you: did 3 years at uni, got a 1st class degree. I applied for a few jobs and took the first one I was offered, since I don't usually interview well and it's hard to find jobs.

Been doing it for 6 months now and I hate it. It's dull, it's repetitive. The projects I have to do are all in someone else's codebase of classes and functions which makes it several times harder to make anything work since I have to first try and work out which of his classes and millions of methods to use. I hate the fact that I have to stare at code all day and by the time I get home my head, neck and eyes all feel like they are about to die.

what did you think you were going to end up doing?

Something a little more interesting that didn't leave me in a lot of pain every day.

[jon.kiparsky]

Duckington, on 08 March 2012 - 05:16 AM, said:

The Architect 2.0, on 08 March 2012 - 04:59 AM, said:

Duckington, on 07 March 2012 - 04:20 PM, said:

I've found I suddenly quite hate programming as well.

Same as you: did 3 years at uni, got a 1st class degree. I applied for a few jobs and took the first one I was offered, since I don't usually interview well and it's hard to find jobs.

Been doing it for 6 months now and I hate it. It's dull, it's repetitive. The projects I have to do are all in someone else's codebase of classes and functions which makes it several times harder to make anything work since I have to first try and work out which of his classes and millions of methods to use. I hate the fact that I have to stare at code all day and by the time I get home my head, neck and eyes all feel like they are about to die.

what did you think you were going to end up doing?

Something a little more interesting that didn't leave me in a lot of pain every day.

First world problems...

If you're bored with programming, do something else. If you enjoyed the programming part, I'd suggest you talk to your boss about ergonomics to deal with the back and neck strain. Most employers these days realize that the investment in giving you a properly configured workspace pays itself back pretty quick. If they don't grasp that, I'd have to wonder what other math they can't do, and I'd be polishing up the resume.