Is Tech Job Worth it ?
A brief introduction about myself .
I am a developer by profession. Been 4 years working in this industry. I am an average guy in and across all the things I can think of — sports, education, general knowledge, developer, emotionally.
What do I like about this field ?
As a developer if you have skills even though less, you should be able to find a job.
The pay is quite good when compared to other professions.
Hard work of any year can get you real lucrative pay. Because companies are looking for skilled professionals. Maybe a good course online, hard work, consistency is all you need to get a 6 digit monthly salary.
There’s medical benefits. There’s retirement plans in Provident Fund. PFs in India are still at a higher percentage return over Fixed Deposits. You can always increase your PFs.
9–5 job. I still don’t understand why do we regard this job as slavery ? I have heard this from time to time from people without actually comparing this job with what they do. Having your own business is more tiring, time consuming. You are accountable for 24 hours if you have your own business. Yes if you got lucky like the 2% of the top tier then it makes sense that you call 9–5 as worthless. But if you look at the those people sitting in the top, they are working even more to achieve what they aspire from their companies. The only point which makes sense is of entrepreneurship i.e. having something of your own and working towards it. Creating something. Then the 9–5 thing could be argued with. All I am saying is 9–5 is cool and comparatively easy, if you know your limits, if you know what you want from life.
One of the very important thing is you have work from home flexibility, so you have more time with your family. There’s other side to it of getting involved and spending more time because of wfh. However you’re at least home and it’s up to you to manage.
There’s an option of work from home. So if you are thinking about setting up your own business from the place you want to, you can always do that.
You can continue working on other business ideas, or any side hustle you might have because with work from home you can manage your office hours according to your time.
As you have wfh, you can travel and explore different cities.
Future prospect is surely there. Even if there are multiple successful projects in Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning in this decade; this would actually open more opportunities for developers like us so there would actually be a jump in our lifestyle.
Work life balance can be managed is what I believe. There’s a team you work with in IT companies. If the process is streamlined then there’s very less room of putting in extra hours. There could be days, or even months during releases which would require time however for most part the work life balance could be managed easily. I have just started in this career, and I am interested to explore and learn more so I put in extra efforts writing, learning, but it’s my decision to put in more hours and I am happy doing it right now. So it’s up to you most months in an year of how to manage the work and your life.
What do I do not like about this field ?
Takes away perspective. The worst thing for me. I am so involved in calls, office work, studying, being up to date with latest tech that all I think of is technical stuffs. It could be only me . I see my colleagues/friends and have heard similar statements from them. So I used to be a creative person during school/college days but recently from quite some time I have just felt boundaries around my thoughts . The thought patterns for me has started to shape up with known ideas, beliefs and thoughts. It could be because of the time that I have been investing in this domain, and as I write I also feel that to climb the ladder of this world you need to invest time and effort so things outside this are more often looked as not so important and I just let them go which kinda restricts my thoughts.
If you do not find the right product, the right project, the right people around this job then it can be not motivational, may not sound ambitious, can make you feel worthless, can take a toll on your mental state, can leave you helpless, clueless and affect the other important parts of your life like the relationships with your family & friends.
Leaves are to be pre planned and so many a times you would not get those short vacations you were looking for.
9–5 many a times may not sound purpose driven. That too in industries like this where the workforce is so large, it is difficult to be recognized for the effort you put in. So there could be years without any appreciation of your hard work. But again it’s all about your limitations, the effort, the hours you are ready to put in to be and have a life you aspire for. Isn’t it ? There could be a new morning, a purpose driven career in this field too, you just need to continue your search and work towards it.
