this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
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If you're able to do the work, go home, and just completely forget about it and do something else, that's a very cushy job. The people who get completely invested in CS projects get chewed up and discarded by the industry.
100%, just milk it as long as you can and give zero shits when you get home. Don't respond to emails or messages either after 5
My boss/who is also my mentor expects me to upskill and upskill fast. As such I can't forget about it when I get home. I need to put some extra time to handle the learning curve. I don't mind it too much just that I feel if this field resonated with me more, I wouldn't think of this as extra work but something I inherently enjoy doing. Which makes me feel that I'm missing out on having a fulfilling career/life in someway.
Hmm, but that is extra work after hours whichever way you look at it. It sounds to me like maybe you've been gaslighted into thinking something is wrong with you for needing time for yourself.
Do you really believe, that "if you enjoy doing it, it's not work"? I feel like, work is work and deserves to be paid. If you learn to increase productivity for your company, that sounds like work to me. And work also requires rest. Wage labor is always exploitation and while some workers are more privileged than others, anyone who buys into the propaganda is deluding themselves. There is no magical job out there that makes being exploited feel enjoyable unless you live in false consciousness.
Yeap, I don't buy into the gaslighting though. It's just that I have no better option right now, so doing this work is the only way for me. I thought if I actually was interested in the stuff I'm working on, maybe I'd be more efficient at it and save more time or even if I did have to work extra it wouldn't burn me out. That's why I asked about the social sciences in my post as I had more inclination towards that, but the way I see this going currently, I'm concerned.
Yes, I understand. I think maybe people with experience in social sciences are underrepresented in the answers to your question.
When I started my CS career, I didn't care for it at all for almost an entire year until I found my niche language, then I started to really quite enjoy it. Just learn as much as you can now, expose yourself to a wide breadth of stuff if possible. And yes, you need to upskill on your own. Get super good at what you're doing, work on side projects etc. while you're young, then you can take your foot off the gas after a couple years when you break into mid level.
It's a little hard to do that in CS because the technology is always changing but no one wants to pay to train employees during work hours.