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First job as software engineer. Realized I don't love it as much as I love the humanities/social sciences. What to do? (hexbear.net)

submitted 2 days ago by jurassicneil@hexbear.net to c/chat@hexbear.net

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So I just finished my masters in CS and got a job as a junior software engineer. When I first chose CS for my bachelors, I did so because it was somewhat intuitive for me. But I wasn't crazy about it. Thought the interest would grow over time. I've had undiagnosed ADHD throughout my life and thought the difficulties with CS during my bachelor's (which took almost 7 years) was due to the ADHD and not due to lack of interest in the subject. Learned coping strategies and did my master's. Graduated with a 4.0 GPA so I'm not bad at it for sure.

Now I'm medicated and I finally feel like I'm able to be 100% of myself. But despite that, I still just do the tasks at work for the sake of doing it. I like the problem solving aspect but it isn't something I dream about every day. I see my mentor working in the same company live and breathe this stuff and I can tell there is a clear difference in the thought process between both of us. It's easy for him to produce great quality work as he's naturally curious about this stuff. Me, I just try to get it done. It's not lead by curiosity for me. What grabs my interest is stuff like literature, history, linguistics, philosophy, sociology, movies etc. I don't need any incentive for those things. I'm naturally curious about those fields.

Now I'm wondering if I should still stick with software engineering where I'm decently okay but not that curious about it . Or should I consider a career more aligned with the social sciences/humanities? I don't even know what careers are in those fields that would be comparable in terms of pay/growth to software engineering. Is the choice between money and passion or can I have both to some degree in the non-SWE fields?

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[–] jurassicneil@hexbear.net 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It sounds to me like maybe you've been gaslighted into thinking something is wrong with you for needing time for yourself.

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.

[–] woodenghost@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago

Yes, I understand. I think maybe people with experience in social sciences are underrepresented in the answers to your question.

[–] AtmosphericRiversCuomo@hexbear.net 2 points 1 day ago

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.