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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 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

As someone who got into coding much later in life without going to school for CS or anything even related, I don't really like it or even know wtf I'm doing half the time. I'm just here to pay rent and make sure my partner and I can live without any other support

I wouldn't give up the money I make to do something I enjoy because anything I enjoy would be ruined by making it into a job. I fucking hate having to work and I don't know how anyone who understands the nature of capitalism can even imagine themselves enjoying working in the US. I used to work for a university and went to grad school for psychology (dropped out at the end), which is what I would probably be doing if I didn't live in a nightmare hellworld that makes it almost impossible to pursue meaningful work and pay rent at the same time

Edit: you could always start a company of your own and give me a job

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

you could always start a company of your own and give me a job

I would if I could......one day. Seriously though, thank you for perspective.