HACKER Q&A
📣 amazonavocado

What low-maintenance career tracks, if any, exist for SWE's?


My parents are very blue collar and not from higher education (they haven't even completed their equivalent of high school) but what I share from them is that my outlook on work. I just treat my developer jobs as just that, a job, just to pay the bills. Not as a way to move up beyond an IC role, not to become a lead, not to stay on top of industry trends or news. My dad's been a welder at the same company for 20+ years, with the same position, and he only quit because the health risks associated with the job were catching up to him. He has been a trucker since.

So I want to follow my career cadence basically the same way, only needing to change jobs if I feel it's impacting my health (mental or physical) or if I no longer find my team and manager great to work with. Is there a career track like that for SWE's which is low-maintenance and have few disruptions? Traditionally I've been a web developer but am tired of running the tech treadmill.


  👤 commonturtle Accepted Answer ✓
I think life at a lot of the huge tech cos is pretty relaxed. Especially the older ones: Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, IBM, etc. Put in your 40 hours a week (if that), and chill.

The next generation of tech cos (Google, FB, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) are trending in the same direction but life can still be pretty hectic at times and they tend to fire people putting in the bare minimum.