Don't Like Your Programming Job? Here's Why I LOVE Mine!

I was surprised that in the StackOverflow 2024 survey, 80% of developers responded that they are not happy about their job. I can imagine what things they don't like. I LOVE what programming has offered me through freelancing, through the Web App and Website that I founded and through the content that I post on YouTube and on social media. I will share my story and perhaps if you are among the people who don't like your programming job you might like what I propose. A short story about me. I really liked computers and since I got one I have been fascinated about it and curious about how things work. During high-school I created a website with memes and it started to become popular. I wanted to add new features that the CMS did not have through the UI. So I started to learn how things work and I really liked programming. I started to learn fast and I wanted to earn more money and I found out about freelancing so I started it. I loved the benefits of freelancing and I invested heavily in becoming successful and a great software engineer. And it has been a great ride! During my free time I developed this Web App that you are seeing

1. Let's start with the parts that might make you not like your programming job

2. The employee life is not ideal for many people and most do it because they need the money

3. Going through multiple interviews with recruiters who don't know the difference between Java and JavaScript 😂. Even the well-known JavaScript expert Kyle Simpson(getify) complained about recruiters who don't have a clue about core programming concepts. I commented that these people should know how to program and he liked my comment. I would not like to be in that position

4. Not all programmers work at FAAMG(Facebook (Meta), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google (Alphabet)). Let us assume that these companies have a total of 1 million developers and the total estimated number of programmers worldwide is 26 million. That means only 3.8% of programmers are working at these top companies. Even if you double the amount to consider other big companies the percentage is 7.6%.

So the working conditions and the payments might not be as high as in these companies

5. Working on things that you don't like and not having decision power. You will likely work on some existing things that the company has and if you are not in a decision position you won't be able to decide key things about the direction it is going

6. Being managed by people who don't have a clue about tech. I personally don't like being micro-managed and I find the agile and scrum methodologies horrible. It is like you are being a slave. And if the manager doesn't have expertise in the field you might get unreasonable deadlines and work in stressful conditions

7. Being monitored all the time and having to give explanations about your time spent on things. Endless meetings are also annoying

8. You can be fired easily. You might be just a small dust in the desert. If you are not liked by some of the decision-takers they can just fire you or make your life hard

9. Just thinking about those things while preparing the video got me in a bad mood 😂

10. Now let me tell you from personal experience how freelancing and or founding your own things can make your life great

11. Freedom of schedule. After you agree on the delivery time with the client you can work at whatever time of the day you want. If you want you can even take certain days off. But remember that at the end you will need to deliver a great result. I like that I can take breaks during the day whenever I want. I usually go for some coffee and to refresh

12. Money. Working directly with business owners or key decision makers from a company and you get paid like a business and not an employee. You should think about yourself as a business. Successful freelancers can earn like programmers at top companies or even more. I mentioned in a previous video why these people are the ideal clients and not intermediaries

13. Freedom of location. No need to commute. You can be anywhere on the planet, with a good internet connection. Elon, with Starlink, is making it easier nowadays to have a great internet connection even in remote locations. Freedom of location can be also a strategic economic move. You can be in a less expensive part of a country or even in a new country. The choice is yours and I like being able to choose

14. Pleasant working environment. I'm not sure if you are allowed to listen to music in the office, listen to podcasts or books but I do and I love it. During lighter work, I do that and it gives me great vibes I enjoy my time. Yes and you can work in your pajamas

15. Exciting projects and people. You can be part of some really cool projects and meet extraordinary people. One of my coolest projects was to work on a business with private jets. Building relationships with great influential people can also open doors to many opportunities and long term contracts

16. Working with technologies that you love. Most of the time, clients want a final product and rarely want to impose a certain technology. So the tech stack is your choice. You can also search for jobs with tech that you like.

17. During periods with a low amount of work, you can focus on personal projects or do anything that you want with your time. I developed this app during my free time and I learned a lot about all the programming stages and about promoting a business. I also post on YouTube, X/Twitter, and LinkedIn and manage my website with funny content.

About every quarter I travel to relax and recharge.

18. Where can you get started? I mainly use Upwork but you can also check Turing, Toptal or even Fiverr. Research about them and try them out, and see which ones you like better. You can be on multiple platforms at once and even have a personal website for people to find you.

19. Where can you learn more about freelancing? I have a playlist with personal videos about Upwork and you can check it on my channel. Other people with experience on Upwork and in freelancing in general that I follow are Freelance MVP, Josh Burns Tech, Morgan Overholt and Oliver | The Upwork Guy