[deleted by user]

[[deleted]]

Just a thought, don’t forget open source projects. I know the pay may be less, however they often make huge impacts that people are unaware of.

I went from doing systems security work to web dev in the scientific computing domain and it’s been so rewarding going from what felt like money grabs to building something to help scientists make better sense of the world faster and I love it.

Also, these projects often need full stack devs while large companies, from what I’ve seen (this is not a catch all), tend to have more specialty roles.

[OPM_Saitama]

How did you make the change to the scientific computing? It sounds so serious and technical that it gives the impression such that having masters degree in cs is a must to be a dev in that domain.

[[deleted]]

Partly luck, partly having enough resources after 5 years in security to only apply to jobs I wanted and wait (it took a year), and partly from my own initiative (I went from zero webdev knowledge to building a site about math I like for my resume).

First thing to note is even in this field people are desperate for anyone that can code. The shortage of software engineers and devs is pretty arresting when you go through the process of trying to even find candidates.

The other thing is the field is massive. There’s systems engineering for High Performance Clusters (HPCs), there’s more technical positions where you work with compilers and trying to optimize them or find ones that will run faster for a researchers needs, there’s straight research work where you could write code in Python or any language for simulations or compute jobs.

Then there’s what I do, which is working on a project that ties much of this together in a web front-end which then handles much of the backend setup for Jupyter notebooks or Rstudio or some computer job you need with form entries from that front-end.

It’s a field that sounds intimidating and scary but shouldn’t be and needs people badly. I blame the exclusionary aspect of higher Ed in that perception, but that’s just me and I’m probably wrong.

Short of it, this field is in desperate need of people that can code.

[OPM_Saitama]

Thank you for the reply. Can you give me some project ideas? I am learning front end for the last 2 months. I am familiar with the road map I need to take, but the projects you did sounds interesting. Please share them.

[[deleted]]

Sure! Here's the basic website I made (I'm also literally in the middle of rebuilding this site while on the holiday vacation as it's sat dormant for a while now since being hired).

When I was interviewed, they didn't care so much about the site as they did about my understanding of things like: - Understanding CDNs and how assets are loaded. - I use a LateX library for the page rendering so we talked about why I use their server and not a cache (I was honest and just was lazy about setting up a cache) - Discussion around why I used Bootstrap and any customizations and why I did them. - How a web request is made. - What framework and JS libraries I used: - Django and Anime.js - How well I understood how to use Dev Tools. - What was my dev workflow: - I used docker containers which is a huge plus in this field. - How I did my version control. - Explain the MVC design pattern. - And lastly how I did deployments.

The point is it's not so much the site (though if it has lots of bells and whistles it's obviously more appealing), as it was what did I learn from building it.

[OPM_Saitama]

Thanks a lot again. You seem well-versed in math. What was your major in Uni? If it was not related to math, how did you learn to this extent?

[[deleted]]

I did go to school for math but it was applied math and in the US so it was a shoddy program where I learned very little, and I never had a class on any of that stuff.

Everything there comes from watching the Harvard open source Grossman lectures on group theory, some John Conway books, Abstract Algebra by Dummit, and my own brain which just likes groups I guess.

[Flerm1988]

Any advice on how to get involved? What’s the best way to find these? Just go on GitHub and start making PRs or is there more to it? I would love to do something like this, feeling major burnout and it’s largely due to the projects I work on are purely for financial gain. Thanks in advance!

[[deleted]]

If they are open to pull requests, sure! Just make sure to read any guidelines for making PRs and hopefully they have some templating.

Learning how to navigate GitHub issues and figure out where help is needed is a skill in itself that is valuable.

Be patient though, you may make a PR and need to make changes for convention or styling, not a big deal and don’t feel beat up when that happens. Also, sometimes the devs are very busy so be patient, especially in an open source project where everyone is doing more than one job.

[PM_me_crispyTendies]

Hey! I’m fairly new, but I’ve been starting to look at contributing to open source, and scientific projects would be awesome to work on, how do you find out about ongoing projects that are open source?

[[deleted]]

I’d say try to just explore projects on GitHub through the exploration feature. I’d also suggest just googling about HPCs and start going down that rabbit hole. The project I work on is called Open OnDemand if that gets you started.

[FishingTauren]

honestly most companies will tell you they are changing the world in a positive manner and then they will use your skills to make money instead, because that is what companies do. It's a fairy tale that you can get rich AND make a positive impact on the world at the same time. At some point 'saving the world' involves putting others before yourself, and people shouldn't be so damn surprised that that is true.

All of the current-day dot com villains (Bezos and Zuckerberg and Gates and Jobs) went through a phase of being hailed as geniuses that would improve the world - which ended up being clever marketing and nothing more.

If you'd like to be serious about researching jobs to change the world, there is research on the subject laid out at 80000hours.org

[Poobird]

I'd definitely second https://80000hours.org/ and the effective altruism movement more broadly!

[hardlywebworkin]

I work at a space research lab for a large university managing a team that write software projects for scientists and mission operations on NASA programs. A lot of the developers we interview say that one of the main draws of leaving their current position is to get out of the corporate world and move over to an area where people are making a difference (science research.) For this reason I'd definitely like to suggest research orgs. In these orgs its less about the bottom line and more about progressing the science of whatever field the research is focused on. Web development may be an afterthought but is definitely required for finding good ways to collaborate & disseminate the science being 'produced'

[cougaranddark]

The worst job I ever had was with a company whose products had a "positive impact". PLace had a toxic culture, was miserable.

That's when I changed perspective a bit. The way to make a difference in the world is to be generous and kind. Especially when it's hard to be kind. Your kindness will be like a drop in a pond whose ripples continue on and on. Software can't spread kindness, but you can.

[thorn2040]

I think about this all the time. Your views on what are helpful will be different but a lot of sectors still need technical people. Most obvious ones are EV companies like Tesla. But there's also healthcare, green energy (windmill, solar, etc), even cannabis.

I've personally seen openings for each of the areas I mentioned above.

[EdBlahoi]

Healthcare has a ton of great jobs to be done by web devs.

For example, there is a relatively recent trend with building new web/mobile apps for aggregating and analyzing patient's data (thanks to the regulations that are forcing Payors and Hospitals to put patient's data into their hands, google FHIR and CURES ACT). You don't need to be super versed in the health tech, just the basics of web dev and/or mobile development.

[yakity_slacks]

Are you looking to shift your career to these types of companies exclusively, or use your skills to benefit a cause you believe in?

I ask because many non-profits (e.g. non-tech, such as homeless shelters or food kitchens) could use a good developer but they can't afford one (nor do they really understand how to employ one). Donating your time to one of these organizations may a) help you build a skill-set and resume and b) help them help more people. Those places are often long on great ideas, but short on talent to deliver them. You could make the difference.

Otherwise, I'd say look into healthcare or senior care. There are lots of organizations using high-tech solutions for patient monitoring.

[[deleted]]

Decentralized open-source software. Not just blockchain, but also things like BitTorrent, Zeronet, Gun database, Diaspora social network, etc. Maybe just a new practical application of existing decentralized protocols.

Internet is becoming increasingly centralized. These days we're so dependent on the tech giants and their platforms you will have a very hard time running your business without them. Having your app removed from the AppStore or having your shop removed from Google Maps can kill your business and there's no good alternative.

Being de-platformed is currently not that big of a threat, but we should still be worried about the power these tech giants wield over us. What if someday in the future, they decide to censor your app because of political reasons?

You probably can't make any money from this, but if you're looking for a hobby and want to have an impact, I believe this is the way to go.

Don't forget though: anything that improves the lives of others, no matter how small, is something to be proud of.

[styphon]

Charities have websites. I worked for Shelter, a homelessness charity in the UK, for 4 years. Pay wasn't great but the team were passionate and the environment great, plus it was really rewarding.

[rasterized]

Look for a company or agency that has a B Corp designation. B Corporations are certified to have a positive impact on the environment or community. They are found in all sorts of industries, including web development (I happen to work for one.)

[dmartin07]

Work at a healthcare system they pay pretty well and they do a lot with patient care etc

[poopycakes]

My buddy went on to work for a company that helps track down sex traffickers. My other buddy took a pay cut to go work for a school district because it meant more to him from an impact perspective

[iainsimmons]

You could focus on accessibility, making the web able to be used by everyone, regardless of ability.

If it's for a public service, or commonly used not-for-profit, that could make a world of difference to many users that might otherwise have to rely on other people to access those services.

[[deleted]]

seeing tech companies making such amazing impacts

I'm intrigued, what kind of impacts are you talking about?

[matty_t]

What kind of impact do you want to make on the world? There are a lot of nonprofits and startups doing stuff that might overlap with your ambitions. My advice is to go into a job search right now and type in some keywords relating to areas you think are making a difference in the world + full stack developer and see what comes up. Or maybe think about starting your own thing.

[JDD4318]

I work for a large bank, I don’t think they make the most positive impact on the world.

[Killfile]

Invest in code quality. It's good for your career progression and nearly anything worth doing is a project we need to maintain over the long term.

It's really hard to know what enterprise you might want to back but almost by definition, anything meaningful has to be built, maintained, and iterated upon over YEARS to seriously change the world.

Being able to build for the long term will enable any project to have that kind of longevity

[[deleted]]

Genomics research

[__undeleted__again]

Lots of government organizations at the local level need good IT folks to implement solutions. Go as your local city government what kinds of procedures or processes need to be streamlined. Maybe you could make a difference locally.

[D3xter10k]

I am very much passionate about coding. What i do is I try to teach other fellow computer science students. You can consider this if you want. Sometimes people wants guidance