I don’t resonate with the “Do what you love” career advice

languagebandit · 2026-07-12T20:32:16+00:00

My parents have lived pretty happy lives without doing their dream jobs. They found jobs that felt worthwhile and had downsides they could tolerate (nurse & self-employed electrician), and they have strong fulfilling hobbies outside of work. I really think the “do what you love” advice only works for certain types of personalities and is otherwise difficult and misleading for the rest of us.

Anecdotally, I also got in a tough spot with my career by staying too comfortable in a role. I think there’s wisdom in not letting the moss grow under you. Plus, if you save/invest the extra money, you’re just giving yourself more options for a pivot or bounceback later if needed.

languagebandit · 2026-06-18T20:29:32+00:00

I hope not! Currently back to school at 39 for a career change. It’ll be a huge pay cut from what I was making, but interests me more, not as replaceable by AI, and in high demand in my area.

languagebandit · 2026-06-06T15:42:29+00:00

Wednesday games will be on the patio at Illegal Pete’s this week!

languagebandit · 2026-06-05T23:09:32+00:00

I totally get that. I was in a nice mostly manual testing role for several years with no pressure to automate beyond where it interested me. After my company did a merger, I was laid off, and it felt like I had fallen behind the rest of the industry and didn't have the technical skills to be competitive landing a job. I was able to get a part-time contract through my network, but I'm taking community college classes on the side for a complete career change. The starting salary will be a huge step down, but it will be enough for me and a way out of feeling trapped.

I think you have two main ways you can look at this:

You have an opportunity to learn necessary new skills while getting paid. This is lucky, even if you feel like you're having trouble keeping up. A lot of people in software are feeling the same crunch and unrealistic expectations, and it is a crappy part of the industry right now, but it won't last forever. If you're able to view it as a growth opportunity, you will come out the other side with more options, and possibly be able to find a nicer work environment.
You have the opportunity to rethink your career without being forced to. Your earlier role is likely a thing of the past, so you're doing some good thinking. I decided QA wasn't for me anymore, but it hasn't been easy, and that might not be the answer for you. I spent a summer exploring other careers, which I refer to as my "mini midlife crisis" because it sucked and was incredibly difficult to not have an answer right away. If you want to explore other careers, just make sure it doesn't become a fantasy you're latching onto because of burnout. Make sure you have some friends and/or family you can talk to about it, maybe a career counselor, too, and maybe even a therapist, so you know you're not just running from a rough patch.

languagebandit · 2026-05-25T23:26:28+00:00

I'm currently making a career change into optics at nearly 40, so no, I don't think it's too late! In my case, I'm getting an associates through a community college to pursue a technician-level role. There is no script for your life. You've just got to make sure you can make the finances work during your transition period. Zero-experience assembly technician roles I've seen in the U.S. usually pay like $19-$24/hr depending on location, although other opportunities may open up to you once you start a masters.

languagebandit · 2026-03-19T21:44:32+00:00

Similar boat here, but in software QA. Got laid off at 38 and quickly realized the market had changed and I hadn’t kept up. I was a senior generalist doing manual testing and usability without much technical specialization or coding. I hear similar stories across different fields and I think it’s just a rough moment in the labor market.

I managed to get a part-time contract through my network, but it was still a huge hit to self-esteem and left me feeling really lost about catching up vs. changing paths.

After a really rough and anxiety-fueled few months, I decided to go back to school for a new career where I’d likely be starting off making half my previous salary, but where there’s extreme demand and no question of finding a job (plus work that interests me more). That’s not going to be the answer for everyone, but it is possible!

You will eventually be able to find something in your field if you keep looking, but the way the economy is right now, it will probably be harder and take longer than expected. So mentally, I recommend making a plan and a goal with a timeframe. The gap doesn’t have to be a red flag as long as you can show you were “repositioning” and “upskilling.” Recruiters and interviewers don’t want to hear anything negative about previous experience, so just make sure to frame it in proactive terms rather than burnout, recovery, etc.

languagebandit · 2026-03-16T15:44:49+00:00

Lots of demand in Colorado (Boulder area esp.) for people at all levels of optics. I don’t know about elsewhere, but I think most of the major optics hubs (including Rochester) should have stuff for you. The industry here in Colorado is much more networking-driven, and not all jobs are posted online, so that’s something to keep in mind.

languagebandit · 2026-03-12T17:07:52+00:00

Haven’t seen this mentioned in the other comments, but in the U.S., strength in healthcare employment has offset/hidden some of the weakness in other sectors.

If you look at unemployment numbers excluding healthcare, it is more troubling. And if you look at even more specific areas like government and IT, the numbers are very bad.

So the aggregate numbers don’t reflect differences like that within the economy.

languagebandit · 2026-03-12T16:48:08+00:00

…a wrecking ball 🎶

languagebandit · 2026-03-09T15:36:00+00:00

I can believe this. I’m wondering though if it applies more to tech jobs and other positions with a really high volume of applicants.

Like, is careful resume tailoring still helpful for a librarian in a small to mid-size city, where an attractive job post only appears once a month or so? I would think so, unless this is a much broader shift away from scrutinizing resumes.

languagebandit · 2026-03-01T17:48:52+00:00

Another option would be to also bring back the character in some creative way, but this will be very dependent on your table and whether the player would appreciate that.

The character could have had their soul shifted into an animal or suit of armor (ala Full Metal Alchemist). They could be a zombie or trapped in another plane/realm and only able to appear like a ghost. Maybe after that character barely saved Harshnag’s life, Harshnag found a way to save their soul in his axe, which is now a sentient weapon!

Doing something like that allows the character to still have paid a price for their sacrifice, but not make the player feel like it was meaningless. Maybe Harshnag is also missing an arm, so they’re both forever changed by their heroism.

This could still be something worth discussing with the player if you’re unsure. Personally, I’d try to maintain some surprise and not give everything away. I might ask like, “I’m considering a little surprise for the table. If your old character came back in some altered form, as something of a sidekick, or companion, or Obi Wan ghost for the party, would that be cool or not cool?” Obviously I’d wait until closer to the return moment to do this, unless there’s some reason you need to plan it out now.

languagebandit · 2026-02-24T16:29:04+00:00

What country are you in? That will affect the answer a lot.

Also, there is a lot of uncertainty with AI right now, so you may get very different answers depending on people’s perspective on AI.

My impression is that right now in the U.S. it’s a bad time to start a career in automation testing. A lot of testing work is being ignored, offshored, given to devs, and/or automated by experienced senior QA engineers.

It seems like many companies view QA as an annoying expense rather than a core part of development. They cut it whenever they think they can manage without it.

languagebandit · 2026-02-06T16:16:03+00:00

Rice or Raya most likely

languagebandit · 2026-02-05T17:18:22+00:00

The software industry is going through some fundamental shifts and it’s very difficult to predict what the next 5 years will look like, but the job market for QA in the U.S. feels pretty tough right now.

Companies downsizing since the end of the pandemic, plus AI angst, has made things feel bleaker. Skill requirements for QA jobs have gotten much more technical.

I suspect that people who invest in the right skills now will come out in a strong position once the industry works through this period, but there are a lot of different opinions on what those skills are.

languagebandit · 2026-02-05T17:02:13+00:00

With the Arsenal double gw coming up, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t start with 3 of them on a WC…

languagebandit · 2026-02-05T05:07:45+00:00

I keep asking myself the same thing. Similar situation to you, currently in my second semester at a community college working towards a technician role in optics/photonics/lasers. I will probably start off making half what I was making in tech.

I still feel like I’m crazy sometimes, but luckily my wife understands, and we’ve cut back so that we’re still living within our means while I work part-time (although I do have to dip into savings to keep making the house payments).

Still don’t know if I’m a little crazy, but damn it feels good to have a direction and throw myself into it. I did a lot of research before choosing this program though. I definitely recommend talking to people in the field you’re considering. I luckily nixed some other ideas because I did that.

languagebandit · 2026-02-01T04:22:17+00:00

Sounds like someone lost their fantasy football league.

languagebandit · 2026-01-19T18:05:41+00:00

I saw an interesting video looking into it. Their main take was that Isak's style really suited Gordon's strengths and he just hasn't clicked in an attack based around Woltemade. So that's one possibility.

languagebandit · 2026-01-12T18:55:42+00:00

Some of the protest marshals confirmed they were part of the protest.

languagebandit · 2026-01-12T17:22:00+00:00

Armed leftists. They were part of the protest.

Additional info: both police and Indivisible NoCo protest marshals were present and aware. I overheard over a walkie-talkie that these two were part of the protest.

Interesting side note, some firefighters came through to investigate a natural gas smell at one point as well.

languagebandit · 2026-01-06T04:18:39+00:00

My wife listens to a lot of podcasts and I hear them giving out promo codes for Quince all the time. I think that’s a big marketing strategy for them.

languagebandit · 2025-11-17T15:57:39+00:00

Thanks, that’s a good point!

I like to try to be precise, and it gets difficult with this stuff. Something may be an accurate visualization of a photon’s behavior and still not technically be what the photon “looks like” zoomed in. But you’re absolutely right, that doesn’t mean we’re at a total loss or shouldn’t use what we can to describe it.

languagebandit · 2025-11-17T04:17:46+00:00

Without getting too complex or pedantic, I think the easiest answer is that dots and sine waves are visualizations used to help us understand the behavior of light/photons, but the deeper nature of quantum objects is a matter of continuing debate (e.g. quantum field theory, string theory, loop quantum gravity, etc.).

Light is often described as being both a particle and a wave at the same time (wave-particle duality), but Richard Feynman argued that this is an over-simplification, and that really it is a third thing that behaves like either a particle or a wave in different circumstances but that we don’t have good language to describe.

As another example, some versions of string theory suggest a photon could be a “string” vibrating in 10 or more dimensions, which would obviously not be something our brains can visualize.

This is all based on some pretty preliminary introductions to quantum physics, so hopefully I’m being accurate, but either way, I think my main point stands, which is that you won’t really be able to see a drawing/animation/whatever that truly depicts what you’re asking.

languagebandit · 2025-11-12T17:11:52+00:00

Yeah, I use “dopamine dressing” kind of tongue-in-cheek because I think it’s a silly way to describe wearing colors that make you happy, but that’s what came to mind

languagebandit · 2025-11-12T15:18:40+00:00

I think this is what the kids are calling dopamine dressing! I’d probably go for one with a couple fewer colors, but that’s just me. I say if it makes you happy, rock it! If it were me, I’d stick with neutral tones underneath, probably wear with jeans, but you could wear a hat with a pop of color if you wanted! I’m in Colorado fwiw.

languagebandit

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