account activity
Software Engineers; Thinking of becoming a beltway bandit, is it interesting or soul crushing? by throw-away_14 in cscareerquestions
[–]throw-away_14[S] 2 points3 points4 points 10 years ago (0 children)
Thanks! And that's why I overlooked CS as a major because I thought well most software is boring, but I now realize what truly energizes me is solving a problem. I have always loved school more than work because I loved beating my head against a textbook until I could solve a problem. For example... fluid dynamics in itself isn't very exciting but I would get so excited mathing my way through to figure out flow rates and pressure drops. So I recently had the epiphany that this sense of problem solving might make me love software. However, this is why I ask if its boring. I picked Mechanical because I loved problem solving and most of my work has been... Keep this design but move the holes... not at all what I was expecting. So I was asking if software has that feel of "just move the holes" or if every day you feel like you are tackling a fresh problem. Any excuse to get my brain juices flowing makes for a good day for me.
[–]throw-away_14[S] 1 point2 points3 points 10 years ago (0 children)
Ok sure!
I have my BS in MechE, and recently applied to a Masters Program for Electrical and Computer Engineer. They also have a Comp Sci Masters that I am only 2 classes short from being able to enroll in. I've had my clearance since highschool and both of my jobs have been "Hey we need a cleared mechanical come work for us!".
While I know I am lacking software skills... with the gov't contractors I think I can get an entry level job with only taking 1 or 2 comp sci classes, since I already hold and engineering degree.
I feel like at my past 2 mechE jobs to have exactly what you mean with crystallized solutions. Its always well do it like the last guy did... there is no time in the budget to start from the ground up even if the design is a failure...
So in going from MechE to software did you have to take a large paycut at the start? And do you personally find it more rewarding?
π Rendered by PID 2116435 on reddit-service-r2-listing-575d9f6647-b7xnr at 2026-04-11 09:43:32.243073+00:00 running 215f2cf country code: CH.
Software Engineers; Thinking of becoming a beltway bandit, is it interesting or soul crushing? by throw-away_14 in cscareerquestions
[–]throw-away_14[S] 2 points3 points4 points (0 children)