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To people who work in IT, did you love coding when you first started but now feel like you lost interest in it?
Lately I've been coding very often and I realized it was something I really enjoyed doing. It's fun creating projects and seeing how I can make them work. I'm afraid if I make it as my job, it will become something I dread doing.
10 answers
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Dominic’s Answer
Danielle - in my experience, a Software Engineering/IT job in the corporate world is more than just coding. Your main job is to solve business problems in innovative ways. This means that you will need to continuously learn and develop your skills as the industry evolves and new needs for the business emerge.
If you end up getting bored with coding, you can simply easily pivot to other related fields like Cybersecurity, networking, data science, project management, etc. depending on the opportunities available to you and what interests you at the time. All the best!
If you end up getting bored with coding, you can simply easily pivot to other related fields like Cybersecurity, networking, data science, project management, etc. depending on the opportunities available to you and what interests you at the time. All the best!
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M’s Answer
Hi Danielle! This is a great question! I did computer information systems as my major and had a couple of coding courses. Personally, I did not feel like coding was for me, so that is not the area of IT I ended up working in. Also in my opinion, what I have learned and done in school, is often different than what you end up doing for work. Lastly, I would recommend giving it a shot, because it truly seems like you do enjoy it, and if it turns out you do not, you can always slightly shift your career path. Wishing you all the best!
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Mounica’s Answer
Having interest and enjoying coding is a blessing in todays world because everything is involving coding. The day I started coding, I enjoyed it because i could make new things out of it. And once you start enjoying it, you will start exploring the complexities in it which will sometimes be very challenging. My advice for you is try your best to get involved in something interesting using coding. It will engage you for hours together. Working on some boring stuff without learning anything will eventually make you loose interest. So always keep learning and enjoying coding instead of keeping it monotonous.
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Yvette’s Answer
Hi Danielle:
You may or may not enjoy coding as a whole job task, depending on your goals in life. Information technology provides a diverse set of job options. Coding is something I adore doing, especially with the R language! Consider the following scenario: you’re assessing a problem. You want to be recognized for your efforts. The outcome analysis will be unbiased and error-free if the coding is done correctly. Consider data structures, SQL, Python, and R as coding languages.
You will have the opportunity to employ soft skills such as communication (verbal and written), problem-solving, teamwork, curiosity, adaptability, accountability, and time management, regardless of the coding needed. All data scientists must have these skills!
In conclusion, I would be more concerned about you being in the correct field of expertise for your long-term career than about losing your passion for coding. Joining a company that shares your values is another approach, using coding as a positive effect. I don’t think you’ll get bored coding if the organization is sufficiently challenged in its objective, curiosity, and innovation. Find a company that you enjoy working for and do the code for—all best.
You may or may not enjoy coding as a whole job task, depending on your goals in life. Information technology provides a diverse set of job options. Coding is something I adore doing, especially with the R language! Consider the following scenario: you’re assessing a problem. You want to be recognized for your efforts. The outcome analysis will be unbiased and error-free if the coding is done correctly. Consider data structures, SQL, Python, and R as coding languages.
You will have the opportunity to employ soft skills such as communication (verbal and written), problem-solving, teamwork, curiosity, adaptability, accountability, and time management, regardless of the coding needed. All data scientists must have these skills!
In conclusion, I would be more concerned about you being in the correct field of expertise for your long-term career than about losing your passion for coding. Joining a company that shares your values is another approach, using coding as a positive effect. I don’t think you’ll get bored coding if the organization is sufficiently challenged in its objective, curiosity, and innovation. Find a company that you enjoy working for and do the code for—all best.
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Scott’s Answer
I feel as this happens in a lot of careers. I can tell you that in my 10yr career in IT, I've had many ups and downs. It seems that every 2-3 yrs my mind is looking for a change. Knowing that your career or current job doesn't have to be permanent, you could always look into applying your skills at different companies, industries, etc. Taking some time to re-evaluate your short term and long term interests will help you as well!
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Dean’s Answer
If you enjoy coding, likely that will continue to be an enjoyable part of your job if you become a developer. As others have mentioned, the job involves more than writing code. You will be working to solve problems for the users of the software you work on, which are often some kind of business problem. You will collaborate with user interface designers, analysts who work to understand what the users need, and many others. The joy of writing code and seeing the immediate results when you run what you have created is something that I don't think ever goes away. As a coder / programmer you will also find that things are always changing, so there will always be new technologies and programming languages to learn over the course of a career. If you enjoy learning and trying new things, coding, collaborating with smart and creative people, and creating things that solve problems for other people, software engineering can be very rewarding.
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Jerome’s Answer
Everything can get old after a while, even if you love it. The beauty of this industry is that there are a lot of options to mitigate that problem:
- You might take a break from coding and do something completely different, like project management or lab work.
- You might move into a position managing coders (since you will understand their job function, having done it).
- You might find that coding on a different project with a new team changes your perspective.
- You might discover that a different type of coding piques your interest (for example, learning a new language, or using a higher/lower level language -- like moving from Python to C or vice-versa).
If you currently love coding, go do it. Don't worry too much about the future; most people have several careers in their lifetimes, and there's nothing wrong with an occasional change of pace.
- You might take a break from coding and do something completely different, like project management or lab work.
- You might move into a position managing coders (since you will understand their job function, having done it).
- You might find that coding on a different project with a new team changes your perspective.
- You might discover that a different type of coding piques your interest (for example, learning a new language, or using a higher/lower level language -- like moving from Python to C or vice-versa).
If you currently love coding, go do it. Don't worry too much about the future; most people have several careers in their lifetimes, and there's nothing wrong with an occasional change of pace.
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Fraser’s Answer
Hi Danielle,
There's a famous saying, "choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life"
This applies to jobs outside of tech. But I do believe that if you love coding right now, making it your job will only make it more enjoyable as you'll have access to like minded people, great resources, and really cool projects.
That being said culture varies drastically across companies, so when it comes time to joining a company look out for a good culture fit for you!
For me, I've enjoyed coding since I was in high school. That being said, I find working in tech is about a lot more than just coding, so I wouldn't worry. It sounds like you're in a great position to succeed in tech.
As a next step you could see if there's an industry that peaks your interest and see how programming applies to it.
There's a famous saying, "choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life"
This applies to jobs outside of tech. But I do believe that if you love coding right now, making it your job will only make it more enjoyable as you'll have access to like minded people, great resources, and really cool projects.
That being said culture varies drastically across companies, so when it comes time to joining a company look out for a good culture fit for you!
For me, I've enjoyed coding since I was in high school. That being said, I find working in tech is about a lot more than just coding, so I wouldn't worry. It sounds like you're in a great position to succeed in tech.
Fraser recommends the following next steps:
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William’s Answer
Please keep in mind that there are so many factors that go into whether you enjoy your job as a coder, and some of them have nothing to do with the work or your actual enthusiasm for coding.
A poor work environment can sour you on coding. Inability to make headway on project goals can make your coding experience frustrating. Difficulties with home life, or friction with coworkers, any number of things can lead to burnout that will manifest as "I don't want to code right now."
Try to be open to the possibility that you don't like your current job, or maybe you're having difficulty with some outside factors, and maybe a change of job or change of scenery might a huge help.
I definitely understand the fear of turning something you love into a career and falling out of love with it, but that hasn't been my experience so far. For me the desire to be a programmer comes from a place of curiosity, and there's absolutely no end of things to learn in coding. In my experience so far, when I'v lost the desire to code it's often been because of frustration with my current project or something about it, rather than a loss of desire to code itself.
And btw, if you do enter the industry, keep in mind that becoming bored with your current set of challenges and seeking alternative employment to find a new set of challenges and reinvigorate your love of coding and showing up to work is absolutely and accepted thing. People do it all the time.
A poor work environment can sour you on coding. Inability to make headway on project goals can make your coding experience frustrating. Difficulties with home life, or friction with coworkers, any number of things can lead to burnout that will manifest as "I don't want to code right now."
Try to be open to the possibility that you don't like your current job, or maybe you're having difficulty with some outside factors, and maybe a change of job or change of scenery might a huge help.
I definitely understand the fear of turning something you love into a career and falling out of love with it, but that hasn't been my experience so far. For me the desire to be a programmer comes from a place of curiosity, and there's absolutely no end of things to learn in coding. In my experience so far, when I'v lost the desire to code it's often been because of frustration with my current project or something about it, rather than a loss of desire to code itself.
And btw, if you do enter the industry, keep in mind that becoming bored with your current set of challenges and seeking alternative employment to find a new set of challenges and reinvigorate your love of coding and showing up to work is absolutely and accepted thing. People do it all the time.
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Norissa’s Answer
Hi Danielle!
I'm so glad you enjoy coding! I started out not having much knowledge in the beginning (I'm a product designer) but knew that it was critical in my field to have an understanding of not only how to build the things I design but to speak the same language with my engineering colleagues. What might be helpful if you're concerned about burning out is to find positions within an industry that interests you. For example, maybe you're really into coding for social change, so you might apply for a position like Code for America where you can build sites and apps that serve public needs. Additionally, carving out time to build something on your own can also help with burn out.
As with anything else one may be passionate about, it also simply helps to take a break from it and explore something else that doesn't involve coding. Eventually that something else will inspire you and refresh you to come back to it, so don't lose faith!
I'm so glad you enjoy coding! I started out not having much knowledge in the beginning (I'm a product designer) but knew that it was critical in my field to have an understanding of not only how to build the things I design but to speak the same language with my engineering colleagues. What might be helpful if you're concerned about burning out is to find positions within an industry that interests you. For example, maybe you're really into coding for social change, so you might apply for a position like Code for America where you can build sites and apps that serve public needs. Additionally, carving out time to build something on your own can also help with burn out.
As with anything else one may be passionate about, it also simply helps to take a break from it and explore something else that doesn't involve coding. Eventually that something else will inspire you and refresh you to come back to it, so don't lose faith!
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