I’ve always wanted to be a master of the craft, but have become more of a well paid hamster. The downside is I’m constantly studying CS things to find something to focus on that would allow me to repurpose my career, but not getting very far. I’ve considered grad school, but that’s a big move as well.
How did you guys repurpose meaning in your career?
I don't recommend grad school for career advancement purposes (I got a PhD in SE after 20+ years in industry). IMO grad school is only valuable if you have an interest that you want to deep dive into and don't mind the cost. Academic jobs are hard to come by and you run the risk of being seen as over-qualified after you complete, assuming you do complete - many drop out.
I believe that purpose is outside of work. i.e. work to live, not live to work.
You need to be able to interview really well. That's really it. I am an ok engineer. Not a rockstar by any stretch of the imagination. In fact I really don't like tech at all. I just like the pay. One thing that I can do is interview really well. I have had probably 25 - 30 interviews over my career and I have gotten an offer in every one. Its relatively straight forward to do (not easy). Make sure you look presentable which means getting in physical shape. Dress well. Speak with confidence. Act like you belong there and that you are who they want. Act like you already earned the job. Be confident but not cocky. People want to work with someone they could see hanging out with. Make sure you ask a few questions but nothing crazy. Make sure you maintain that confidence once you get the job. Just look at the whole thing as a game.
I have never had a leet code style interview so your mileage may vary. The effort required to pass a skills based test is not worth it to me. I am currently a tech lead at a fortune 500 company making more money than I would have dreamed (I grew up very poor); probably not as much as I would make at a FAANG but again I have no interest in investing the effort required to prep for a whiteboard coding style interview. I'll probably shoot for a director position somewhere else in a couple years.
If you are asking how do you learn to love your job like the people on HN who eat, breath and sleep software? No idea, I don't like it. Its just a job. I use it to pay for things I am passionate about. Learn to love yourself first, everything else will follow. Get in shape if you aren't already. The answer is not in grad school.
And if you had one of those assets that let you break through more quickly, you probably wouldn't be asking this question on Hacker News.
So you can either grind away for another decade or two, expecting that you'll eventually find yourself positioned with agency over something you find meaningful, which will probably happen eventually, or you can choose a path through (or independently with) smaller organizations that probably pay less but are more fulfilling and interesting in the near term.
what does this mean?
how do you go from coder-chasing-money/power/respect/glory to coder-chasing-some-kind-of-life-meaning-or-purpose?