Alternate job options for Software Developers which give mental peace & don't compromise significantly on income

[vito scalleta]

how can I know whether the work environment is employee friendly in a new company? Any tips

If it is a service based organization you are going to find out that work environment for every project is different and it is going to depend on the Client and your manager. So you can't really be sure even after checking Glassdoor reviews.
Many product based companies have good work life balance.

 

[srdigit16]

If it is a service based organization you are going to find out that work environment for every project is different and it is going to depend on the Client and your manager. So you can't really be sure even after checking Glassdoor reviews.
Many product based companies have good work life balance.

By product based company you mean company having own product(s) (i.e apps or websites for end users) right? I worked on a company having its own app developed by me but often I've to put urgent updates (not just bug fix) to prevent revenue & rating from going down.

Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Nerevarine]

By product based company you mean company having own product(s) (i.e apps or websites for end users) right? I worked on a company having its own app developed by me but often I've to put urgent updates (not just bug fix) to prevent revenue & rating from going down.

Sent from my Redmi Note 9 Pro using Tapatalk

product based company is one where primary revenue stream is by their own product. They handle their own product engineering, marketing, sales, distribution.
FAANG, HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc are product based etc. Most startups are also product based - Zomato, Swiggy, etc. Freshworks = service based.

 

[Desmond]

IMO, regardless of the requirements of the job, you must always focus on logging off around 6 pm or so but at the same time ensure that you finish whatever work is assigned to you by the end of the day so that there is little or no spillover.

 

[Nerevarine]

Service based doesnt always mean they are bad. Thoughtworks, Fractal Analytics are great service based companies.

 

[Desmond]

From what I have seen after working in both service and product based companies is that in service based companies you tend to develop expertise in more general areas, since (depending on the company) you could be working in different domains or technologies based on the project requirements. This however is the worst case scenario and is likely to cause a lot of stress since you have to re-learn something new for each project, unless you are lucky enough to have a long-term project. If you are in such a company or project, you are likely to be more stressed and I'd suggest moving out ASAP.

More often than not for service based companies, most projects are either in the same domain or use same technologies. This is more similar to a product based project in that your skills can be re-used across projects and you can also switch to another company within a similar domain. Here the stress is much more manageable since the requirements don't change too often. Most of the pain points in such a company will be mis-management or less than cooperative clients.

 

[RumbaMon19]

I have a feeling that op is seriously overworked and his team is understaffed.

There are some companies which develop app and websites for various coaching institutes. These company hire freshers and overload them by understaffing. This is something which I have seen a lot here, I knew a person who was paid very less but was maintaining apps of all the institutes with which his company had contract with. It was about 30-35 companies. The thing is, all those apps were based on a single template app and a new app was made whenever some institute enrolled.

He was alone working in the development, with another experienced guy working for backend of the site also. He went to his home in other state when pandemic started and most probably left the company because of high pressure and low pay.

 

[Desmond]

I have a feeling that op is seriously overworked and his team is understaffed.

There are some companies which develop app and websites for various coaching institutes. These company hire freshers and overload them by understaffing. This is something which I have seen a lot here, I knew a person who was paid very less but was maintaining apps of all the institutes with which his company had contract with. It was about 30-35 companies. The thing is, all those apps were based on a single template app and a new app was made whenever some institute enrolled.

He was alone working in the development, with another experienced guy working for backend of the site also. He went to his home in other state when pandemic started and most probably left the company because of high pressure and low pay.

That comes under mis-management. They usually also do this to reduce costs and maximize profits.

 

[TheSloth]

Hi OP, please start preparing for interviews and start attending. With each interview you will gain experience and most importantly, confidence. Getting a good offer comes later. Start preparing and attending interviews.

@Nerevarine Freshworks is service based?

 

[Nerevarine]

Hi OP, please start preparing for interviews and start attending. With each interview you will gain experience and most importantly, confidence. Getting a good offer comes later. Start preparing and attending interviews.

@Nerevarine Freshworks is service based?

Freshworks is SaaS which is modern definition of service based. (IMO)

 

[srdigit16]

I have a feeling that op is seriously overworked and his team is understaffed.

There are some companies which develop app and websites for various coaching institutes. These company hire freshers and overload them by understaffing. This is something which I have seen a lot here, I knew a person who was paid very less but was maintaining apps of all the institutes with which his company had contract with. It was about 30-35 companies. The thing is, all those apps were based on a single template app and a new app was made whenever some institute enrolled.

He was alone working in the development, with another experienced guy working for backend of the site also. He went to his home in other state when pandemic started and most probably left the company because of high pressure and low pay.

The first point is true especially in my previous company. I don't have a senior developer also. So I don't go for high coding standard but keep the code organized & work in a way that somehow manage to give output & reduce bug free. So I haven't experiment new things although I avoid deprecated code. The current problem seems to be most companies want to code & give the output in the way they expect like a design pattern

 

[Desmond]

Design patterns are necessary and when applying for senior roles the interviewer will usually ask about them. It's not necessary to know all design patterns but at least the common ones like singleton, builder, factory, etc. should be enough.

 

[TheSloth]

Don't worry about all that. You can learn this along the way. Once you get your new job where workload is less, you can deep dive in DSA and Design Patterns.

 

[khalil1210]

Check this pdf for design patterns.

*blog.bytebytego.com/p/free-system-design-pdf-158-pages?s=r

General questions my friends were asked over period of time were.

1. How to design whatsapp.
2. How we can block tickets like bookmyshow. When one user is selecting and paying. This ticket should not be available for other user.
3. How multiple systems interact.
4. Learn about queues. and general terms like microservices, kafka, queue or batch processing.
5. How we can design url shortner

 

[TheSloth]

Check this pdf for design patterns.

*blog.bytebytego.com/p/free-system-design-pdf-158-pages?s=r

General questions my friends were asked over period of time were.

1. How to design whatsapp.
2. How we can block tickets like bookmyshow. When one user is selecting and paying. This ticket should not be available for other user.
3. How multiple systems interact.
4. Learn about queues. and general terms like microservices, kafka, queue or batch processing.
5. How we can design url shortner

Great share!

To everyone, please share more resources with practical examples you have come across in your career.

 

[Stormbringer]

Great share!

To everyone, please share more resources with practical examples you have come across in your career.

Good Idea. I think a pinned dedicated thread would be good to have.

 

[Nerevarine]

Good Idea. I think a pinned dedicated thread would be good to have.

+1

 

[pkkumarcool]

Hi OP, please start preparing for interviews and start attending. With each interview you will gain experience and most importantly, confidence. Getting a good offer comes later. Start preparing and attending interviews.

You mean do leetcode and stuff?.The main question is even getting interview is harder if your profile is not that good(not tier 1 colleges) Only top companies (tier 1) ask for leetcode and system design stuff.For a normal candidate they are shortlisted out due to their profile and colleges at the start.

 

[TheSloth]

You mean do leetcode and stuff?.The main question is even getting interview is harder if your profile is not that good(not tier 1 colleges) Only top companies (tier 1) ask for leetcode and system design stuff.For a normal candidate they are shortlisted out due to their profile and colleges at the start.

Since OP is already experienced then, they can focus on interview skills along with polishing their knowledge on the concepts according to their years of experience. Leetcode is good and all but takes time if not already familiar with concepts. The grind is long and hard. OP is already burnt out and already looking outside IT at this point so this is not the time for grinding. My suggestion is start applying for jobs through LinkedIn and Naukri to some good MNC based service/product companies. This might take time but it will be good. Once they are settled in their new company, and have good amount of time, can start Leetcode or similar. Then again switch as soon as they are confident on DSA.

 

[pkkumarcool]

Since OP is already experienced then, they can focus on interview skills along with polishing their knowledge on the concepts according to their years of experience. Leetcode is good and all but takes time if not already familiar with concepts. The grind is long and hard. OP is already burnt out and already looking outside IT at this point so this is not the time for grinding. My suggestion is start applying for jobs through LinkedIn and Naukri to some good MNC based service/product companies. This might take time but it will be good. Once they are settled in their new company, and have good amount of time, can start Leetcode or similar. Then again switch as soon as they are confident on DSA.

I think getting calls from linkedin is very tough I also tried alot but didnt get much response.Naukri is good for the interviews but cracking one is tough as competition is alot like sometimes I have seen there 2 positions available and 2000 candidates applied.But certainly you can crack if you have the skills.