Finding fulfillment as a Software Engineer
Making an impact through coding
I recently read “The Monk who sold his Ferrari” and started pondering my career choices. Determined to work at Big Tech after graduation, I couldn’t say I was proud of my potential path forward because let’s face it, it’s hard to confidently say they’re all making the world a better place as they currently stand.
Since coding by itself has a neutral impact, what you use it for matters. After reflecting on the process, here are three clear paths I could identify:
Donating to an effective charity
Software Engineering is one of the highest-paid careers one can choose. The classic Effective Altruism book “Doing good better” highlights situations where working at a high-paying job and donating a major chunk of the salary to an effective charity (high impact organization in a money-strapped domain) is better than quitting corporate life and working there. As long as the job at the charity is not significantly improving the outcomes, another person would replace you and the charity would function the same, but there’s no guarantee that the replacement at the lucrative job would donate the same amount of money to a positive cause. The opportunity cost of working in an NGO is often underestimated. With this approach, even neutral or negative impact jobs such as quants at a hedge fund or SWEs at a Big Tech company can feel major fulfillment, as long as they put effort into donating the money effectively.
Ensuring that the employer’s vision aligns with personal values
I interned at Reflexion Medical, an innovative cancer research institute, last summer. Even though I was doing Data Engineering, pretty distant from actually battling cancer, I felt immense satisfaction in my work, since I knew my work was helping indirectly to fight cancer. Even though I wasn’t being paid or having access to big tech perks, the fulfillment was worth the financial loss. Additionally, it was easier to enjoy and find the motivation to work. Choosing a company that aligns with your values and purpose is a great approach for finding work satisfaction and possibly enjoyment as well.
If the above isn’t possible, working on making a company align more with one’s values is an alternative path to finding positive impact. For instance, working on improving the algorithm at Meta (Facebook) to filter out fake news and hate speech whilst maintaining the freedom of expression helps a company in the ethical dark area improve. Joining an already existing team or self-proposing and building features that are meaningful in terms of values make work more fulfilling, even in a big gray corporate.
Personal projects and open source contributions
If donating money isn’t your thing, working on side projects is a great medium for impact. This could take the form of finding small-scale problems and building solutions to them, contributing to meaningful open-source projects, or even working on building a full-scale startup alongside work. I usually find coding much more enjoyable when I work for myself, and if the projects succeed, they also provide a source of income and an opportunity to switch to working for yourself full-time, if that’s the life you prefer. Lastly, they’re a great medium to learn and implement new technologies and frameworks, all whilst enhancing your portfolio.
I hope this article made you ponder your career, pursue impactful actions, or reinforce your already existing plans. This article explored actions related to SWE, but there’s an infinite set of hobbies, volunteering, and even alternative career choices you could look into: exploring 80,000 hours, an org for researching careers with high social impact, or reading “Doing good better,” a primer for effective altruism, could be potential next steps. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
