> I don't even know what the baseline is for satisfying programming jobs.
For myself, it's always been about the team I was a part of. When you are part of a team that takes pride in their work, and they perform well together, supporting each other, learning from each other, etc - no "prima donnas", and they all have fun doing it - it leads to a good day of work.
I'm lucky in that for most places I have worked - from the first shop that took me in, to my current employer - this has been the case. I can only think of a couple of places I worked where that wasn't entirely the case; both came with excess politics, and other stress that I just didn't (and still don't) understand. I stuck out with it at both, but I'm glad I'm no longer a part of either.
One thing I do know and understand - this comes from someone who started their software engineering career when they were 18 years old, and now I'm pushing 50 - every place I have worked that I have had this "good team quality" has been a small employer, usually with fewer than 50 employees. My current position, there are fewer than 20 employees.
No - I don't make, have never made, and likely never will make "FAANG" money - but I'm not stressed either, and I make enough to keep a roof over my family's head, the lights on, and food in the pantry. I'm content, and if an opportunity comes up for a FAANG-money type position - I will have to look long and hard at it, before making that leap - because I feel that it might come with costs that just don't make sense to me any longer. I'd rather have a more "basic" salary and little stress, than a lot of money but stress out the door due to a myriad of reasons in such a workplace. That isn't to say that's inevitable, but I've just found that as the employers I've worked for were larger, the less my satisfaction with going in and the job overall.
Can you be certain FANG jobs have more stress? Some rules inarguably would, but I hear of more people doing the standard 9-5 at FANGs than anything else. They do quality work, they do it in a reasonable amount of time, and they spend the rest of their non-working hours on other things in life.
I'm just entering the field (19-yo), and I don't have an particular experience in the field yet. From people I've talked to, jobs that you describe are the best options. I'm particularly interested in government jobs for these reasons.
For myself, it's always been about the team I was a part of. When you are part of a team that takes pride in their work, and they perform well together, supporting each other, learning from each other, etc - no "prima donnas", and they all have fun doing it - it leads to a good day of work.
I'm lucky in that for most places I have worked - from the first shop that took me in, to my current employer - this has been the case. I can only think of a couple of places I worked where that wasn't entirely the case; both came with excess politics, and other stress that I just didn't (and still don't) understand. I stuck out with it at both, but I'm glad I'm no longer a part of either.
One thing I do know and understand - this comes from someone who started their software engineering career when they were 18 years old, and now I'm pushing 50 - every place I have worked that I have had this "good team quality" has been a small employer, usually with fewer than 50 employees. My current position, there are fewer than 20 employees.
No - I don't make, have never made, and likely never will make "FAANG" money - but I'm not stressed either, and I make enough to keep a roof over my family's head, the lights on, and food in the pantry. I'm content, and if an opportunity comes up for a FAANG-money type position - I will have to look long and hard at it, before making that leap - because I feel that it might come with costs that just don't make sense to me any longer. I'd rather have a more "basic" salary and little stress, than a lot of money but stress out the door due to a myriad of reasons in such a workplace. That isn't to say that's inevitable, but I've just found that as the employers I've worked for were larger, the less my satisfaction with going in and the job overall.