Hacker Timesnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin
Ask HN: I become bored at jobs after 6 months. Is there something wrong with me?
3 points by thatsamonad on Jan 17, 2017 | hide | past | favorite | 1 comment
I'm not sure how common this is amongst other developers/technical people, but I always seem to start a job, feel really excited at the beginning, and then fall into a pattern of boredom/lack of interest after about 6 months.

I have historically been a "job hopper" (though my first few jobs were with the same company where I stayed for about 5 years), with my average stay at a given company lasting about 1.5 years.

I do enjoy doing programming/development work, so I don't feel like it's a bad fit with the industry. Is there something wrong with me? Am I doing something wrong in my job selection process?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated (and/or any input from others who struggle with this).



I don't think this is unusual and I don't think you are a bad person. However, you may be a bad employee. Not in the moral sense, but in the sense that maybe you would do better as a consultant who gets to take on new projects and new clients more often than in a regular job.

I tended to struggle with this too earlier in my career, although fortunately I've been able to work for companies where I can switch to new projects often enough to keep my interest up, rather than just doing maintenance on one long-running project.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: