Comment by ryan-duve
1 year ago
I lean in the opposite direction. When someone random like a new neighbor initially asks me what I do, I say "I'm a coder at an insurance company". I teach fifth graders Python in an "Advanced Coding Club". When people ask me what I do for hobbies, one of them is "learning new languages to code with". I will only go into more detail if they are also technical and want more details about what it is I code.
I don't think of it as degrading the thing that I do. I think of it as boiling it down to the simplest description, and I find it more refreshing than "software developer" or "computer programmer" or f"{word} engineer".
I use what impact and benefit my work has to answer what I do.
In your insurance case, I would say something like "I build tools to shield businesses from unexpected disasters like earthquakes or floods" or "I help people worry less about expenses during an emergency"
If someone asks me more, then I might add on that I work on software to automate claim process or similar.