Burned out, how do I get out of the rut?
6 hours ago
Hey HN, I'm a fullstack (mainly frontend) dev based in Germany with 3.5 YOE. I recently got fired while on sick leave (burnout) and I'm now slowly recovering (therapy, sports, rebuilding sleep, the usual). Also got diagnosed with autism + ADHD late in life, which explains... a lot in retrospect. I'm not looking to jump back in tomorrow, but I'm trying to gauge the market realistically. A few specific questions for those who've been through something similar or are currently hiring:
1. How honest should I be about the burnout / being fired in interviews?
2. Has a late neurodivergent diagnosis helped or hurt anyone's career perspective?
3. Is the German market still open for mid-level devs, or are we in a serious freeze?
Any honest perspectives welcome - good or bad.
(1) Say something honest but as neutral as possible. Whatever you do don't lead with "I have a disability and I want to know if you can give me accommodation" because as an employer I'm more interested in what you can do for me than the other way around.
(2) I am skeptical about both Autism and ADHD and especially when they are claimed to occur together. See also borderline personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder and other PD's.
I had a mental health crisis at 49 and was lucky, with help from my friends, that I wound up on my back foot rather than having a serious setback. The next year at the library a book practically jumped into my hands that explained just about everything that went weird in my life.
I spent most of the 2010s employed and unemployed trying to commercialize foundation models before the technology was ready and eventually wound up in a very ordinary fullstack job which is stable if not always exciting. Since I discovered what I am I gradually started to spread my wings and realize that people with my kind of nervous system in traditional societies have a talent for divination, magic and healing and I am finding my peeps in that domain.
(3) No idea, but it is not about other people, it is about you. Today's freeze will be tomorrow's hot market but it could take a while.
> I am skeptical about both Autism and ADHD and especially when they are claimed to occur together. See also borderline personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder and other PD's.
What?
> have a talent for divination, magic and healing and I am finding my peeps in that domain.
Again, what?
(1) I dunno about other countries but the blackboard jungle has gotten worse in the US since I was a kid.
I was one of only two dudes who showed up at a P.T.A. meeting, the other was the superintendent. He told me I could talk to the hand about my concerns about my son's situation in school whereas he told the mother of a "special" kid that she was a valued partner in his education because she could write a letter to Albany and the folks there would light a fire under his ass.
When I was a kid they tried a lot of things to accommodate me except what I really needed, but they tried. Today you have to have autism or ADHD or some diagnosis just to go to the bathroom during class. With an ADHD diagnosis you can get performance enhancing drugs and extra time on the test, no wonder it is a vanity diagnosis for rich kids. On Youtube you can see many self-diagnosed AuDHD women who look borderline PD to me.
(2) See
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-23999-003 (and I am not autistic but ask your shaman if therianthropy is right for you!)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30849096/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358882845_The_Shama...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_death (magic is real but it takes a village to pull off that feat and like other feats that are common in traditional societies you don't need psi or other violations of known laws of physics to explain them)
https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12192/persuasion-and-h...
3 replies →
Interview skills are somewhat different from workplace skills. So first align your original motivation with the industry requirements. If you find mostly aligned, then sharpen your interview skills.
The requirements for SDE have never been changed. The only changes are people’s expectations and more openings for AI services.
If you don't over-promise your abilities and are up-to-par with agentic coding, you'd fare well (provided an entry-level position exists) in at least one large-ish company I know of.
care to drop the name?
1. Why should you tell about burnout to a new opportunity, you are approaching something new to get out of it. Some reframing always helps!
2. To be frank, an Autistic dev in Germany makes no news. Adhd may distract you a bit, but also push you to think out of the box. Just don't try to fit in other people's boxes, be yourself! Otherwisr that will burn you out quick.
3. Market is a bit closed, especially for frontends, but in EU we are not only driven by venture capitalists' money. It's not AI per se, it's uncertainty, protectionism, low interest rates, and the fact that AI is eating all investments for breakfast. But there still are companies doing actual work.
Hope this helps a bit for clarity! Much love and hope from an Italian in Belgium.
Thanks, wish you well!
take time off - probably 3 months or more. Do things like working out, consuming art that are not related to development at all.
for 1. don't mention anything - people get fired everyday B. or quit jobs.
2. if you're in Europe & hell even the U.S that shouldn't affect you that much.
3. Job market is bonkers good luck.