I don’t think anyone working with low-level C++ for HFT can face similar fate. Most of skills gained at such job seem very transferable. The article seems to be more about jobs where 95% of work consists in implementing CRUD in accordance with very specific business logic of the company.
The only reason to change such job I can imagine is to sit out your non-compete package. But I am not in this industry so maybe I’m missing something.
It's not that you won't have the skills, it's somehow demonstrating them.
I also worked at an HFT C++ shop that used no STL. Every data structure has a weird name and API that you get used to. The whole architecture has its own idioms, and hasn't needed much upgrading in terms of language features.
Imagine you learn the grammar of English. You learn how to pluralise nouns, when to put an s at the end of a verb, how to to use commas, and so on. You then go to work at a place where they have a different word for coffee, drink, and order. Along with every other word. You end up learning where everything is and how to talk about it, and you're productive.
How do you apply for another job? Chances are you will be asked how to order a coffee and drink it.
This kind of issue cuts both ways - how do you hire new people and get them productive quickly on a code base where they will almost certainly understand nothing?
Getting rid of weird data structures that now have STL analogs then is a productive exercise - existing devs get to learn more STL and new devs have more familiar ground. You get to delete code too.
Yeah, I find it amazing someone would transfer to standard web CRUD development from that. Sure you can have enough of all the custom stuff, but there are plenty of companies that will hire you for your current salary for non-web work. (you can probably guess how little I like web work)
Same! The poster's pivot reads like horror to me. Like they lost their mind and joined a cult where they worship Memnon with sermons of JavaScript.
> It never sat well with me. Colocated systems saw latencies no mom-and-pop investor could ever dream to achieve. That is one of the reasons why the second company I joined was a non-profit that built systems to help track human rights violations, enforce labor rights, monitor democratic elections etc. Third job was in the food industry and the last one, in housing / property management. So I'd like to think I've made sufficient amends.
Ah, nevermind. Turns out they were worshipping Memnon with C++ and renounced that cult with web tech! :p
The only reason to change such job I can imagine is to sit out your non-compete package. But I am not in this industry so maybe I’m missing something.