Keep it short and simple within 1-3 sentences. Truth is no one really gives a damn, it's polite small talk. Ask your aunt about her rat-sized dog instead, you'll make a far better impression.<p>I'm definitely not setting it up with some bakery analogy.
> Cloud: A big networked oven that helps make your goods available all around the world at fast speeds.<p>That's almost certainly the worst metaphor I've heard for explaining what the Cloud is. "Networked oven" indeed...
"I'm a web developer."<p>"So you design web sites?"<p>"No, that's a web <i>designer.</i> For example, on an e-commerce site, a web designer will design what the pages look like, including the 'Add to Cart' button. But I will write code that handles what happens when that 'Add to Cart' button is clicked. It usually involves changing various bits of data in a database."<p>"Oh, I see. Hey, Moshe, come over here and meet Cyberdog! He's a web designer now!"
What I actually do: "I work on safety-critical software for autonomous vehicles."<p>What I tell people: "I make websites."<p>Because what I've learned over the years is that there's no faster way to kill a dinner conversation than explain any part of what I actually do.
The developer is the baker? No. The developer is the guy who writes recipes. The baker is the computer who executes recipes.<p>The difference is that our recipes are hundreds and thousands of pages long and some lines are references to other recipes of more thousands of pages. Also, we write recipes where hundreds of bakers have to work in parallel without confusing each other.
When a non-family member asks you what you do for a living, they usually either want to make small talk or they want to size you up and see where you fit relative to them on the ol' social totem pole. I usually just say I'm an exotic dancer, and that will most of the time get a laugh, break the ice, and subtly convey the message that it's none of their business. Works like a charm!
Years ago, I did a brief stint at a government agency which strongly discouraged employees talking about their work to anyone.<p>Made for some quite awkward Christmas party small talk that year. "So, I hear you landed this new job..." -"Yup. Public servant." "Oh. What do you do, then?" -"Public servant stuff."<p>Now, working in the marine industry, it is much simpler. "I get heavy, expensive stuff to the seabed. Oil stuff. Unmanned submarine stuff. On good days, I also get it back up again." "Oh, I see."
I do not think I will every be able to explain to my family what I do.
Back in the day I worked for an ecommerce shop, my mother asked "Well isnt it finished?"
Actually a very true question but too complex to answer.
I have tried different ways but in the end people didn't really get it so it wasn't very useful. Now I just say I am a software engineer and nothing else.<p>Sometimes I add some technical detail to a discussion like the Equifax leaks or net neutrality to clarify misconceptions. But that's only mildly related to my real work so people still don't know what I do :)
You must not be very good at your job if you can't explain it to people you've known your entire life analogically/in layman's terms. Furthermore, you definitely should not need a cookie-cutter metaphor from some article.
"I work in data processing for a large corporation. How about you?"<p>Having used Chef, which completely half-arses the cookery metaphor, that's not one I'd choose. You got cookbooks and recipes and knife, but then the developers just couldn't be bothered any more so you also got nodes and run lists and data bags...
Those must be the worst analogies I’ve read in a long time.<p>Please avoid analogies if possible. They rarely help, and mostly just tell a story that sounds plausible but has nothing to do with what you are actually trying to explain.
Don't explain it, let them piece together their own imagination from Hollywood depictions of tech workers and news reports about tech companies.<p>Sometimes the best inspiration is to imagine the alternative ;)
Our product is mobile middleware, so I try to make an analogy to their business. To my dentist, I explain that it's kind of like supplying their tools or their filling materials.
If they're interested, there's probably a better way to explain it. If they aren't interested, a baking analogy isn't going to make them interested.