start a company
Any experience?
Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
11–19 of 19 posts
Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#12There's an old saying - those who know, do. Those who don't, teach. In essence, you might have the knowledge, but you have no practice. That makes you mostly unemployable in tech. But good news is that many companies want to fill some quotas and they require degrees, so you'll likely find some place in a larger company where what you can do means less than the letters that go before or after your name. A situation fr…
It's not because you teach that you don't do.
There are tons of tech companies, with very different ways of recruiting. Some companies do care about academic backgrounds, or niche programming languages, or ability to solve questions like leetcode.
Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#13There's an old saying - those who know, do. Those who don't, teach. In essence, you might have the knowledge, but you have no practice. That makes you mostly unemployable in tech. But good news is that many companies want to fill some quotas and they require degrees, so you'll likely find some place in a larger company where what you can do means less than the letters that go before or after your name. A situation fr…
Thank you for your advice and I agree experience is superior to just knowing everything in a textbook. But out of interest, if the person with the diploma had a great portfolio and had amazing skillset, would you have possibly considered a little more then? I'll be happy to get a junior level entry job to build that experience first. Right now I will focus on expanding my 'freelance' work.
That would completely change the situation, so yes.
The thing is that diplomas matter only in very few sectors. Like medicine, law, physics and such. But in tech, realistically, the value of a diploma is 0.
Again, focus on a popular language, do some projects with it(so you have something to showcase) and after you get hired you can start specialising on specific things. Like web services, 3D engines, database and whatever else you'd want or need.
In short, you have to be smart about transitioning from academia into the "real world". As you have a diploma and you have been teaching, it means you are likely in your 30s, which is great, because id you would be Gen-Z or Gen-A, you'd have much harder time getting hired. So you are not position all too bad.
Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#14Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thank you for your advice and I agree experience is superior to just knowing everything in a textbook. But out of interest, if the person with the diploma had a great portfolio and had amazing skillset, would you have possibly considered a little more then? I'll be happy to get a junior level entry job to build that experience first. Right now I will focus on expanding my 'freelance' work.
That would completely change the situation, so yes. The thing is that diplomas matter only in very few sectors. Like medicine, law, physics and such. But in tech, realistically, the value of a diploma is 0. Again, focus on a popular language, do some projects with it(so you have something to showcase) and after you get hired you can start specialising on specific things. Like web services, 3D engines, database and wh…
I turn 29 tomorrow, the worlds my oyster ;) although it's nice hearing that 30s is a suitable age for jobs. Teaching students, I am often reminded that anything above 20 is very old.
I think focusing on python + flask will be my first aim and start a few projects, go from there.
Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#16There's an old saying - those who know, do. Those who don't, teach. In essence, you might have the knowledge, but you have no practice. That makes you mostly unemployable in tech. But good news is that many companies want to fill some quotas and they require degrees, so you'll likely find some place in a larger company where what you can do means less than the letters that go before or after your name. A situation fr…
It's not because you teach that you don't do. There are tons of tech companies, with very different ways of recruiting. Some companies do care about academic backgrounds, or niche programming languages, or ability to solve questions like leetcode.
Leetcode is something I've only discovered recently on my search for advice on getting back into programming. Seems like a plausible addition
Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#17Advice: Just pick one thing and do it. (I promise I'm not being snarky.)
The stack doesn't matter. The problem itself doesn't really matter. The "sexiness" of the result doesn't matter. Just do it. Something... Anything! Working through the problem is the goal.
The result: You will learn things that you didn't know that you didn't know, and you will be able to transfer that to your next project.
Rinse and repeat. Then, all of the sudden you will have stories to tell and mistakes that you know you should avoid.
Your first project will be bad, and I mean UGLY! You will make all sorts of bad decisions. Don't use an AI agent to help you write it... you won't learn anything. Don't waste your "best" idea on your first project, either. You will forever be disappointed because you didn't do a good job on it.
If you want to bounce any ideas off us, then go ahead and post them. We could proffer ideas to you, but it really needs to be something that captures your attention. So what are you interested in? Low-level, web, graphics, games, tools, mobile, industry-specific, entertainment, edutainment... the possibilities are wide open!
Good luck and have fun!
Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#18Advice: Just pick one thing and do it. (I promise I'm not being snarky.) The stack doesn't matter. The problem itself doesn't really matter. The "sexiness" of the result doesn't matter. Just do it. Something... Anything! Working through the problem is the goal. The result: You will learn things that you didn't know that you didn't know, and you will be able to transfer that to your next project. Rinse and repeat. The…
Fantastic advice, all taken on board and I appreciate the generosity offered. I think it's time to get the feet wet and stuck in.
I may come back here and let you know how I get on once projects are started. Thank you man.
Re: Ask HN: I have a CS degree but taught for 5 years– how can I get back into tech?
#19i would forget the online courses. pick something to build and ship it. if you're familiar with python you could start with a flask app + sqlite.
Yeah fair play I don't think that's a bad idea. This might sound stupid, when building the project, focus it on something interesting to me or should I aim to make it more accessible to show off skills if that makes sense?
For a first attempt it may help to keep the focus on what you find interesting. I just built a very simple web app that connects to strava api and emails me if "i'm slacking" based on my weekly time / mileage. The UI kinda sucks right now, but it works completely off a raspberry pi and I can access it from the web. If I'm looking to hire and you have a hosted, working example to point to then I would think you're fairly capable as a developer. You can add on to it and make it nicer to show off other skills.