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Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I don't know what the OP's situation is, and he might need some counseling to deal with an underlying issue, but his intended career move I cannot in good conscience recommend to anyone. It sounds like he's burnt out, a little scared, and needs to do some soul searching. Maybe swallow his pride and go back to basics to get some help. If he had said he wanted to do something like become a teacher or tech trade…

The parent comment, though I didn't see it, seems to have sounded incredibly toxic. But to address your sentiment, this is not a permanent career move necessarily and I don't want to sound like I'm taking a career in software for granted. This is part of my attempt to go back to basics, things I missed, things that might help me become better at working in general but also give me some perspective on this field from…

The general impression in hiring is that staying current with software skills requires continual effort. I think the gap on your resumé should you leave the industry and later want to return will be a considerable self-imposed hurdle, and not easy to explain even if you get interviews, and you will likely struggle even harder than now. You are going to make your own decisions and far be it from me to tell you how to lead your life, but that's my honest opinion.

Maybe you can find a non-dev role where having development experience is extremely useful? For example, customer success/support on a SaaS product often is very difficult to fill with human to human contact employees who can diagnose front end bugs a customer might be seeing, run some data queries... stuff that would otherwise result in a long turnaround for an answer by putting in a support ticket with engineering. Support staff with technical chops are extremely hard to find and high value add in enterprise software. I think you can find something more productive that plays to your strengths horizontally in the types of orgs you have been working for instead of dropping in the hierarchy of industry skillsets altogether.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you passed his desk around 2pm on friday? It would be empty. And the flipside of this is that his desk is probably empty because he's on a plane, flying either to or from a potential customer's office. Sales people travel a lot . Now, you might think "oh sweet, I'll get to see all kinds of exotic locales". Unfortunately, that's not what business travel is. You will get to see three things: the airport, your hote…

Yeah. I will remember that next time I am at a NFL game. The luxury boxes up top with private bar tenders, steaks and premium beer are filled with sales guys: "working hard".

Don't have to be sales to do that. Be the customer. I turn down stuff all of the time, because my down time is worth more to me than free drinks and food in the private box, especially if I don't care about that team or sport.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. I will remember that next time I am at a NFL game. The luxury boxes up top with private bar tenders, steaks and premium beer are filled with sales guys: "working hard".

That is not for everyone. I'd rather be with my family on Sunday afternoon. Btw, the people they're selling to aren't salespersons (the client) and they're in the suite too.

Should have read this first.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#184

SALES. What fascinates me about sales is the ability to bring immediate value to a company. True value. If you walk in the door and bring in a new sale order for $100k: the company just made money. It may sound impossible todo. But it isn't. EG. Selling a twilio account to uber isn't like landing a mars rover. It is totally possible. Uber needs to send text messages and there are only a handful of players in that spa…

> the ability to bring immediate value to a company

> Once we finish signing the paperwork, everyone else is worthless

Looks like the only interest was getting paid, not actual value.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why not just buy something, rent it out and keep doing your job? it's not like you need to be on it full time to rent out a place. even if you have to do quite a bit of diy. i rent out rooms in my place and it's just a perfect side gig.

How do you find reliable renters? Airbnb or some other?

my renters have proven to be very reliable so far. you have to realize: most people are reliable. people are not looking to stay for two months for free and then get thrown out of the door. most people are not bad people. so whatever you do , it will likely work.

i use fb groups and my personal connections 50-50. i would not use Airbnb because it is usually for the short term. it is important to talk to people before you let them rent. try to judge their character. in general i avoid people who seem too cold/business-like about it, because i know people who like me stay longer and will be more fun to live with.

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