Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28 • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#21

Post by mrleiter » Sun, May 23, 2021, 9:06 AM UTC

magicpossum wrote: post #9

I was a late starter. Finished uni later than others and took my time, changing careers 2 times before settling into tech. I've never been held back or had any roadblocks (other than the ones in my head). Its time that society gets rid of the myth that you have to do everything right now, have everything sorted out young. Its a journey and its great that you have found something that you are more passionate about.

Yes, society sometimes tells you certain things, which really aren't that great for your personal health.

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#22

Post by mrleiter » Sun, May 23, 2021, 9:09 AM UTC

giantg2 wrote: post #6

I would switch if it involves years of school. Debt makes you a slave to money (and the people who have it). If you have a law degree, why. Ot look into specializing in a sector of law related to science or technology? I sort of think I should have been a lawyer instead of a dev. A bunch of people say that makes sense, but it would be too expensive and time consuming. So I'll just tough it out in a job I hate. To be…

Luckily enough I do not have any debt and school/university here is almost free.

I wouldn't say they are generally incompetent, it's a complex structure with many different interests being balanced out, and more often times than not it's unfair. Sometimes LE gets crippled by certain inefficiencies, intentionally and unintentionally. But in essence, law is not a creative or very productive space, it's more about safeguarding and balancing out interests.

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#23

Post by mrleiter » Sun, May 23, 2021, 9:11 AM UTC

siquick wrote: post #8

I didn’t graduate from university until I was 28, up until then I worked in very average office jobs including sales, call centre work, and general admin. It’s never held me back and if anything, it gave me an advantage in that I knew how to work in an “office environment” and had experience in quite a few different business areas - something that most young graduates just don’t have.

Thanks for sharing your experience :)

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#24

Post by mrleiter » Sun, May 23, 2021, 9:28 AM UTC

lhorie wrote: post #2

Honestly, I don't think age is an issue. My mom did a career change at 50. Your problem is grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome: you seem to think that if only you put in years of study into some field, it'll turn into your dream career. That's not how it works. Academia suckage is a well documented phenomenon; unless you're keenly aware of what that entails and are willing to tolerate all the BS that comes wi…

I agree with you. Yet I am not romanticizing a profession. The areas in which I have expertise in simply do not make me happy. I am happy, though, when I do something with maths or biology. So studying and working with it probably makes me happier than I am now. For me it's more about what I like/love doing, not a certain profession itself.

But thanks for pointing that out! And also for your advice.

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#25

Post by mrleiter » Sun, May 23, 2021, 9:51 AM UTC

cottonseed wrote: post #7

One of the best technologists I ever worked with denied his interest in technology until he was around your age. He was a professor at a top school in CS and started some innovative and impactful companies. I quit my job at 34 to study math and got my PhD at 40. After that, I left math to work in biology and I run a data science/engineering group at a premier biology research institute. I will probably change things…

Thanks for that! I wrote you an email.

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#26

Post by giantg2 » Sun, May 23, 2021, 2:27 PM UTC

mrleiter wrote: post #22

giantg2 wrote: post #6

I would switch if it involves years of school. Debt makes you a slave to money (and the people who have it). If you have a law degree, why. Ot look into specializing in a sector of law related to science or technology? I sort of think I should have been a lawyer instead of a dev. A bunch of people say that makes sense, but it would be too expensive and time consuming. So I'll just tough it out in a job I hate. To be…

Luckily enough I do not have any debt and school/university here is almost free. I wouldn't say they are generally incompetent, it's a complex structure with many different interests being balanced out, and more often times than not it's unfair. Sometimes LE gets crippled by certain inefficiencies, intentionally and unintentionally. But in essence, law is not a creative or very productive space, it's more about safeg…

Most software development isn't very creative either. It's mostly CRUD apps for boring business processes.

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#27

Post by frompdx » Mon, May 24, 2021, 11:04 PM UTC

mrleiter wrote: post #19

frompdx wrote: post #5

It's not too late. I switched careers at 30. My mom went back to school for her masters in teaching at 36 and worked for the next twenty years as a teacher.

Are you happy that you did?

Yeah, absolutely. I went from account manager at a software company to software engineer. It was worth the stress I had to go through to get there and greatly improved my income and employment prospects. I wish I had known it was what I wanted to do when I was still in college, or even high school. I probably could have saved myself a few years of doing stuff I really didn't enjoy at all.

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#28

Post by sircastor » Tue, May 25, 2021, 6:22 AM UTC

Heck, I didn’t figure out what career I was interested in until I was nearly 30. I didn’t complete my bachelor’s degree until I was 40.

28 is definitely not too old, and if you change your mind at 35, you won’t be too old then either.

I would encourage you though to figure out if you really need to pursue your interest in biology or mathematics professionally? Depending on what your interest is here, you may be able to do these as a hobby, which frees you from doing the research someone else wants you to do, rather than what you’re interested in. Your career doesn’t have to be your passion.

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#29

Post by sircastor » Tue, May 25, 2021, 6:27 AM UTC

giantg2 wrote: post #6

I would switch if it involves years of school. Debt makes you a slave to money (and the people who have it). If you have a law degree, why. Ot look into specializing in a sector of law related to science or technology? I sort of think I should have been a lawyer instead of a dev. A bunch of people say that makes sense, but it would be too expensive and time consuming. So I'll just tough it out in a job I hate. To be…

I was talking with a patent lawyer once about the law and about how it operates, and I realized that lawyers are hackers and hack the law instead of computers

Re: Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

#30

Post by giantg2 » Tue, May 25, 2021, 11:01 AM UTC

sircastor wrote: post #29

giantg2 wrote: post #6

I would switch if it involves years of school. Debt makes you a slave to money (and the people who have it). If you have a law degree, why. Ot look into specializing in a sector of law related to science or technology? I sort of think I should have been a lawyer instead of a dev. A bunch of people say that makes sense, but it would be too expensive and time consuming. So I'll just tough it out in a job I hate. To be…

I was talking with a patent lawyer once about the law and about how it operates, and I realized that lawyers are hackers and hack the law instead of computers

Sort of. That requires the system to work in a consistent and logical manner. It seems many judges don't act consistently or logically, so the outcome may be unknowable. There are so many laws, some of which may even conflict, that the judges can pick and choose which one takes priority or how to interpret them to influence a case.