Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#51

Post by redfloatplane » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 4:39 PM UTC

notDavide wrote: post #47

redfloatplane wrote: post #11

It depends on how you classify "successful" :) I quit my job in order to hike every trail in Ireland with my girlfriend and make videos about it: https://www.youtube.com/toughsoles . We're not making a profit by any means - so, not successful in that regard. But we are seeing the country that we belong to, and I think we're slowly raising awareness about the incredible places that exist tens of kilometres from people…

Hey, very cool project! As someone who is pondering about doing something like this in the future, i just watched some of your videos. If I may, i want to give some suggestion. The first one is: consider adding some background music, for example when showing the landscape or walking otherwise it feels a bit empty. The second one is about the format: i think it will help you doing it as a sort of 'daily vlogging'. In…

Hey, thank you!

Appreciate the feedback. We'd never even edited a video before we started walking, so we're definitely still figuring out what we're doing, creatively and even just in terms of using the tools. It's also a function of doing it as we're walking - often we just don't have that much time to put a video together (very short backlog). I think that the style of our videos differ from one to the next - some with music or montages, some with very vlog-style cuts, and so on. For instance the Cavan Way video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvOQU_ZWoWQ&index=1&list=PLX...) is quite different from the One Second Per Kilometre video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXJvOvkJbcM&index=6&list=PLX...) :)

We do more than just the videos, too - we keep a pretty active Instagram/Facebook account, and write much more in-depth blogs on https://toughsoles.ie. It's hard not to be overwhelmed by the work and the newness of it all :)

Thanks again for the feedback! It really helps. Our audience is so small still that it can be hard to get honest, uninvested feedback.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#52

Post by xxSparkleSxx » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 4:52 PM UTC

Throwaway123212 wrote: post #31

brookside wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe there are pre-reqs for nursing school (including biology and chemistry) before one could enter an accelerated program. I realize most people on this board already have those.

I don't have a bachelors, which I expect is a requirement, but this is the kind of suggestion I was looking for.

If you enjoy nursing, after a couple years of experience you can go on to get your NP (and I believe work full-time/half-time while you are doing it - and/or get it paid for by a hospital).

NP's can bring in 150K outside bay area and often have better schedules/flexibility than physicians.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#53

Post by Throwaway123212 » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 4:59 PM UTC

SaintGhurka wrote: post #39

Throwaway123212 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have a bachelors, which I expect is a requirement, but this is the kind of suggestion I was looking for.

Nursing does not require a bachelors degree, but does have a few prerequisites that you could polish off in a semester or 2. There are 1-year (LVN or LPN) and 2-year programs (RN) at many community colleges. RN pays better, of course. I've thought a lot about dropping out of programming to do it, but my mom dissuaded me - she recently ended her 30-year career as an RN.

Yeah, it's definitely hard work, I have a lot of respect for nurses. Something to think about, thanks.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#54

Post by mxuribe » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 5:25 PM UTC

I was a former web dev., and transitioned into project and product management. I'd like to transition back to dev work for the next decade or so...but eventually as I close in on retirement, I wouldn't mind moving to working on hardware for electric motorcycles...basically create the Tesla of motorcycles - both for high end luxury as well as for the everyday/how-can-i-get-the-cheapest-cycle-to-safely-commute-to-work-in.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#55

Post by erdle » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

rurban wrote: post #15

Trained in a lot of other jobs. Worked as architect, movie critic, civil engineering, radio host, radio manager, race engine engineering (F1), and back to coding. It makes the most fun. I knew several others from my town with similar jumps. As architect you are trained as generalist and can do everything. Another architect colleague also worked in F1 engines, others did race boats or went to the Olympics.

if you can succeed in an architecture program, you can eventually work in just about any field, by brute force alone.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#56

Post by trjordan » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

iampims wrote: post #40

trjordan wrote: post #32

I'm a marketer in tech. My latest gig is VP Marketing at Turbine Labs (turbinelabs.io, check us out!). I prefer to work on products that would have been interesting as a programmer. My qualifications at this point are just my resume, but at the point I made the transition, I had to no reason to believe I would be successful. There were 3 key ingredients that helped me out: - I switched from dev to sales at a company…

Why did you leave turbine? It sounds like it was a very nice career progression from being totally new to sales.

Oh, sorry, I just joined Turbine! They're fantastic :)

The company where I transitioned was Tracelytics / AppNeta. AppNeta acquired Tracelytics and that was part of the forcing function for making the leap.

They're a great company, but I left in 2015 because my wife got a job on the other side of the country and after 5 years with the same team, I had an itch to start a company. If we had stayed in Boston, I probably would have stayed at AppNeta, but sometimes the job isn't the only thing going on.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#57

Post by pragone » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 5:53 PM UTC

sedeki wrote: post #28

pragone wrote: post #10

I'm in medical school

I have been thinking about going that route as well. How and when did you know it was the right choice for you?

I did EMS in college, so I had some patient care experience. I started working as a software engineer in Manhattan right after college. I was working 9-5 days, M-F in an office and just couldn't stand it. I missed being outside, and I missed being with patients.

I probably could have shopped around and found some place that worked well for me, but I just wasn't sold on writing software for a lifetime.

Edit: Let me add this: One of the biggest headaches I found in day-to-day life in the office was the lack of self-improvement. I missed being challenge not just with new material, but with what my colleagues were learning as well. There was no real drive for self-improvement in the officeplace, no real interest in spending anytime outside of work to learn and get better, and I missed that aspect of school and medicine.

I'll also say that I probably thought seriously about quitting medical school 30 or 40 times in the first 2 years. Now that I'm on rotation and actually interacting with patients full time again, I'm in love.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#58

Post by pragone » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 5:54 PM UTC

127001 wrote: post #17

pragone wrote: post #10

I'm in medical school

How old are you now and how far off are you from graduating?

I am 29 now, and I'll be 31 when I graduate. I just started 3rd year.

If you're not familiar, after medical school (4 years), you have to complete a residency in order to become board certified. Residencies last anywhere from 3 to 6 years depending on the specialty. After residency comes an optional fellowship to further sub-specialize. Those can be 1-3 years.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#59

Post by anotheryou » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 6:04 PM UTC

brookside wrote: post #27

This isn't a direct answer to the question, but if you are coding professionally (in the USA at least) it shouldn't be necessary to work for 3 decades. If you think you will burn out, optimize your life for getting off the treadmill early. reference: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-sim...

Thanks for the link. Do you live by it? may I ask how many years you are away from retirement by this calculation? How save are these 5%?

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#60

Post by brightsize » Tue, Jul 25, 2017, 6:05 PM UTC

swayvil wrote: post #9

I was a successful coder for a few years. VB and java. I watched myself and those around me rot, in body and mind. That is some fucked up morlock shit right there. These days I'm a handyman. Carpentry, plumbing, painting. Stuff like that. I still work on my own software projects. Art stuff.

> These days I'm a handyman. Carpentry, plumbing, painting. Stuff like that.

I've thought of doing this myself. I've been DIY remodeling my 100+yo house room by room while preserving the "period" style and have done a credible job and learned a ton. Planning, floor refinishing, plaster and drywall repair, painting, trim work, light electrical, and lately just a bit of plumbing.

I've found that making something that has the attributes 1) you can be proud of your workmanship, 2) you'll enjoy using yourself for a long time, and 3) other people after you may enjoy for decades, perhaps a century more, is incredibly rewarding. People I've known in construction have told me that they feel good when they can drive by a building, point to it, and say "I helped make that."

I've no idea how one would break into the business though. I'm imagining long apprenticeships ...