Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#51

Post by superimposition » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:37 PM UTC

pmiller2 wrote: post #42

davedx wrote: post #13

> But I'm also cautiously thinking how your earning potential lowers as you age. It's not happened to me yet, my earning potential has only increased as I've gained more experience (41 now), especially since I went freelance. I would say in your 20's is a great time to take risks. Usually doing this will give you great experience you can then apply throughout your life, too. For example: - Work for a startup. Here yo…

I’d like to push back a bit on “work for a startup in your 20s.” Sure, if you want to work at a startup, I would say early career is the best time to do so. Best case scenario, you learn a lot, your company has a successful exit, and you make some decent cash. The other side of the coin is that for every well run startup where you can learn a lot, there are a bunch that are terrible, where you won’t learn as much, yo…

100% Agree. My first startup job, I learned a ton but the second one was pointless. Target strartups with superstars - those who have a track record of winning. It makes a difference.

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#52

Post by cyberpunk » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:41 PM UTC

zlast wrote: post #48

cyberpunk wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is all solid advice, I would probably add though that in your 20s you might want to set a time limit of a year and half to any one job, as soon as things get comfortable you should be looking for something new. I had a lot of different jobs in my 20s and they all helped me become a better engineer, if I had stayed at one of the first ones (which was probably the most fun I had at work) then I wouldn't be where I…

Curious about your experiences as an early developer myself, any way to contact you?

Not really, I like to keep my HN account sep from reality. Happy to reply on here though :)

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#53

Post by sjg007 » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:41 PM UTC

People are happiest when their needs are met, where they can self-actualize, help and work with others. There are a lot of options these days as virtually ever industry needs software.

With respect to starting a business, it sounds like you have a role where you analyze the latest tech trends and to see if your company can use them. That skill is valuable and you could do that work as a consultant for other companies etc... That is one startup path. As you gain experience and clients, some product opportunities may arise. But it might be boring though if you find your current job boring. I can tell you though that the big consultancies charge big bucks for whitepapers and research into the current market leaders etc...

If you want to continue with a software career in politics and film making, then I would advise you to work in those areas to find the market you could develop software for. Is that something you want to do? What do you find interesting about those fields? In film making there are a lot of custom software pipelines for rendering etc... For politics, I don't know. I imagine there is some push for data driven politics but is that viable.. no idea? Maybe going back to school to study public policy or politics is a way to go. Maybe join a political campaign. There seems to be a lot of activity around FB ads and data analysis etc... So some of the tools you research now could be useful in political campaigns. Keep in mind that political campaigns have limited lifespans so you might want to combine that work with consulting work.

Also, it's your network that is going to get you your next opportunity. You get a network by working with other people. What field do you want that in? This is one reason why people dislike working from home because these opportunities become more limited.

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#54

Post by spudlyo » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:44 PM UTC

As someone who is older, and spent much of their 20s working on their career, I regret that I hadn't spent more time on my personal interests when I was young. If I had it all to do over again, I would spend less of those years trying to climb the ladder as a Software Engineer and more of my time writing and performing music.

I'm certain I'd still be working in tech today, some 30 years on, but I bet it would have been a lot more fun to have been in a band and had a serious musical hobby when I was in my 20s, rather than in my late 40s.

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#55

Post by pradn » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:44 PM UTC

davedx wrote: post #13

> But I'm also cautiously thinking how your earning potential lowers as you age. It's not happened to me yet, my earning potential has only increased as I've gained more experience (41 now), especially since I went freelance. I would say in your 20's is a great time to take risks. Usually doing this will give you great experience you can then apply throughout your life, too. For example: - Work for a startup. Here yo…

I think your 20s are actually a bad time to join a startup. Every dollar you earn in your 20s is worth more than a dollar you earn later in your life, because of compound interest. Financially, you're nearly guaranteed to make more money at a FAANMG, and you don't have to play the lottery or (generally) work crazy hours.

You might learn a lot by jumping into a startup, but your chances of failing are probably higher than if you start one 20 years into your career. The average age of successful startup founders is not in the 20s.

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#56

Post by yjhoney » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:51 PM UTC

cyberpunk wrote: post #44

yjhoney wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look back and my traveling days and I think I'd be better off doing something else during that period. It seems like traveling and adventuring has been glamorized by the media and people around me a bit much and I caught the bug. Looking back, I would have preferred to spend more time at local gardens, participated more in neighborhood events, helped out local community more and got to know my neighbors better. The…

Don't you think that if you'd have done all those things instead you'd probably be saying now that you'd wish you'd gone travelling? ;) Do both!

I know that's how the saying goes, but I don't think I would be saying now that I'd wish I had gone traveling if I had not done it. I'm pretty such I would not be wishing for traveling if I'm at the same state of happiness as I am now, and I could have reached the same level of happiness in life if I did not travel (possibly even earlier).

Traveling objectively made me worse off than if I had not done it.

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#57

Post by kblev » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:55 PM UTC

cyberpunk wrote: post #37

chundicus wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been curious about the freelance route, but unsure what this really looks like in practice or if it's even possible for me to get into it. 1) How did you get started? Is it feasible for more junior engineers to get into it or not so much? 2) How do you find work consistently enough to make a living? What does the work often look like?

Not the OP but if you're interested in my take -- I've been freelance ops/devops in/around europe for around 10 years; I would say it's not so feasable as a junior unless you really can hit the ground running which only comes with experience, at least in ops. Most clients expect me to be productive within about a week of landing if not less, otherwise they would have found a permie. They also expect senior freelance…

How much can you earn as senior devops freelancer in Europe?

Have you considered relocating to the US?

I'm a devops contractor in the UK and looking at options to maximize income.

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#58

Post by hindsightbias » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 6:56 PM UTC

On startup - are you married or have other obligations. It doesn’t get simpler to try the more complicated your life is (unless the partner is all-in supporting you for a few years)

On ideas - have you seen a product space that looks promising but your employer does not have solutions or has passed on it?

Quality of Life and Startup Life are not likely to coexist in real space. It’s jumping into a pit without a parachute. There may clouds or rocks on the way down.

If you want to make more and cruise, consider older/stable tech where the workforce is aging out but new tech applies (Kubernetes exists on mainframes, but those people are 60).

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#59

Post by claudiulodro » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 7:18 PM UTC

docflabby wrote: post #28

Some advice from my experiences. First thing to realize is that you are already very successful in monetary terms. You're in a top percentile of earnings and have options open to you many people would dream of. You've got lucky! Once you have accepted that, you need to work out what is driving you on because it is likely ego rather interest or passion or desire. It's about how you can demonstrate you are a success to…

> Once you have accepted that, you need to work out what is driving you on because it is likely ego rather interest or passion or desire.

Well phrased. I agree 100%. I've spend considerable time in the past trying to get into FAANG companies before realizing I was chasing status and money more than I was chasing something I actually wanted to do.

A mental "metaphor" I use to avoid falling into that trap again is thinking about how most people don't really want to be rock stars. They just want to be famous and rich. Most people would hate practicing instruments for hours a day, touring in a bus all summer performing shows every night, dealing with record labels, etc.

Re: Ask HN: What is the smartest career path to take?

#60

Post by eming1 » Mon, Jun 08, 2020, 7:20 PM UTC

I too am mid-twenties and software engineer. I've actually been thinking about much of the same thing.

Personally, I'm currently focused on developing my self-awareness by attending therapy, journaling on childhood issues and current emotional reactions, and meditating. I found even as an "adult" in a "real job" I have trouble asking for help, writing clear documentation, feeling confident to take on larger roles and digging into self-awareness has helped that a lot. See @healthygamer_gg on twitch if you're interested.

While doing all this, I realized what lead me to software was being good at the math and science in school, and this is a well payable stable job. Growing up somewhat poor, this seemed great and I loved the praise of doing good job and getting rewarded with bonuses/promotions. I began to see I depended on these to feel good but as I realize this, I want to get more out of life. And so, I find myself in a similar position to you, not really knowing what to do.

So, I suggest this: reflect on what you value, try to create and put something out there (maybe make a 5 min film on a recent local policy and how it affects your local community), develop skills and have fun, ask yourself who are and and why are you this way; who do you want to be? HBR's "Working Identity" posits that you can't know only by introspection, you have to also just try things out.

I'll finish off with this: "Know thyself" -Seneca. Perhaps there's no manual because the act of looking is the task required. That said, I find philosophy and psychology to be the closest proxy :P