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Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

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Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#91

Post by fm2606 »

selimthegrim wrote: post #59
fm2606 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched into software dev full time at 50 and took a new software job at 52. I'll be 55 y/o this year and I highly doubt I will switch jobs again, I like the org and the work. Prior to that, starting at 45 y/o I was a part time dev and full time firefighter-paramedic (14 years total). Covid scared me to becoming a FT dev.

Did you ever see any way you could use your dev skills to help the other job?

I did actually. I created a custom dashboard with basic stats of type of calls ran, how many calls were run by each station, how many were EMS and how many were fire calls.

Then I started doing some more automation stuff. Nothing super interesting and mostly bespoke stats gathering.

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#92

Post by zero_shift »

popularrecluse wrote: post #16

I never stopped developing. After getting laid off in April 2023 after 13 years as first a full stack then mobile dev, I just started working on things that interested me. I did apply and interview a few times, but I started to realize that pushing 50 and being as cynical as I now am, I'm pretty much unemployable as an IC. So I released my application to the App Store this month, and while savings are dwindling, thin…

What's your app?

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#93

Post by denysvitali »

popularrecluse wrote: post #16

I never stopped developing. After getting laid off in April 2023 after 13 years as first a full stack then mobile dev, I just started working on things that interested me. I did apply and interview a few times, but I started to realize that pushing 50 and being as cynical as I now am, I'm pretty much unemployable as an IC. So I released my application to the App Store this month, and while savings are dwindling, thin…

Link to your app?

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#94

Post by itsoktocry »

mjthrowaway1 wrote: post #23
itsoktocry wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, but I presume at a high physical cost in the long-term? Why? Electricians aren't doing intense labour, and I'm 99% certain that being in a job where you move around a lot (as opposed to sitting at your desk) has long term health benefits , without even getting into carpal tunnel syndrome and other RSIs associated with being at a computer.

I hire electricians regularly. Driving a grounding rod is physically demanding. Moving conduit and hoisting it overhead for long runs is demanding. Carrying tools around, mounting light fixtures…and this is for light commercial work. It’s definitely not easy on the body and why older electricians want to transition in to design and engineering as opposed to field work.

These things are relatively physically demanding if your baseline is sitting at a desk.

But hammering a rod into the ground for 15 minutes, or holding some weight over your head, or carrying weight in your toolbag are not things that break your body down; they build your body up.

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#95

Post by itsoktocry »

dieselgate wrote: post #70
brewtide wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worked for a res. Electrician for 6 years. It is often a pretty decent physical gig: drilling holes, pulling wire for days, climbing up under over every book you can think of. Someone else mentioned ground rods (relatively infrequent but), digging trenches for conduit, pulling the wire into the conduit, making up thousands of wires in boxes again and again. Bending a 200 amp service wire around in a panel is no light…

Always wondered if city folk would pay for a “construction” workout. Moving around lumber and handling a framing nailer and stuff.

[flagged]

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#96

Post by nobodyandproud »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #75
tharkun__ wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the issue with Scrum and agile is that it's become mainstream. Anything that becomes mainstream is likely to get twisted and turned into whatever the "powers that be" want it to be. So, while using XP or Scrum or Kanban for that matter properly in a sane environment is going to be great, if you work in an un-sane (sic) one, then the powers that be have turned whatever system you're using into theirs . This is…

JIRA has always been terrible though :-) I miss buganizer at Google. It didn't try to hoist a process. It was... "here's a ticket. go do it. or not. whatever" low clutter. right to signal to noise ratio. The bug tracker in Google's ill faited github competitor was similar. Really decent. The problem with JIRA is it becomes a little fantasy code writing exercise for people who've stopped coding (managers). You get to…

Which in today’s days of remote work, management may actually like.

You may have hit on a carrot.

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#97

Post by MisterSandman »

georgemcbay wrote: post #29
4887d30omd8 wrote: post #3

I have a couple friends who were big outdoor types who became software engineers and then after making some money for a few years went and found more outdoorsy jobs (think forest service jobs). The point is not that an outdoorsy job is great for you, but that you may want to consider what kind of things make you happy and see if you can find a job doing something like that. These folks loved being outdoors before bec…

> think forest service jobs This is great advice for job satisfaction, but given current events this sort of move is unlikely to result in an increase in job security or ease in finding a new job. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-forest-service-fires-340...

Not sure if you’re aware, but there are countries outside the United States

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#98

Post by rozab »

Gnarl wrote: post #89

Although I love IT and I've been a Java consultant for 20+ years, I'm getting out because the IT business has become absurd . I'm 51 now. Instead I've certified as an Auriculotherapist (that's fancy speak for ear-acupuncture). I chance discovered auriculotherapy about 10 years ago by its potential to reduce stress by modulating the nervous system. And its been my passion since. The ear is way more than some funny car…

When the AI startup culture gets so snake-oily people are jumping ship to practice ear acupuncture, that's when we should be worried

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#99

Post by itsoktocry »

brewtide wrote: post #62
itsoktocry wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, but I presume at a high physical cost in the long-term? Why? Electricians aren't doing intense labour, and I'm 99% certain that being in a job where you move around a lot (as opposed to sitting at your desk) has long term health benefits , without even getting into carpal tunnel syndrome and other RSIs associated with being at a computer.

Worked for a res. Electrician for 6 years. It is often a pretty decent physical gig: drilling holes, pulling wire for days, climbing up under over every book you can think of. Someone else mentioned ground rods (relatively infrequent but), digging trenches for conduit, pulling the wire into the conduit, making up thousands of wires in boxes again and again. Bending a 200 amp service wire around in a panel is no light…

>Our perspectives delude us.

I'm not deluded at all. I spent a few of my younger years in the oil sands, which definitely convinced me that wasn't something I could or wanted to do forever.

But we seem to be calling anything other than "sitting at a desk doing knowledge work" physically demanding. Maybe it's me, but having physical elements of your job and the job being physically demanding are different things. And when you are out of shape, anything is demanding.

Re: Ask HN: Former devs who can't get a job, what did you end up doing for work?

#100

Post by sillywabbit »

Wildlife photography was fun for a while. If you avoid baiting the animals, it sortof becomes a game, figuring out where they live and how to get close without scaring them off. Making any significant money off it seems unlikely though.
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