Farmer.
Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
151–160 of 881 posts
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#152Creating music and writing. Things I did as a youth but didn't pay the bills like computers!
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#153When the tech world moved away from me (doing mainly embedded C for the last thirty years might not have been the best idea for my career), I became an aged carer for my disabled mum. I learned a lot about cleaning, gardening and adding subtitles to films as she is going deaf. I also learned a lot about editing spoken word audio files for pacing, volume and noise reduction as she wrote a memoir then recorded an audio…
I'm hoping that this will be the 'solution' if AI eats many jobs. With an ageing population there's plenty of caring to be done. Hopefully society will figure out a way to value it more, so that it becomes a proper, first-class career-option/alternative rather than underpaid low-skilled work, or something that people find themselves obliged to do.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#154The one that fits my current lifestyle: carpentry. I love woodworking but am not particularly practiced at it. Opening up a garage full of tools and building real tangible things with my hands that still exist when the lights go off has huge appeal.
The one that doesn't quite fit my lifestyle (married, love it that way, spouse has a stable job with a set location, thinking about kids): travel journalist. My wife and I have both spent a significant portion of time living and working in semi rural areas of underdeveloped countries. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, and would love to get it all down on paper. But that really doesn't fit in with giving kiddos access to education, so maybe in thirty years!
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#155I would get into the hotel business. Build a hotel on a fairly under discovered tourist spot and work my way up this domain.
If you knew what spots were going to be big with tourists in the future you could make money a lot easier than by running a hotel.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#156Homebuilder building unique semi-modern homes not the typical 5 4 and a door. I have remodeled several homes doing everything myself including electrical, plumbing and even structural. I love working with tools and heavy equipment.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#157I'd open a shop and small school dedicated to archaic crafts like blacksmithing and boat building.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#158I already did after 25 years in development. I'm tempted to do a side-project or startup now after a few years away. If I was to return to tech I'd be very focused on creating real benefit and progress (think perhaps environmental, climate change, medical or learning etc), rather than a shiner bauble or "disrupting" something that really shouldn't be (internet connected kettles? Making everything a consumer replaceab…
> restoration What type of restoration? Cars? Houses? Pinball machines? > The surprise was, even after 3 years, discovering there's still more satisfaction in physical tiredness and manual activity at the end of the day than just mental. My motorcycle broke down in Silicon Valley once. The guy I called to come pick it up had a normal ford truck. The bed was outfitted with a dual motorcycle winch. I got to talking to…
Houses. Well houses++ really. Working at an old estate preserving and restoring. There's a little of everything including the old farm equipment etc. I'm a strange mix of restorer, labourer and extremely junior apprentice (seems like every trade these days needs a vocational course and piece of paper before you're "allowed", even when clearly able).
They try and use my project and IT abilities when they can too, though I try and discourage them. :) I'm tempted to focus on blacksmithing as it's so interesting, satisfying and just a little magic to watch the guy work. Much to learn if I follow through on that.
I looked around at many things, including car and motorcycle restoration, steam trains (lots of volunteers, few jobs!), and more current things like environment and alternative energy. Many either needed me to go back to uni, or have assorted bits of paper and experience first rather than able to learn as I go.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#159I'd buy a sailboat and take people on tours in Greece. Except I hate people, which is why I work in tech.
Save the money and deliver sailboats. Large market for trained crew to take yachts from Point A to Point B. :) No people except those you bring. Free yacht.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#160Dentist