Tax law.
really?
Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
221–230 of 881 posts
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#222Executive security
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#223Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#224build modern versions of classic cars.
It's a passion of mine (and probably something I'd do for fun in the future) to get an old mustang (preferably ~1964) and convert it into a modern car (electric, heated/cooled seats, power windows etc.)
oh and build competition grade racing drones.
and be a tech reviewer.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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, thou…
This somehow raises more questions than answers, for me at least: You work full-time restoring a single property? Do you work for the owner, or is it maintained by a nonprofit/government? I'm guessing you work for a company, or are some kind of subcontractor? This sounds amazing.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#226When I leave my current job I'm going to apply for an adult course on wood working. I love to build things, and wood is the most available and easy to work with material (compared to plastic, rock or metal). And seriously, I bought a saw, a hammer, a screwdriver last year, it got me crazy. Same as having a unix terminal and an Internet connexion.
I'm in the same boat, currently frustrated by the high cost of entry for a lot of projects. There's always "just one" tool that's missing. (Plus, I have the habit of starting projects with a lot of confidence, then they turn out ruined. This hurts worse when I just spent a bunch of money on supplies.) In any case, your blog looks like it's going to be a lot of help, thanks for sharing it.
(I assume you meant to reply to me.) Thanks, glad you like it. Feel free to throw me an email, I love chatting about woodworking.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#227I'm not a developer (I'm a physicist), but someday I'd like to go into medical research. I like the idea of coming up with things that directly help suffering people. I hope that the problem solving skills I've acquired would prove useful. Of course, I'd need to go back to school for a few years to get up to speed first. Unfortunately, I have too much to do still in the applied physics world. It takes too damn long t…
Have you looked into Medical Physics (mostly concerned with radiation therapy and imaging). Best of both worlds in my opinion! If you tire of research you can likely pursue a clinical career and clinical physicists get paid pretty well ($120k-$200k in Canada at least, not sure about US).
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#228Something outside. Maybe work in a state park, doing tours and educating children about the outdoors.
I have fond memories of going on field trips to state parks in elementary school.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#229I did stop being a developer for a year and a half in order to work for a video game publisher as a producer. I really enjoyed it, worked on five games (four of which were released on Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony consoles), got to go on fun business trips to game conferences, and got to meet some important people in the industry, but I got nervous not programming for that long because I thought my skills were atrophying due to lack of use.
Nowadays if I were to do it again, I'd probably go into board game design or publishing. I'm a bit more in tune with the board game industry than the video game industry nowadays. I'm actually actively working on several board game designs and trying to get my first game signed. Hopefully one or two of them will be a hit and I can afford to stop working a 9-5, maybe just do some freelance development part time on the side.
I would consider going back into video game publishing too, though.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#230I would be a modern day philosopher/thinker (like Taleb, Dawkins, Harris). I would start with the classics and read everything, learn ancient Greek, Aramaic, as well as Italian, French and German (maybe Russian also, who knows) I would study the first proof in mathematics all the way up through modern probability theory. I would throw away my cell phone and do all of this work from a nice modern loft in the Trastever…
I can see how this would be a heavenly existence, but it seems like a stretch to call it a "career," in the sense I think the original poster meant. Sure, there are some people who have managed to become famous authors doing those things, but this basically seems like saying "I would switch careers to being a celebrity."
Yeah, that's the joke.