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Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

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Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#251

Post by onion2k »

joss82 wrote: post #243
SteveNuts wrote: post #228

Something 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.

I have fond memories of programming a "guess the number" game in basic as a kid. Let's become a professional software developer!

My first VB app was a lottery numbers generator. That immediately got me interested in writing software, and I've been writing code professionally for the past 20 years. A small start is more than enough to spark a life long career.

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#252

Post by RUG3Y »

joss82 wrote: post #243
SteveNuts wrote: post #228

Something 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.

I have fond memories of programming a "guess the number" game in basic as a kid. Let's become a professional software developer!

Come on, giving educational tours to children isn't anywhere near as rigorous as being a software developer. What point are you trying to make?

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#253

Post by creativeembassy »

wyldfire wrote: post #173

I've thought about the concept of a business in private education for (older) kids for software/computer science. And I've never spent any time with music but I think it would be a really enjoyable endeavor.

I learned programming from small private classes when I started the 3rd grade. It drove me to found a hackerspace a few years ago, and I finally got to start teaching other kids how to program and do robotics. I highly recommend it, education is very fulfilling.

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#254

Post by sjg007 »

kageneko wrote: post #168

Since early in college, my 2nd choice has always been psychology -- so much that I went back to school to finish up a BA in Psychology. I would focus on either cognitive or industrial/organizational psychology. With cognitive, I'd focus on motivation. With two children, I'm always wondering what motivates them to do the things they do. In I/O, I'm looking at workplace optimization and comfort -- mostly comfort.

On a related note, there is huge world wide need for BCBAs in developmental and behavioral psychology to help expand ABA and other early intensive intervention programs.

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#255

Post by mtberatwork »

Astronomer, if we are talking about quitting completely. It's what I wanted to be as a kid. If we are talking about quitting for a "little while", then I'd just go travel the US with my mountain bike and hit up any and all trails I can get my hands on ala Craig Bierly [1] and become some kind of cliche bike blogger.

[1] http://runutsadventures.com/bike/

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#256

Post by odammit »

Archaeology. I was really interested in the idea as a kid but my mom pointed out you might not get to bathe that often (and I was/am a neat freak) so I quickly lost interest.

Now I find most of my vacations are centered around traveling to ruins or going to live in small towns with interesting cultures.

Way cooler than software. FML.

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#257

Post by soundwave106 »

Craft beer brewer would probably be the first choice. I already homebrew, and I actually think it's possible to envision a profit-making craft brewery (even as crowded as the marketplace is these days).

I'm also a musician (synthesizers / piano) with enough skills to play in cover bands in the past. But that's a very difficult market to break into, and the types of jobs that actually make good money either aren't usually the type of music I'd really want to play, and / or are a market that I'm too old to enter, and / or are well beyond my current skillset. It's a good hobby to pass the time with though.

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#258

Post by dx034 »

ainiriand wrote: post #144
tazjin wrote: post #88

I'd open a bar/pub with good cask ale and decent electronic music. Actually whenever I get too stressed out at work I consider doing this, I've got the necessary capital and in a city like Oslo where people don't care about beer prices it can surely be made into a profitable thing.

DO IT. NOW. Seriously, I think it is an excellent idea. It could also be a tourist meeting point if properly placed.

Open a bar is something you should really only do if you don't have to take on debt and can pay for the starting costs without ruining yourself.

Very few bars turn out to be profitable, even those with excellent ideas.

Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?

#260

Post by RUG3Y »

anabisengrin wrote: post #115

When 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.

Carpentry is fun and it's surprising how similar a mindset to software development is required. Lots of planning and precision and interesting challenges to be found.
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