Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

511–520 of 881 posts

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

#511

Post by lloyd-christmas »

nsomaru wrote: post #380
lloyd-christmas wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always whittled as a fun side hobby. My desire to do anything bigger is limited by a fear of the table saw. As a lefty, nothing in the shop plays nice with me. I'm too worried about losing a finger which would impact my income stream as well as my other hobby, piano. But, I still spend more time looking at joinery than I do on HN.

Saw Stop might interest you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiYoBbEZwlk

That is pretty impressive. Sadly, I'm limited to shared workspaces given that I'm in an urban area. Good to know about for whenever I decide that I'm sick of the city.

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

#512

Post by satysin »

Therapist/counsellor. I love technology/coding/hacking but what gives me the best feeling is helping someone on a personal level. I have realised (from having been told) I am a good listener and I think I would have done quite well in some kine of mental health role. Not a full on doctor but someone who listens and helps a person during difficult times.

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

#513

Post by ipince »

I have a few options/dreams.

1. Become a musician. I love all kinds of music and drums/percussion in particular. On the side, I'm working my way to being able to play drums+timbales for Cuban timba music. I've only been doing this for about a year and think I have a talent for it.

2. Go into criminology and/or politics. Crime is one of the biggest problems in Venezuela, with murder and kidnappings at all time highs, affecting me personally and frankly every Venezuelan. I'd heavily use technology to help me. If I can play a significant role in eradicating that problem, I'd be very proud of my life.

3. Open up a bar/restaurant. I love hosting people and providing an environment for people to have fun. Live music and a dance floor would be a must, but a nice chill lounge area should be available too. Again, I'd like to use technology, e.g. having automated beer taps that you can open with your RFID wristband or code and get automatically charged, and having something similar for standard mixed drinks (of course, I'd still keep bartenders for specialty cocktails).

I guess there are more, but these will suffice for now :)

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

#514

Post by eel »

Breefield wrote: post #456
eel wrote: post #264

I would love to get into structural engineering. I just can't justify the cost of school, and the end salaries are not even going to be better than a software developer's. Or maybe be an auto mechanic. Or a woodworker/metal worker/welder. Or a farmer (seriously). Part of me wants to embrace the city and "book" knowledge to further my career, and part of me wants to abandon it and go back to a rural life and just make…

Same. I'm a software engineer who's been going down the metal fab/welder pathway for the last 1.5 years. It's highly rewarding, but also the overhead continues to grow and grow. Probably because the scale continues to grow as well. I need to be happy making small physical things instead of huge physical things... http://www.breefield.com/projects/prodigal-swan I've also looked into the timeline involved in becoming a…

I've wondered if I could shortcut the school requirement on the basis of already having an ABET-accredited computer engineering undergrad. My state does not seem to distinguish the type of engineering education required to be a PE. I would think that a computer PE is not quite the same as a civil/structural PE though.

As for welding, certifications and or even training seems to be very expensive. E.g., a single one-semester (4 credits) welding class at the local community college is $847. I'm tempted to buy some welding equipment from Harbor Freight and just try to learn from YouTube videos (which is basically what I did to teach myself car repair).

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

#516

Post by Jeema101 »

LeonM wrote: post #95
a1studmuffin wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I second this. I could diagnose a PC problem, pull it apart, swap hardware out, put it back together again without a second thought. But something goes wrong with my car and I'm all like "car's broken, better call the mechanic". Can anyone recommend a beginner's guide to mechanics? I feel like even some basic knowledge would go a long way.

Buy a cheap car (i.e. a MX5/Miata) and go racing (on a racetrack). Stuff will break and you will have to fix it, since it's not your daily car there is no pressure in having it fixed on time, just take your time and figure out how to fix whats broken. Youtube is a great source for instruction videos. Even if the car does not break, you will still need to wrench on it to upgrade the brakes, engine, transmission, suspe…

Or next time you buy a new car, just keep your old one as a project.

That's what I did when my old car died. I was originally going to sell it for parts on Craigslist, but then I got the crazy idea in my head to buy some tools and attempt the repair myself over the summer. Got it back in working order and I've been wrenching on it ever since.

Like you said, no pressure in having it fixed on time if it's not your daily driver.

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

#517

Post by NumberCruncher »

I would never leave the tech world entirely. I would shift focus from coding and solving bullshit issues generated by business people to dealing more with real people solving real problems. I have ideas how to do that in a fun way but I am not there yet.

I think coding is really fun and creative occupation if you can decide what you code and when you code. I know if I would make my dream come true and would teach teenagers self defense I would end up spending my nights coding the website of my dojo by myself...

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

#518

Post by jderick »

pc86 wrote: post #155
chintanshah24 wrote: post #12

I 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.

How? Buying property I guess could work but might be difficult in some foreign locales.

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

#519

Post by anthk »

from IT? Telecommunications Engineering.

Half of it is shared with CS, so is kinda the same but more fun.

C is still the main language for standards so I could find myself at home, as I am a OpenBSD user and zealot.

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

No GNURadio here, sadly, but is WIP.

Hacking comm devices is funny.

Even something simple as SDR's are interesting too.

Post reply on HN