Quit development, became a voice actor. A lot like a freelance developer or designer is a hustle, but damn do I love being behind a mic. If you need a voice for your explainer I'm still pretty comfortable with tech lingo terms, although I could not tell you what a tensor is!
Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
21–30 of 221 posts
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#22Quit development, became a voice actor. A lot like a freelance developer or designer is a hustle, but damn do I love being behind a mic. If you need a voice for your explainer I'm still pretty comfortable with tech lingo terms, although I could not tell you what a tensor is!
I would love to do this too. Congratulations, sounds like a lot of fun.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#23Bought a restaurant with family in hopes of staving off then-impending tech burnout - nothing fancy, so it's been a fun and mildly profitable side project. Was just about to hop on the med school path but I got pregnant at the worst time. Thinking I'll take a year to parent and maybe do some contracting while thinking about what to do for the future. Tech definitely pays well but I lost much of my interest in the past few years, so it's a bit of a dilemma. I am partially waiting it out and doing other things in hopes that taking a break will make me feel better about going back.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#24Quit development, became a voice actor. A lot like a freelance developer or designer is a hustle, but damn do I love being behind a mic. If you need a voice for your explainer I'm still pretty comfortable with tech lingo terms, although I could not tell you what a tensor is!
Quit voice acting, became a developer. Your voice is good for commercial and promos and that's where all the well paying work is, so good move on your part!
Voice acting is one of the super rare meritocracies left. You can't sleep your way to the top or bullshit your way to the objective. Networking really helps (especially at the upper echelon of agent representation) but on your way there, you can either do it or you can't.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#25A friend worked in software dev for a city in the area, for a few years. He left that job to become a professional photographer. I think he's been doing that on and off for at least the last 5 years. He's doing that, but also some software work.
He seems happy. He bought a house for his wife and son. At least from the outside, he seems to be doing well.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#26The first time I quit, I was 23. Took everything I had and went to travel across the world. When I ran out of money, I cam back and did some odd jobs, ran a small ebay business, and played poker, while trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Eventually, that stopped being realistic, so I moved to a bigger city and got a job.
After about two years of that, got fed up, and quit again, and went to grad school to get a PhD. After two years of that, I realized I was working 2-3 times as much for about a tenth of the pay I could be getting. I finished my masters, bailed from the PhD, and got a job back in tech.
My plan now is to use this time to make as much and learn as much as possible, and eventually pivot into something else at some point in the future, while always having the ability to fall back into tech if need be.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#27Quit development, became a voice actor. A lot like a freelance developer or designer is a hustle, but damn do I love being behind a mic. If you need a voice for your explainer I'm still pretty comfortable with tech lingo terms, although I could not tell you what a tensor is!
Hey do you have any resources like books or youtube that can help someone work on their voice?
Im not looking to get into voice acting at the moment, but I do love what some actors are capable of doing with their voice. For example James Gandolfini, his voice is completely different as Tony Soprano from his real life voice. Granted, he has voice and dialect coaches, but ANY book or video that can help me even begin to learn how to manipulate, open up, free my voice etc would be helpful, thanks! And, good luck with your new career.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#28I also had been in software for over a decade and was bored with most of the problems I needed to solve. I switched to security about a year and a half ago (largely pen testing) and I'm much happier. When I code, I care about the problems I'm solving. I also get to break things which is a lot of fun. Switching to security might be something to consider for you as well. It's a change, but it doesn't require huge pay cut or lifestyle change.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#29I became a full time father and results have been stellar. My boy is now one year old and turns out to be very clever... And very strong. He could crawl at seven months and started to learn how to walk at 11 months. His first word was 'hunger' (in Dutch, it sounds virtually the same) at two months, maybe it was imaginative but he was happy to eat after we we heard him say it, haha. Now he can also say 'mama' and 'pap…
May I ask, would you consider your pre-fatherhood period as ambitious? If so how do you deal with deferring that ambition to be a full-time father? I sometimes feel like this might be the path I take, but I worry about regretting it later down the line.
Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?
#30Quit development, became a voice actor. A lot like a freelance developer or designer is a hustle, but damn do I love being behind a mic. If you need a voice for your explainer I'm still pretty comfortable with tech lingo terms, although I could not tell you what a tensor is!
Hey do you have any resources like books or youtube that can help someone work on their voice? Im not looking to get into voice acting at the moment, but I do love what some actors are capable of doing with their voice. For example James Gandolfini, his voice is completely different as Tony Soprano from his real life voice. Granted, he has voice and dialect coaches, but ANY book or video that can help me even begin t…
Pick up any reading material.. a magazine, newspaper, anything.. and just read it in a different voice. Create a character in your mind with an accent and just read it as that person. Then start having conversations with other people you don't know, introducing yourself as that character. You'll have to invent life details on the fly, but that's fine as long as its consistent. Do this for about a year.
It's really the acting part that matters in the end. :D