Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#101

Post by delgaudm » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:43 PM UTC

almost_usual wrote: post #32

delgaudm wrote: post #21

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!

I have a very deep voice, it's usually the first thing people notice about me. Strangers will comment on it in public and ask if I do any voice work. I've toyed with the idea of getting into voice acting but I'm not sure where to start? Do you have any advice on getting started part time?

And a shameless plug for my YT channel accessible at boothjunkie.com which is all about home studio setup for voice work

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#102

Post by DoodleBuggy » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:44 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #94

DoodleBuggy wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds fun. How long have you been sailing? Where did you learn how to sail? Is that what you plan on doing forever or is this a temporary excursion?

> How long have you been sailing? Where did you learn how to sail? I took classes at a yacht club in March/April, so a little under a year. > Is that what you plan on doing forever or is this a temporary excursion? Who knows. Maybe forever? Maybe only for a few years? If you want to hear the gods laugh, tell them your plans.

You feel confident sailing the world after sailing for under a year? That's fantastic, I figured it required a lot more experience.

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#103

Post by severine » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:45 PM UTC

reverend_gonzo wrote: post #77

krashidov wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was traveling until you ran out of money? Do you regret it? Also, what do you mean by 'pivot into something else?' Do you intend to take your Grad school knowledge and start a business?

No regrets at all. I only had about 2k + another 3k off credit that I spent. It seemed like a lot then, and it can go a long way when you're 23 and cheap. By pivot, I mean my end goal is to open a beach bar in the Caribbean.

Wow, any particular places already in mind?

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#104

Post by iamdave » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:46 PM UTC

I quit and will be starting my first of a two year pre-law program in two weeks. I'm quitting for a reason I haven't seen represented in the thread: "It's not even what I wanted to do as a career when I finished college" I only ended up in IT when my first job at a law firm as a file clerk nearly ended due to workforce reductions at a mid-sized law firm-an attorney I had helped in a big way solve a rather mundane word processor problem vouched that the company should keep me on and assign me to the help desk.

I found that I was very good at the work, thirteen years later I woke up one day really wanting to actually use my humanities degree (PoliSci and Public Policy) and that my joy of doing computers for other people was gone, and I didn't have the patience to keep up with where tech was going to stay competitive.

That, and the current state of affairs for people in my social group (African-Americans) compelled me to go back and do what I wanted to in college: fight for better laws and fair access to public resources.

nb4 "The legal profession isn't what it used to be, you [probably] wont become some rich attorney" to which I say "Good. Because that's not what I want to be. I don't want to be rich, I want to be good at what I do and give my kids something to be proud of come career day that isn't "he fixes computers at the local call center".

tl;dr - I have a humanities degree and I got tired of not using it for almost fifteen years.

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#105

Post by bryondowd » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:47 PM UTC

callinyouin wrote: post #5

I feel the same way you feel. Growing up I was absolutely fascinated with computers and knew I wanted to be a computer scientist since the age of 12 or 13. Now that I'm in the industry (and not in academia like I initially thought I wanted) the magic is gone and I want to get out, hopefully within the next 5 years or so. It's not that I dislike programming, in fact I still love it, but now that I'm solving other peop…

This pretty much mirrors my feelings. I've only been developing professionally for 3 years now, after more than a decade of hobby projects just for fun and learning. And I can't remember the last time I felt the motivation to work on a pet project on my own time, and I don't get the same enjoyment out of my work. It's pretty important and fulfilling work, but it ultimately just isn't mine, and I miss being self-directed with my hobby. Now I get when people who love cooking say they would never want to become a chef.

As far as getting out, I've put in my hat for an Air Traffic Controller position, and I'm crossing my fingers and waiting on that. I figure if I can make it there, it will pay well enough, use some of my critical thinking and tech skills, but hopefully free up the creative load to allow me to regain my drive for programming as a hobby. Plus, can't beat an early pension.

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#106

Post by khedoros1 » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:52 PM UTC

DoodleBuggy wrote: post #90

khedoros1 wrote: post #25

A 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.

I've never understood how photography is still a viable career. Everyone is a photographer nowadays, and everyone takes good pictures, just look at Instagram! Maybe if they niche, wedding or something?

Phones take "good enough" pictures, but not great pictures. Instagram filters are fun, but kind of crap (this applies to algorithmic image enhancement in general, IMO, at least to the extent that every algorithm has inputs that it'll do badly with). There's a jump in quality from most of the pictures that non-professionals take, to the quality of images produced by people who know what they're doing.

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#107

Post by hu_me » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:53 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #75

james_niro wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please next time take me with you

I have toyed with the idea of running some kind of "competition" where someone can win a couple of weeks on the trip with me. Fly into some airport, I will pick them up, tour them around a country or two and drop them off again. I have no idea if people would actually be into that, or stay away because I'm nuts. Serious question - would you go for that if I offered it?

that could actually be something people could pay you for as well. airbnb on the road with scenic views.

let me know if you ever try that.

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#108

Post by TheSpiceIsLife » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 9:56 PM UTC

hu_me wrote: post #107

grecy wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have toyed with the idea of running some kind of "competition" where someone can win a couple of weeks on the trip with me. Fly into some airport, I will pick them up, tour them around a country or two and drop them off again. I have no idea if people would actually be into that, or stay away because I'm nuts. Serious question - would you go for that if I offered it?

that could actually be something people could pay you for as well. airbnb on the road with scenic views. let me know if you ever try that.

I think they call that a "tour company".

Ripe for disruption. It'd probably look just like a tour company but with less insurance and amateurs at the wheel.

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#109

Post by thinnerlizzy » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 10:00 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #44

I quit my Software Engineering job and am now spending two years driving my Jeep around Africa. I'm working while on the road, writing for magazines, selling photos and filming a YouTube series. I am having the time of my life, and am extremely happy I made the decision I did. IMHO, sitting at a desk is just not worth it. Life is too short. I'm meeting a ton of people who agree, and are living the kind of life people…

How do you sell your photos, if you don't mind?

Re: Ask HN: What did you do after quitting the IT industry and how have things been?

#110

Post by thinnerlizzy » Fri, Jan 06, 2017, 10:08 PM UTC

I don't know yet, but after leaving my last job about 4 months ago, I'm thinking about getting out. My last job was great fun, but led me straight to Nowheresville, as the skills I was using are not in great demand. ~2 years of doing that and my other tech skills are basically obsolete. Nobody is even looking for Angular anymore, and the jobs I see that use a LAMP stack look terribly boring to me. I'm going to take a React class and try to get a roster of clients that will let me work remotely. I've been hesitating to do this, because I really do not enjoy building systems for the web anymore. The only saving grace would be working remotely.