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?

#171

Post by bonniemuffin » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 4:35 PM UTC

rifung wrote: post #42

cerrelio wrote: post #11

I took two breaks from tech. One was for grad school, which I dropped out of after 3 semesters. Like some others in the thread I found academia to be pretty bad. You're paid shit and treated like a peon. The work was actually interesting, but I knew I could just go back to private industry and make 5-10x as much doing the same type of work. I took a break from "everything" at one point and became a nightlife photogra…

> The work was actually interesting, but I knew I could just go back to private industry and make 5-10x as much doing the same type of work. Don't you have much more freedom in academia on what you want to pursue though since it doesn't have to make money or am I mistaken? I'm considering going into academia because I'd like to do research more on the theory side for which there don't seem to be (m)any industry posit…

I didn't find that to be true. As a grad student and also as a postdoc, you work on whatever your PI can get grants for, which means you work on whatever the big grant-funding agencies think is fashionable.

Also in academia there's less ability to pivot when a project isn't working out -- if the results will be "novel" (i.e. you can get a paper out of it), you're pretty much stuck continuing in a line of work until you publish it, even if you've already concluded it won't be useful in the real world.

In industry, as soon as I determine that a piece of work won't be useful, I can drop it and work on something more useful. Personally, I much prefer the criteria of "usefulness" as a reason to continue a project, rather than "novelty". Other people may differ on that preference.

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

#172

Post by donretag » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 4:45 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #144

donretag wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the way up to Lake Kivu! As safe as Rwanda is, you need to be wary of the neighboring countries: DRC and Burundi.

Yeah, I'm wary of DRC, but I have to cross it on my way South on the West coast. I'll go fast. My research says Burundi is pretty stable.. I was planning to go there. Do you recommend otherwise?

From what I remember, the southeast corner, bordering Uganda and Rwanda, is/was the most unstable. Burundi had issues because of the election. Not sure where it stands now. I did not go to Burundi since the travel visa was expensive. I was traveling on public buses, so even a three day visa might not be enough.

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

#173

Post by antoniuschan99 » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 4:48 PM UTC

altitudinous wrote: post #143

I started writing some apps and then quit my tech job to do them full time. I took a big risk in quitting my job, I was making $3 a day at that point. I was EXTREMELY burned out with the work though (Java/Oracle dev) so was for my mental sanity. I learned how to make money quickly from the apps, I make 3 sometimes 4 figures a day so support myself. I chose evergreen apps, they are always popular. I delivered my first…

Been trying to at least have 1 app/product that's more or less passive income, but find it hard to get there. Any advice or links?

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

#174

Post by patja » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 4:49 PM UTC

kickscondor wrote: post #19

I guess I should answer this one. I quit computer programming to teach public elementary school during the summer of 2015. I had been planning my exit for five to maybe ten years ago. The pay is nowhere near what one can make as a programmer - but I didn't really need all that money anyway. I teach a technology class - every kid in the school takes it for an hour - some of it involves programming, some of it is letti…

I did something a little similar. After one too many Microsoft reorgs (5 managers in one year, including a VP fired for sexual harassment) I left to do other things including teaching tech to middle school students, mostly Scratch, Lego Mindstorms, and MinecraftEdu. It is very rewarding but also often frustrating.

The one overall guiding principle I have now is that if I am going to spend time on something using my tech skills, it is going to be something that leaves a positive legacy and isn't just in the pursuit of shareholder value or making a buck as its primary goal.

I will never forget the day a student gave me a handmade note saying simply "thank you for teaching me", and the many students who similarly thank me at the end of a class, or who simply show their passion by signing up for every single thing I do at the school over their 3 years in the middle school grades (roughly age 11 to 14). On the flip side there are parents who just sign their kid up for my after school elective programs so they can put it on the high school application (or, even worse, because we priced the activity fee too close to the after school extended daycare fee and they just see it as a little nicer program to park their kid in rather than paying the nanny), and the kid clearly doesn't want to be there or engage in the program.

I have a very high degree of autonomy over how and what I teach. I could tear up all of my curriculum every year if I wanted to, and I do make significant changes every year. I also get zero feedback or suggestions other than "you're doing great!" -- I would say I most miss working with other high performing technology professionals and the virtuous feedback loop that pushed me to achieve more.

The classroom can be a tough work environment, especially when you get just one or two students who really don't want to be there and are more interested in pursuing destructive rather than constructive activities. Both my parents were teachers so I already had a high regard for the profession, but working side by side with professional accredited teachers for a few years now I have even more respect for what they do. I feel pretty competent at the process of effectively teaching the subject, grading, making it fun, and providing feedback and encouragement, but I've become more and more aware there is a whole slew of skills I lack around classroom behavior management and cracking the tough nuts, the students who will just glide through with no engagement unless you really focus on their individual needs and situation.

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

#175

Post by patja » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 4:56 PM UTC

kickscondor wrote: post #163

DeBraid wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on why you "would not want to be a full time public school teacher again."? Thanks!

Here is a prior comment with an explanation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8862793 I am fortunate to work at a public school that gives me autonomy, so the only issue I share is the salary issue. Which I genuinely could care less about - thanks in large part to the autonomy.

Just read that and concur that it rings true for many of the negative aspects of teaching I've experienced as well. Plus I work in a private school environment where there is the complication of parents being to a certain degree customers whose satisfaction matters to the financial success of the school. And then there are the big donors who see themselves as some kind of local nobility.

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

#176

Post by antoniuschan99 » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 4:57 PM UTC

eplanit wrote: post #58

lotyrin wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spent some time in embedded space after high school and really miss it in these days of drawing pretty pictures on whiteboards to attempt to explain exactly why management can't have what they want when they want it, political negotiations with people that hold the keys to the kingdom (e.g. salesforce admins) to try to be allowed to do my job, etc. Do you have any recommendations for someone trying to get into tech…

Yup, you're in that world. Sympathies! It's good you have the background -- that's what you can leverage. Maybe start playing around with a Raspberry Pi for a refresher on the HW and basic software, and go from there. I jumped into it by learning Android from the inside out (via AOSP), and was then fortunate to then be forced to learn it more deeply via client who needed a customized version for their new hardware. T…

My current contract as a web developer is up at the end of the month and I want to go into more freelancing and have embedded projects in the future. I usually use side projects to learn initially. In this case I'm working on a Weather Sensor.

http://kokonautweathersensors.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kokonautweathersensors/

I think it's pretty successful so far, but it's all new territory in finding work in embedded systems and even harder representing myself (Been doing full-time and contracts for the last 6 years. Would like to fully represent myself as a development shop as soon as possible). Any advice?

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

#177

Post by patja » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 5:01 PM UTC

satysin wrote: post #95

HFTGuru wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been developing in C, in the finance industry as a high frequency trader as well as being a father. My son is home schooled and is typing elementary level sentences at 3 years old, he can also strum the guitar playing notes C D E F G A B on request. The down side is I work 10-12 hour days, but I get a performance bonus between 400k and 800k every year. I'm hoping I can retire in my late 30's, but I do miss out o…

Personal opinion... You can always work a few more hours/weeks/months/years when your kid is an adult and living their own life but you won't ever be able to get those childhood years back. Also 50-60 hour work weeks are not healthy for you in the long term unless you are very vigilant with how active you are and take regular (every hour) breaks. Also anecdotally I know several people who planned/hoped to retire in t…

It is also easy to lose sight of the fact that once your kids are in their teens, they really start living their own lives much more so than in the past. You don't see that you are going to say goodbye to your days as the family's benevolent dictator, waking up in the morning and declaring "today we go to the museum" (or on a hike, or to the workshop to build something together, or ...) so make the most of those formative years while you are still the sun their world revolves around!

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

#178

Post by patja » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 5:06 PM UTC

yourapostasy wrote: post #167

exwebtina wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I retired in my early 40s. It was surprisingly boring.

I'm not on the same wavelength as retired people who complain about boredom. If I retired today, I literally have a >5000-line list of ideas, topics and activities I want to pursue, most of them inexpensive or even free to pursue financially for developers, but time-consuming. You could develop software to largely automate the municipal bureaucracy of a village in your nation. It takes a surprising amount of paperwor…

I too have a to-do list that I will never drain. The 24 hours in a day are an immutable tyrant governing all of our choices. Ask anyone who has taken a sabbatical for a month or two...most people spend the year leading up to sabbatical dreaming of all the hobbies, back-burnered side projects, house repairs, travel, etc. they will tackle during their sabbatical. Then reality hits and you only get 1/4 of them done before having to go back to the grind.

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

#179

Post by kennethcwilbur » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 5:23 PM UTC

bonniemuffin wrote: post #171

rifung wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The work was actually interesting, but I knew I could just go back to private industry and make 5-10x as much doing the same type of work. Don't you have much more freedom in academia on what you want to pursue though since it doesn't have to make money or am I mistaken? I'm considering going into academia because I'd like to do research more on the theory side for which there don't seem to be (m)any industry posit…

I didn't find that to be true. As a grad student and also as a postdoc, you work on whatever your PI can get grants for, which means you work on whatever the big grant-funding agencies think is fashionable. Also in academia there's less ability to pivot when a project isn't working out -- if the results will be "novel" (i.e. you can get a paper out of it), you're pretty much stuck continuing in a line of work until y…

Autonomy in academia depends entirely on the field, the funding situation, and the advisor. If you choose wisely, you can build a highly autonomous career. But it is hard for the inexperienced to figure out how to make the right choices.

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

#180

Post by shshhdhs » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

chadcmulligan wrote: post #121

presidente20 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been following the Money Moustache type approach for a while now myself. I highly recommend it, but the closer I get to the goal the more I realise I need something else constructive to do if/when I jack it all in.

I've known a few people who've successfully retired using this approach. For me I don't see the point, who wants to spend their lives just saving every penny, they seem to get great satisfaction out of it though. Personally I've found a better way is to find work you enjoy and people will pay you for, find somewhere you like to live and enjoy the rest of your life without counting pennies on bars of soap.

I'm doing all of the above: living in a place so like, working at a job that is interesting and pays well. My new job has tripled my salary, and so rather than inflating my lifestyle, I've just been saving & investing the new money. I'm happy spending the same old amount based on my old salary, and just taking a couple more vacations a year.