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Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#31

Post by tome_anir »

I worked as a software developer for 3 years until RSI struck me. It took me one year of rehab to be in a situation to live normal life.

Life decided for me that I can't be a programmmer anymore. I had an engineering degree in Computer Engineering and it was hard for me to convince myself that I can't type anymore. It just wasn't possible physically. So after much furstration I decided to make a change. I went back to school to study. This time I took up Statistics. Now I'm a PhD student in Biostatistics. Much better in terms of job satisfaction and typing is less. The latter is important for my RSI injury which never went away completely.

PS: in my master's I met all kinds of people from all kinds of background studying statistics. It broke my bubble that I'm the only one who has made a change.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#32

Post by cbanek »

Maybe what you can do is bring your software development skills to a more "jobby job"? You sound like someone who could easily be a one person back office for a small company/local bank/corporate office, helping with tech, custom software, etc. Might be a good way to utilize your skills, but in a different culture.

I'm with you on the extreme pressure cooker that is tech jobs, and tech recruiting. It's almost as if the dial is either 0 or 11.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#33

Post by lightedman »

Got sick of the daily hack, went to an estate sale, found a bunch of rocks and tools that would let me work said rocks, and after a bit of trial, error, and about seven proper youtube videos, here I am.

Made and sold this yesterday - http://i.imgur.com/byR2660.png

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#34

Post by sidlls »

When my family moved to the Bay Area we owned a home. Rather than sell, we engaged a property manager to rent it out. We had a few years of excellent income from that which essentially paid the PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) on our FHA-financed home (including holding a "reserve" for repairs, vacancy, etc.) plus a (very small) profit. It definitely lit a fire in my belly to switch out. I find software development to be incredibly boring and, worse, having a higher quotient of immature and unjustifiably arrogant people than I find myself able to tolerate lately.

I haven't made the switch just yet, because I want a slightly larger bank account before I draw down from it to finance a couple of purchases. I've also basically self-taught for a real estate license. One doesn't need the license to buy and sell real estate for oneself, but the knowledge is very handy and I may get a license anyway just to be able to work with an agency for the experience of it. Doing this sort of thing requires one to build skills that translate to any industry (sales, "people skills", etc.).

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#35

Post by jmcgough »

dundercoder wrote: post #16

Well... I hired a producer, wrote 10 songs, hired a director, filmed 3 music videos and worked harder than I had at any software startup in my life (platform/devops) trying to make it work. Serious long shot, but it's been a ton of fun! Edit: my last video won "Music Video of the Year" at the Oxford International Film Festival. So here's hoping!

Wow, your music is great!

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#36

Post by wapz »

wrigby wrote: post #30
dundercoder wrote: post #16

Well... I hired a producer, wrote 10 songs, hired a director, filmed 3 music videos and worked harder than I had at any software startup in my life (platform/devops) trying to make it work. Serious long shot, but it's been a ton of fun! Edit: my last video won "Music Video of the Year" at the Oxford International Film Festival. So here's hoping!

You're being polite by not linking, and I appreciate that. However, it's truly good and I think other people will want to give it a watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G31_dEOvYuY

How did you get the youtube video from his profile? I looked through and couldn't find a way to correlate the two as we don't know what year he won.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#37

Post by arvinjoar »

iamacynic wrote: post #19
saosebastiao wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd add that sales is quite possibly the most universal of skills. You can move anywhere in the world and get a well paying job if you have sales experience. Well, maybe not North Korea, but you get the drift.

well, north korea still has to sell all that coal it pulls out of the ground using slave labor.

This interests me, who would I contact to sell that slave coal? Do they use external recruiters? Any pointers would be appreciated

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#38

Post by mikekchar »

aianus wrote: post #6

Maybe teach English in Asia or drive an Uber? Or go to trade school to become an electrician or mechanic? Those are the escape routes I daydream about when I'm unhappy at work, anyways :)

Teaching is a difficult job, but I really enjoyed it. If you are from an English speaking country, have a university degree and are under 40 then the JET programme (Japan Teaching Exchange) is a pretty soft landing if you get in. Reputable government job, visa sorted out, travel expenses sorted out, accommodation sorted out and higher than normal wages (which... is not saying much -- it's still pretty low). The problem is that it takes a good year from applying to going and in some countries the competition is fairly stiff. Still, I recommend it. I intended to go for 1 year, but stayed for 5 (maximum length of the contract). I never really intended to get out of the software industry but I would happily have continued teaching English if circumstances hadn't led me back to high tech. I still entertain notions of teaching again...

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#39

Post by ssijak »

wapz wrote: post #36
wrigby wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're being polite by not linking, and I appreciate that. However, it's truly good and I think other people will want to give it a watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G31_dEOvYuY

How did you get the youtube video from his profile? I looked through and couldn't find a way to correlate the two as we don't know what year he won.

..."Music Video of the Year" at the Oxford International Film Festival...

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#40

Post by jmcgough »

mehrzad wrote: post #23
whyenot wrote: post #20

I went back to school and got a doctorate in botany. Now I am a staff scientist at a large state university. Working in tech gave me a lot of financial success, but it wasn't something I was passionate about.

That's wonderful. I'm having trouble finding entry-level science internships as an undergrad because all my past experience has been in tech so I can to what interests me more.

That would be a benefit to your CV for a number of positions. Entry-level undergrad science internships tend to be extremely competitive, I was never able to land one. One of the best things you can do is, assuming you're at a university and not a college, become a research assistant at one of the labs on your campus. There's typically no pay, but you can often get credits, and it can sometimes lead to a publication.
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