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Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

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Re: Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

#61

Post by SmellTheGlove »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #56
danschumann wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As Elon Musk put it, ~"Managers receive the greatest distillation of all the problems. They have the worst job" They are the ones expected to solve the hardest problems. If someone can't figure it out, it gets pushed up the chain.

Managers generally solve no problems. Not engineering ones anyway. They are responsible only for applying the proper resources to get problems solved.

That's gross oversimplification. In some models, some managers are pure resource managers as you're describing. A lot of us are functional managers, though. I own the outcome.

It's become really common in engineering, particularly in orgs doing agile, to split resource and functional management. I don't care for that. I spent a long time as a product owner and wondered quite often why I couldn't just absorb the resource manager's responsibilities as well, since the only thing I wasn't doing was writing reviews. Every other problem rolled up to me, since I was accountable for the outcome.

Re: Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

#63

Post by technologia »

shubb wrote: post #28
technologia wrote: post #23

I hate to say it, but sometimes corporate IT support in mid-size companies might be the way to go if you are dead set on staying in your lane. Depending on the company, it could be as simple as going through a binder for answers, logging in requests into a ticketing system, rinse & repeat. I am sorry to hear that you are suffering such an illness, it definitely sucks to lose physical abilities and it takes great pers…

There are other roles like that in large organisations. Release management, standards compliance in regulated industries, maybe scrum master jobs.

Sure, I just went with the first thing that came to mind

Re: Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

#64

Post by srednalfden »

angelofthe0dd wrote: post #31

Technical writing/Technical Communication. Throughout my IT career, I've always been "the guy who documents everything". It's actually my favorite part of my job because I feel like I'm adding a layer of structure and peer reference to what is otherwise chaos and tribal knowledge.

Does it pay well? Availability of jobs? :)

Re: Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

#65

Post by TallGuyShort »

philbarr wrote: post #12

> little to no concentration and a very low level of comprehension This might sound like a flippant response but it's not: could you move into management? You don't need to know the finer details, but you'd have the experience required to empathise with the developers in your team.

I had a manager like this. Didn't know the finer details of what I worked on, had the experience to empathize, but was primarily a resource manager / ran interference for distractions.

I liked him at the time, but once I had a new manager I was blown away at everything I was missing from a more fully-qualified manager.

Now that I recognize that kind of manager - I see a lot of them. OP probably could make it as a manager - and I say that from having seen so many of these managers move up the chain. But I think other commenters are right: managers shouldn't believe they don't need to comprehend details.

Re: Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

#66

Post by kowdermeister »

emodendroket wrote: post #58
kowdermeister wrote: post #46

I would open a bar on beach or become a surf instructor. Or write novels or something. Becoming an artist is also a good idea.

How is someone with "little to no concentration and a very low level of comprehension" supposed to write a novel?

> So my question is, if you have had to leave your IT job, what was/is your new job.

I think I answered. That's what I would do, maybe it sparked a new idea in him, maybe it didn't. Maybe he can do something that can be documented and be turned into a novel by someone else. He's in a stage when he can still perform and plan ahead.

Re: Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

#68

Post by rectang »

emodendroket wrote: post #55
snarfy wrote: post #49

Honestly, depending on your age you should think about applying for permanent disability (ssdi).

That sounds a little more realistic than a jump to management or skilled trades for someone with the difficulties the OP describes.

It's a good idea no matter what other activities the OP decides to pursue. Having base income could open up many options.

There are lots of meaningful and rewarding ways to participate in society, including volunteering for charitable organizations, that do not require the highest levels of skill and competitiveness.

Re: Ask HN: What job did you leave IT for?

#69

Post by TallGuyShort »

bognition wrote: post #11
martamoreno wrote: post #6

Unless you are close to retirement, the new job you should be seeking is "How do I heal myself". Unless of course you want to go through the rest of your life with your condition... If school medicine won't help you, you should start looking for some alternate approaches, there are enough out there.

Wow never thought the top comment on hn would be advocating for non evidence based medicine.

Why is non-school-medicine inherently non-evidence based? Yeah there's a ton of garbage out there, but I think it's been abundantly shown that incentives are screwed up enough that many mainstream healthcare providers will often ignore potential treatments or even conditions for which there is evidence (but for which they don't have a pill to sell you) or leading to it not getting studied enough to be considered evidence-based.

Classic example is fibromyalgia: family member of mine believed they had it and now has a formal diagnosis, but was told by multiple doctors that it wasn't a real thing and probably all in her head. Went to a chiropractor who dabbled in all sorts of stuff who ended up helping her manage it really well with some diet and lifestyle changes. Now I don't know how well those recommendations were backed up by evidence, but I was blown away at how a few months later there was a widely-advertized FDA-approved drug to treat a condition that according to at least 5 or 6 doctors in our town didn't exist (and they all suddenly recognized it and had fliers for it in their offices). It's amazing how suddenly the "evidence" came up the minute it had a marketable drug.

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