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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?

#101

Post by shk88 »

rectang wrote: post #29

Here is an inspiring story of a Hacker News contributor who was once in a similar position (though he has since recovered): http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/we-made-it-our... “What product could I, in my mentally addled state, come up with making?” he wondered. That’s when he remembered his longtime love of ice cream.

Inspiring, but it looks like the business failed sometime around 2013 for violating health code / zoning laws. Disappointing, as someone who likes the idea of leaving tech to run an ice cream shop.

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

#102

Post by wcummings »

danschumann wrote: post #52
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.

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.

Elon Musk is a master bullshitter, hes more marketer than anything.

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

#103

Post by BorisMelnik »

I left my original job (not in IT)so that I could pursue my passion in this field. I've seen many people leave IT for more pure careers such as teaching, food service or farming.

the answer lies inside of you, not in HN. what are your passions and interests other than IT? if its say "farming" you may not be able to go start a farm, but maybe you can go work for Home Depot in the garden center for 6 months, and start "farming on the side" (ppl do this) from there.

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

#104

Post by dangle »

I left my job to help people quit their jobs. Seriously. Even though I was writing code and managing teams for big clients (Google, Starbucks, P&G) I found people's individual careers more exciting.

Really sorry to hear about your illness and struggles. That sounds pretty tough. Would you say that IT feels like "your calling?"

I've had friends and clients leave tech for more fulfilling, but lower wage work in cooking, farming, design, music, art, after-school work, and non-profit work.

There are a lot of good ideas on this thread, but it would be easier to speak to your situation if I had some more details.

Email me if you're up for sharing more, I'd be happy to help if I can:

darren@youshouldquityourjob.com

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

#106

Post by erikb »

Arizhel wrote: post #94
erikb wrote: post #43

Well, there is another group of jobs that is not yet outsourced to machines and doesn't use concentration and comprehension as much: detailed, complex manual work that requires years of training. For instance high quality wood work, soldering, fine grained painting.

Soldering? Soldering for electronics is almost all automated now, and with most electronics being surface-mount it's mostly done by stenciled solder paste and reflow. The exception is for the few remaining items that can't be done that way, such as when wires need to be soldered to PCBs (though here for high-volume stuff they usually use connectors because the wires can be assembled with connectors elsewhere, and the…

That is mass production you are talking about. But there are a lot of people who build their own special purpose devices, and all the alpha/beta testing happens with manually soldered hardware, since prepping a machine for just 10 boards is way too expensive. For that reason even in production many of these devices are at least partly manually assembled to save money. We are talking 1000+ devices to make machine production profitable. Many devices don't have that many customers, at least until the next set of hardware is there.

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

#107

Post by Arizhel »

erikb wrote: post #106
Arizhel wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soldering? Soldering for electronics is almost all automated now, and with most electronics being surface-mount it's mostly done by stenciled solder paste and reflow. The exception is for the few remaining items that can't be done that way, such as when wires need to be soldered to PCBs (though here for high-volume stuff they usually use connectors because the wires can be assembled with connectors elsewhere, and the…

That is mass production you are talking about. But there are a lot of people who build their own special purpose devices, and all the alpha/beta testing happens with manually soldered hardware, since prepping a machine for just 10 boards is way too expensive. For that reason even in production many of these devices are at least partly manually assembled to save money. We are talking 1000+ devices to make machine prod…

>But there are a lot of people who build their own special purpose devices,

Those are called "hobbyists".

>and all the alpha/beta testing happens with manually soldered hardware, since prepping a machine for just 10 boards is way too expensive

This is absolutely wrong. You can't manually place BGAs with any accuracy. I work in an R&D environment; our electronics are custom-built in-house at very low volumes, and they do use machines even for a one-off. Some parts can be fixed manually if they didn't get reflowed right, but BGAs cannot.

Even if you're doing boards with nothing smaller than SOICs, even there it's simpler and easier to just get a Kapton stencil and use solder paste, though you can of course pick-and-place with tweezers.

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

#108

Post by grecy »

drdoooom wrote: post #51
grecy wrote: post #48

Travel Writer / Photographer. Currently driving around Africa for 2 years. Leaving my desk was the best decision I have ever made.

how do support yourself? money from previous job or do you have some passive income?

Bit of both, but primarily savings from previous jobs.

details on how I did that here: http://theroadchoseme.com/work-less-to-live-your-dreams

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

#109

Post by erikb »

Arizhel wrote: post #107
erikb wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is mass production you are talking about. But there are a lot of people who build their own special purpose devices, and all the alpha/beta testing happens with manually soldered hardware, since prepping a machine for just 10 boards is way too expensive. For that reason even in production many of these devices are at least partly manually assembled to save money. We are talking 1000+ devices to make machine prod…

>But there are a lot of people who build their own special purpose devices, Those are called "hobbyists". >and all the alpha/beta testing happens with manually soldered hardware, since prepping a machine for just 10 boards is way too expensive This is absolutely wrong. You can't manually place BGAs with any accuracy. I work in an R&D environment; our electronics are custom-built in-house at very low volumes, and they…

I know a few single digit million dollar companies who do that. I wouldn't call it a hobby if you have 50 employees.

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

#110

Post by martamoreno »

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.

So school medicine is evidence based, huh? Anyway, I even said "if it does not help you"... Obviously that means that instead of accepting your illness you should try other methods. If you think that school medicine has the interest of helping you, or that if they can't help you, you are out of options... Well then you are wrong on both counts.

Maybe read up a bit about Rockefeller medicine. He also founded the American Cancer Association. I am sure he didn't do it for money.

School medicine is a trillion dollar business. You are a fool to believe that their best interest is your health. That of course does not mean that it won't help you, but it also doesn't mean that it's in your best interest (neither health wise nor cash wise) and that it has answers to all illnesses (in fact, only if it brings money, and not curing chronical illnesses brings in a lot of money).

That again does not mean that school medicine is all cash and business. There are people who take it seriously and want to help people (most doctors I naively assume). But here are equally many who don't (pharma lobby) and those are much more powerful. It is a constant battle between good & evil to your disadvantage. The least you can do is have a critical eye on what they have in store for your illness. If you blindly accept any treatment and diagnose they give you, then I am sorry for you.

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