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Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

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Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#31

Post by Throwaway123212 »

brookside wrote: post #23
xxSparkleSxx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It pays better and is perhaps more fun than manual labour and cleaning jobs. No offense, but these are not really great comparisons for someone with the aptitude of a programmer. I don't really understand the point you are trying to make with that statement. OP could go to an accelerated nursing program for a year, not sit behind a desk, help people, be mentally stimulated, and make six figures (at least in the bay…

I believe there are pre-reqs for nursing school (including biology and chemistry) before one could enter an accelerated program. I realize most people on this board already have those.

I don't have a bachelors, which I expect is a requirement, but this is the kind of suggestion I was looking for.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#32

Post by trjordan »

I'm a marketer in tech. My latest gig is VP Marketing at Turbine Labs (turbinelabs.io, check us out!). I prefer to work on products that would have been interesting as a programmer.

My qualifications at this point are just my resume, but at the point I made the transition, I had to no reason to believe I would be successful. There were 3 key ingredients that helped me out:

- I switched from dev to sales at a company that had a strong sales organization, but where my product was a total unknown. I could be a subject matter expert on day 1, which mitigated my total lack of knowledge about how to do sales.

- The product I worked on sold to developers. It wasn't hard to talk to people who were my former colleagues.

- I had a mentor within the company who pushed me hard to try to new things. He constantly told me things like "What's good for you is good for the company" when we talked about different roles.

For me, the biggest signal that it was time to switch is that felt there was something more "important" than writing code that I was always relying on to be successful. This was personal: I felt that I couldn't write code well unless I thoroughly understand why the problem existed and the backgrounds and interactions of the user. It turns out I really wanted to work on figuring that stuff our, which is somewhere at the intersection of Product Management and Product Marketing. Marketing just fits the rest of my personality better.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#33

Post by Throwaway123212 »

wildmusings wrote: post #21

I quit my software job a year ago now. I loved the company, I had smart colleagues, and the pay and perks were great, but the line of work just wasn't doing it for me. I suspected as much when I started college, but decided to go with software anyway because I had enjoyed coding as hobby since I was 10, and the market for tech jobs was strong. Now I'm starting law school next month. I've had a lifelong interest in th…

I should have put it in the post, I don't have a bachelors degree. I've had one lawyer say I should try to ace the LSATs and apply anyway but that seems like long shot.

I think theres also a path to becoming a patent agent without a degree but I get the impression people who do that are pretty exceptional as well.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#34

Post by sage76 »

dotBen wrote: post #14

Product Management is a great path for software engineers who already have a curiosity for what goes on before and after code is written in their organization. (to be clear, I'm referring to product-management, not project-management) I transitioned from eng to PM in my mid-twenties when I realized I was good but would never be an excellent software engineer. I later did a stint as a Director of Engineering and to th…

I was checking public profiles of product managers on linkedin, and there seems to be a preponderance of ex-consulting + MBA guys in Product management. Very few engineers breaking in without an additional degree, generally an MBA.

What do you suggest to engineers looking to switch to a PM role?

Also, is there any difference in upward mobility for PMs vs Engineers who want to become engineering managers, especially at the big 5 tech companies?

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#35

Post by goalieca »

If I won the lottery, I would go back to school and study biomedical devices probably. Back to physics, electronics, medicine, signal processing, and real-time low-level firmware.

I studied engineering and I want to be an engineer again. I loved doing research and with lottery winnings, I wouldn't have to worry as much about the academic rat race.

The software world is taking over domains that used to be electronics. Web is replacing low-level systems. "Agile" is replacing "engineering".

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#36

Post by Throwaway123212 »

swayvil wrote: post #9

I was a successful coder for a few years. VB and java. I watched myself and those around me rot, in body and mind. That is some fucked up morlock shit right there. These days I'm a handyman. Carpentry, plumbing, painting. Stuff like that. I still work on my own software projects. Art stuff.

>I watched myself and those around me rot, in body and mind. That is some fucked up morlock shit right there.

Basically captures how I feel.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#37

Post by aj_g »

devopsproject wrote: post #30
brookside wrote: post #27

This isn't a direct answer to the question, but if you are coding professionally (in the USA at least) it shouldn't be necessary to work for 3 decades. If you think you will burn out, optimize your life for getting off the treadmill early. reference: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-sim...

The biggest "aha" moment for me was realizing that everyone out there busting their asses and burning out to "increase shareholder value" were making me rich.

What do you mean? That "increasing shareholder value" just increases the value of your investments and they're working for you?

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#38

Post by chad_strategic »

redfloatplane wrote: post #11

It depends on how you classify "successful" :) I quit my job in order to hike every trail in Ireland with my girlfriend and make videos about it: https://www.youtube.com/toughsoles . We're not making a profit by any means - so, not successful in that regard. But we are seeing the country that we belong to, and I think we're slowly raising awareness about the incredible places that exist tens of kilometres from people…

I would say that sounds pretty fun! Bravo!

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#39

Post by SaintGhurka »

Throwaway123212 wrote: post #31
brookside wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe there are pre-reqs for nursing school (including biology and chemistry) before one could enter an accelerated program. I realize most people on this board already have those.

I don't have a bachelors, which I expect is a requirement, but this is the kind of suggestion I was looking for.

Nursing does not require a bachelors degree, but does have a few prerequisites that you could polish off in a semester or 2. There are 1-year (LVN or LPN) and 2-year programs (RN) at many community colleges. RN pays better, of course.

I've thought a lot about dropping out of programming to do it, but my mom dissuaded me - she recently ended her 30-year career as an RN.

Re: Ask HN: If you were a coder who successfully changed careers, what do you do now?

#40

Post by iampims »

trjordan wrote: post #32

I'm a marketer in tech. My latest gig is VP Marketing at Turbine Labs (turbinelabs.io, check us out!). I prefer to work on products that would have been interesting as a programmer. My qualifications at this point are just my resume, but at the point I made the transition, I had to no reason to believe I would be successful. There were 3 key ingredients that helped me out: - I switched from dev to sales at a company…

Why did you leave turbine? It sounds like it was a very nice career progression from being totally new to sales.
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