Ask HN: Web developer and looking for a career change, what are my options?

After a year at my job it seems like I'm no longer interested in programming - I am no longer excited about new frameworks, etc and I feel like my skillset (Python and Django) is slowly fading into irrelevance (everyone seems to be about machine learning and data science nowadays), and I don't feel interested in learning those fields (ML looks like magic to me and involves lots of math, which I suck at). I also would like more interaction with people instead of spending my days in front of a monitor. Note that I am only 20 so I don't have that much experience either, and finding a good developer's job seems hard given the competition for all the good startups.

Anyone else feels that way? How did you solve this issue in the end, and if you did switch careers, what job are you doing now?

I can't provide much help with advice for a career change, but I have some thoughts on your current situation...

> I feel like my skillset (Python and Django) is slowly fading into irrelevance (everyone seems to be about machine learning and data science nowadays)

Machine learning and data science are certainly trendy, but there are still 100s of developers for everyone in those areas, and will be for a long time. These skills are highly sought after and you'll likely naturally shift to new technologies to solve problems as you need to.

> I also would like more interaction with people instead of spending my days in front of a monitor.

I think the best engineers get a lot of interaction with people. Building something isn't worth much if it's not the solution to the right business problem. I'm an engineer but I'm heavily involved in the product thinking process, talking to "stakeholders", brainstorming ideas, liaising with external companies, etc. I'd estimate my time is roughly 70% at a computer and 30% talking to other people in various ways.

There are many opportunities to do this sort of stuff if you're interested, and you may even want to go into Product Management if you want to remain close to technology but spend more time getting human interaction.

> Note that I am only 20 so I don't have that much experience either, and finding a good developer's job seems hard given the competition for all the good startups.

I'm assuming you're right at the beginning of your career, or only 1-2 years into it. I would encourage you to find a different place to work, try more companies of different types, teams that work in different ways, etc.

If you're 20 and have been working for a year, does that mean you didn't go to college? You could do that. It's a great place to explore and figure out what you're interested in.

How's the pay there? My biggest concern about leaving IT is that the salaries we get as developers are pretty generous compared to other fields.

Python is very relevant, keras, tensorflow, and pytorch are deep learning frameworks that rely on python development. Also, many data scientist rely on robust python frameworks. Maybe look into jobs that require python development that support these roles. As you feel that data science is not for you, I can imagine data scientist fear about software infrastructure and need people like you!