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Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

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Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#61

Post by JangoSteve »

I went in the opposite direction. I was an engineer, with a promising career path, but became very disillusioned in the corporate [automotive] atmosphere, and quit to work on my own projects as a developer. It was very daunting to up and walk out on my experience and 2 degrees, but I think it was one of the coolest things I've ever done with my life.

Now I have my own office with a huge window, my guitar and skateboard hanging on the wall (they both get a lot of use throughout the day), and I make more money on average (to my own surprise) than I did as a full-time engineer.

I wouldn't trade it for the world, and if I hadn't tried, I'd probably still be sitting at my same miserable little desk in that same miserable little cubicle, with the same slightly wacky boss.

DISCLAIMER: I had started down the entrepreneurial path a few years before I quit and had spent every waking moment on my own companies on the side. I wasn't making enough to quit when I did quit, but I had lined up a few months' worth of contracting work, and figured that would be long enough for me to get on my feet.

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#62

Post by MetalEvangelist »

I sympathize with you. I'm in a similar situation. I've been maintaining CRUD PowerBuilder apps for almost a decade now and I can't stand it anymore. (I'm using "CRUD" as both an acronym and a word.) My current job is soul-killing and makes me want to gouge my eyes out. I'd like to stay in programming, but do something cutting-edge--the complete opposite of the unchallenging legacy programming I'm doing now. I'm in a more difficult situation in that I have a family and lots of expenses, and I imagine switching from being a senior legacy programmer to being a junior programmer in something more cutting-edge would involve a decrease in pay.

If you can afford to be unemployed for a year, that's fantastic! Maybe use that time to learn something cool or work on a fun programming project, to rejuvenate your passion for software development.

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#63

Post by kevinskii »

Could you please clarify what exactly is making you unhappy in your current career? True, software engineering ain't for everyone, but you say that you like coding and you're getting paid well. I'm not sure why you "really can't take it anymore."

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#64

Post by vinutheraj »

mrj wrote: post #8

I did: http://www.publicstatic.net/2009/01/sure-change-jobs/ The biggest adjustment for me was money. I'd gotten so used to buying whatever I wanted (not large things) that I had some money trouble early on. But I'm back to programming now. I love it.

It's a great story, inspiring even, why don't you do an HN post ?

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#65

Post by mikeklaas »

dRother wrote: post #59
anonymousDan wrote: post #55

Go back and do a PhD? +'s - When you finish, you should be pretty marketable Pick up a whole new set of research skills Support group shouldn't be a problem in a university environment Potential for coding if you want to. Someone with industry experience will tend to have a good idea of what will work in reality -'s You will take a hit money wise until you qualify You could perhaps look at doing a masters as an inter…

Are there attractive, single members of the opposite sex involved with this? If so, just let me know which colleges I should apply to.

Only if you're female.

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#67

Post by aaco »

"... but anyone ever leave the software world to do something unrelated?"

Yes, however I don't know how large the number of people who leave programming related jobs is. It would be interesting to know some numbers about this topic.

Anyway, I don't think these numbers really matter for your decision. What matters is how you feel about that. I think the best thing you can do is talking to people who were in a similar situation before deciding what you're going to do next.

Some time ago I posted a quite interesting story here on HN of a game programmer at Electronic Arts who left his job to be a coffee farmer:

http://www.konaearth.com/Life/2006/060430/

Worth taking a look.

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#68

Post by smitjel »

petercooper wrote: post #15

I don't hate software, but my job has made me realize that I'm really just a mediocre programmer with really good domain knowledge You seem like a prime candidate for promotion to management or a more analytical role. Is this a possibility or something you can work toward?

Peter Cooper rocks!

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#69

Post by deco »

I've left the software (well, web) world multiple times under different circumstances. I don't regret any of my hiatuses. Taking detours off your career path gives you a unique experience, a new perspective, and broadens your skill set beyond what you're usually able to pick up in a single industry. The cross-discipline experience (in my case, music vs technology) I've gained is priceless to me on both a personal and professional level and I'm very happy with the decisions I made. Go ahead and veer off the beaten path while you're young, it's only going to get harder the longer you wait. The financial ramifications of my decisions have not set me back very much, if at all, and what I may have lost in money I've more than made up for in lived experiences.

Re: Ask HN: anyone ever drop everything and leave software dev behind?

#70

Post by evo_9 »

The thing I always keep in mind on stuff like this if often times when you take something you love to do and turn it into a career (versus a fun hobby), it seems to takes something away from it.

I think you'd find that to be the case in film-making. I actually studied film-making in college and decided not to pursue it because I had a bad feeling I wasn't going to be the next david lynch, and therefore the reality was I'd be shooting wedding videos for the rest of my life.

I decided it's better to have a career doing something interesting that pays well and pursue my hobbies like making music, or film-making for fun; if they grow beyond fun, great, then I could maybe take steps to make a career of it (aka, perhaps I AM the next david lynch after all...).

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