I fell into an obscure technology stack out of college (AS/400...in 2005). It was comfortable, but technologically unsatisfying and completely useless for my resume. I kept my skills sharp after hours, and then took a pay cut to jump ship to a "proper" programming job, which lead me to a great high paying remote gig after a scant 18 months there. It was for a lot of reasons, and it was scary (had my first kid shortly before the jump), but it was completely worth it and not that hard. Just, be good at it.
Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
21–30 of 180 posts
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#22I reached the end of my career progression in IT Architecture. Started as a Solutions Architect, then reached Enterprise Architect. And there's no where to go after that.
So I took the leap and tried something different - became a Product Architect focusing on a specific technology. Now I'm a Mobile Product Manager, something that pays (probably) less than an Enterprise Architect, but tests out new skills like investment proposals.
My ultimate end goal is CTO. I think having an end goal in mind helps me focus on what do I need to do in this job or the next that gets me closer to that goal.
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#23I believe this is a time when a lot of software engineers are asking the hard questions about their careers. Here's why: The technologies have become simpler and the barriers to entry have become low. Once upon a time, if you knew the mainstream languages (C++ and Java) it meant you paid your dues learning the hard stuff. Today, with nodejs becoming mainstream, and the cloud at the backend, developers who come from a…
It's OK, I agree with you. But, is there any way to join Swedish mafia? I want to improve my CV.
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#24i am somewhat bemused that this got 38 upvotes in 16 minutes. i have no idea how hacker news' new page works.
It means there's lots of eyes on the article and the folks agree. No surprise there.
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#25Not sure how applicable this is, but I’ve gone back to school to get an M.Eng now that I know I don’t want to do (or only have the skills for) applications development forever. The focus is ML/AI but I’ve found a surprising amount of enjoyment out of working with hardware in the rapid prototyping class I’m currently taking. In retrospect, sticking with just one domain was probably why I got bored in the first place.
I haven’t necessarily switched careers, but it’s still not easy. If I could go back and give myself one piece of advice, it would be to knuckle down and learn differential equations and linear algebra. That’s the difference between understanding how machine learning works and tinkering around with TensorFlow.
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#26[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#27I believe this is a time when a lot of software engineers are asking the hard questions about their careers. Here's why: The technologies have become simpler and the barriers to entry have become low. Once upon a time, if you knew the mainstream languages (C++ and Java) it meant you paid your dues learning the hard stuff. Today, with nodejs becoming mainstream, and the cloud at the backend, developers who come from a…
If you know C++ well, definitely recommend taking a look at embedded software/firmware development.
If you look at an embedded project using a micro controller the embedded environment is still space constrained by available onboard flash and RAM.
If you want to move up the stack and look at a raspberry pi/beaglebone type project, the development environment is very much 'DOS/Unix' command line application based with minimal requirements for browser stack development.
An example might be the drive control for a self driving car or battery management for an EV car.
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#28I got a super comfortable job for the past 15years as a work from home C++ server programmer. It has allowed me to be around and watch my kid grow rather than be away 8-6PM and just come home to dinner and put them to bed.
It was very good pay at the beginning but it hasn't keep up and now it's not that good (to bad either).
A few years ago I started playing with electronics (Arduinos, Raspberry PIs and stuff like that). After a while I started looking and picked up a few easy jobs related to that in Upwork as a way to do something different as doing the same thing for 15years can take it's toll.
Shortly after I was picking more and more advanced jobs. I picked a few big clients and moved them off Upwork. I'm now doing advanced embedded system programming and electronic design as a side gig on weekends and afternoons and making more money than my main programming job (which I can't seem to be able to leave).
And that's the story of how I found an alternative to my comfortable job. If I ever leave it I will never go to an office again, I will just expand my embedded freelancing.
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#29i am somewhat bemused that this got 38 upvotes in 16 minutes. i have no idea how hacker news' new page works.
It means there's lots of eyes on the article and the folks agree. No surprise there.
The 72 votes in 38 minutes as of now means that the few who upvoted it from the /new page are being validated by the general community after it got on the front page.
Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?
#30I was at one of the FANG companies for 6+ years, joined right after graduation. However, I couldn't get senior due to me being naive (I have no ego, hence wasn't able to collaborate effectively with teammates, pissed a few off a few times), positioning of the product (none of my team members got promoted to senior while I was in that team). Last year I opted to change my jobs when my promo was denied again. I had hard time finding other teams to switch to (because of mentions of pissing off people) and also was completely bored of my existing team. FWIW, my technical work was never in question, just that no one supported me at promo times etc.
I am now in another good software company (similar to FANG, probably a level lower in terms of core compsci ability). The big change I have done is to accept that not everyone is learning all the time and not to try to do the same (its software engineering not research). I learnt this throughout the interview process by talking to lot of good college friends (who also work in tech in Bay Area) and acquaintainces recommended by friends.
My change isn't complete yet, hoping that this change will lead to better collaboration with team members and work output. Job title might improve too at some point in the future, though I am not too worried about it.