This is where I am now, more or less.
Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
81–90 of 164 posts
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#821. Opened a ski mountaineering shop ( https://skimo.co/ ). I backcountry ski most mornings in winter/spring before we open at a casual 11am; work on the site in the summer. 2a. Sick of pointless discussions about languages/frameworks/architectures, none of it matters to low-traffic/low-tech business. 2b. Sick of meetings/arguments to decide what to build. Making business and tech decisions simultaneously is amazingly…
How’s your business going to survive climate change?
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#83Buy a farm, preferably one with enough forest to keep the place warm and build a barn or 2. Start small by growing something or other for your own use while building or renovating the run-down house on the property. Maybe you can help out on a neighbouring farm, say that one where the farmer nearly cut off his hand due to a bit of stupidity with a large angled grinder without a protective cover. Keep at it, get some…
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#842. I died.
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#852. I died.
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#86By this I mean the ones were they have enough money to pay you well and a reasonable product/business with a high chance of success, but they're still small enough for you to have an impact in the organization (we were under a 100 people when I jumped in). Really smart people and a culture that fits my personal beliefs.
The first year was tricky, switching from the slowness of the large company to the constant change and challenges of the startup.
Once you get your bearing and feel that you're pulling your own weight is fantastic, been there for the past 8 years or so.
My point is, there may not be a need to change careers completely, maybe just find the right group of people to work with.
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#87Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#882. Boredom which became kind of existential. I had reached a new career high, and suddenly didn’t have anything to strive for - at the time, I didn’t have the insight to try and ask for more impactful work, and I really leaned out of my job instead. The dream of doing a bike tour kept getting bigger and bigger. I couldn’t get the bike tour out of my head, and decided it was the perfect time in my life to jump on it.
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#89I still love troubleshooting systems and doing hands on work that doesn’t involve writing code with other SWEs, so I’m considering what options I have.
I basically don’t want to be part of a code review or design discussion ever again.
Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?
#901. Selling real estate, raising kids, planning for various future investments and opportunities. 2. I was in software for 20+ years. It was all I had ever wanted to do from the time I was 13. In hindsight, I’d say you have a phase of the moon in which to make your money and get out. It’s a brutal industry and you will likely face burn out at some point and you need to be prepared for that moment. I was in many differ…
Same, graduating in a year and interested in advice.
It's really hard right now to transition to something new while also seeking out a new employer. They see my years of a senior software engineer and probably bin my resume because they probably think my salary expectations are too high or I'm poorly suited to something closer to project management, despite having a lot of PM experience and listing it on my resume. It's just never been a job title.
Transitioning to something different, or more niche, is much much easier when done internally and the people there know you.