Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#151

Post by poulsbohemian » Mon, Jul 27, 2020, 6:17 PM UTC

amerkhalid wrote: post #148

poulsbohemian wrote: post #33

1. 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…

This is funny, last year, I got my real estate license too. And my reasons were also a bit similar though I don't really want to leave software dev completely. The ideal situation for me would be to work on my own projects, while real estate business pays the bills. For years, I used to write code after work and that started to get very draining. However, I haven't really started real estate business properly, and st…

My contact info is in my profile, feel free to reach out as it might be a longer conversation than we can have here. That said - it's like everyone says about startups: focus. You have to be clear about what you want to do with real estate, as it is a really big space. My partner and I have a pretty clear 10+ year picture of what we want to do in our local market. I don't know DFW apart from a couple business trips there in the past, so you'd know better than myself what opportunities exist there.

One thing I'll note: people often disregard real estate as a "backup career". It takes a very broad skill set - everything from marketing to finance to construction and design skills, along with a whole lot of psychology, to do it right. The reason I point this out is that unless you are in a market that is just completely flush with opportunities, you really need to be committed to it and not just as a sideline if you want to understand what's happening in your market and how to compete successfully. In my own area I see a lot of part-timers who don't really understand market dynamics and they screw over a lot of their clients as a result and/or make poor investment choices.

Just like all the startup advice you've ever received: have a plan and just do it.

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#152

Post by amerkhalid » Mon, Jul 27, 2020, 8:56 PM UTC

poulsbohemian wrote: post #151

amerkhalid wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is funny, last year, I got my real estate license too. And my reasons were also a bit similar though I don't really want to leave software dev completely. The ideal situation for me would be to work on my own projects, while real estate business pays the bills. For years, I used to write code after work and that started to get very draining. However, I haven't really started real estate business properly, and st…

My contact info is in my profile, feel free to reach out as it might be a longer conversation than we can have here. That said - it's like everyone says about startups: focus. You have to be clear about what you want to do with real estate, as it is a really big space. My partner and I have a pretty clear 10+ year picture of what we want to do in our local market. I don't know DFW apart from a couple business trips t…

Thank you, that is a good advice. I will follow up with you later when I am ready to focus, if you don't mind.

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#153

Post by pakwa » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 12:25 AM UTC

ciclista wrote: post #16

I was a full stack web dev and Linux sysadmin for about a decade. Switched to welding and machining - I wanted to make something tangible for a change. The work itself was awesome (legos for grownups) but the industry is fairly toxic IME. Right now I'm working on getting back into IT (Network security).

I’ve been learning about network security as well. Such an interesting field. Why have you decided on this particular area to study/go into?

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#154

Post by reactor » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 12:25 AM UTC

dvxvd wrote: post #132

mrfusion wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What have you learned this week?

1. Found few very interesting thougts from this very long article: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1zao_AyBhNb8TPWrQqgXn... 2. Learned tested and implemented for fun few visuals from this link: https://datavizcatalogue.com/index.html 3. Learned and tested two diferent frameworks for the web scraping.. nice, interesting what will be our role at the time when one machine prepare information and another machine w…

Thats great, how do you organize them? if you intent to recollect them.

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#155

Post by ck425 » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 7:54 AM UTC

indigochill wrote: post #25

andi999 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its Financial Independence Retire Early. FU money is 10x FIRE.

>FU money is 10x FIRE How do you figure? I always had in my mind that FU money was the amount you needed to quit immediately and be fine forever, which also sounds pretty much like FIRE. Granted, my mental model of FU money is not cash in the bank but passive cashflow which is probably coming from investments FIRE-style, which is maybe where the difference is.

Not sure about the context of the sibling posts (FU money might mean something different in SV) but within the FIRE community (UK atleast) FU money tends to refer to less money than full FIRE. FIRE means you never have to work again (normally 25x annual spending), FU money means you can quit in extreme circumstances and have enough money to tide over any job search (min of 6-12 months spending).

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#156

Post by ck425 » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 8:03 AM UTC

itsmejeff wrote: post #110

When I got bored with software engineering, I decided to invest in developing leadership skills and to try to build teams. Many people (myself included) are motivated by the impact their career can have. The impact of a great leader is exponentially larger than that of a direct contributor (based on the number people they can typically influence, and the amount of resources at their disposal to pursue “bigger” ideas)…

How did you make the transition in the first place? My issue is that despite enjoying and having good leadership skills (based on external feedback so I'm reasonable sure that's not just my ego ) I'm not the strongest technically and getting into those roles seems to require becoming an extremely technically competent senior/principle engineer first.

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#157

Post by k0t0n0 » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 4:39 PM UTC

deanmoriarty wrote: post #89

I would like to leave because the stress of keeping up to date with frameworks and the competition is just brutal. Everything is just so complex to implement these days. I 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.

You are mostly looking into sys admin or cloude guru role.

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#158

Post by dvxvd » Tue, Jul 28, 2020, 11:54 PM UTC

reactor wrote: post #154

dvxvd wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Found few very interesting thougts from this very long article: https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/1zao_AyBhNb8TPWrQqgXn... 2. Learned tested and implemented for fun few visuals from this link: https://datavizcatalogue.com/index.html 3. Learned and tested two diferent frameworks for the web scraping.. nice, interesting what will be our role at the time when one machine prepare information and another machine w…

Thats great, how do you organize them? if you intent to recollect them.

Superb question... It more than decade im searching for a good note taking software or methodology. Tryed hundreds of them.. but no luck.. everything, all possible project and task managers, including personal wiki, web sites, messangers, even established dedicated startup.. but none of solutions was really working. Considering to hire assistant.. human.. ;)

Seriously.. few things becoming clear. Good brain extension or assistant MUST:

1. Record your minds silently.. without noticing him.. thats why basic tools like notepad, markup editors and etc.. usefull.. however best thing i would like to see is device which always listening me and keeping notes.. keeping notes.. constantly. Without disturbing me..

2. This smart device must be able to organize information somehow.. i don't want to mix omlete recipe with important new Angular version features. I don't mind how to organize. It can be hidden from my understanding. Like real human brain. as long as i can extract and reconstruct data, im fine.

3. Obvious next step is utilizing data when you need it.. but if it is well organized in 2nd step.. should not be a problem.. or not? Aaa.. forgot. Once required data piece is found it must be read loud..

So far.. NONE of the solutions i tryed are close to this targets.. there are plenty of complicated solutions.. there are plenty of greedy solutions.. there are plenty of usless solutions.. but none of them helped me to organize hudge amount of personal data we have.

Did i told that it must be open source (doesn't mean i dont want to pay for it) and strictly I MUST own data?.. so..telling.

Ok. If someone is expirienced with good human memory extension techiques or software PLEASE please.. it will so great

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#159

Post by spikej » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 1:09 PM UTC

dencodev wrote: post #108

dclusin wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like burnout to me. When I got my current job I was throwing things at the wall trying to find something that could pass as a business. Ultimately I found what I'm working on but ran out of money and it wouldn't generate very much or anytime soon. I got incredibly fortunate and found a job at a big company right before COVID. When I started working I was pretty burnt out myself and found it hard to code on eit…

I have taken a year off in the past and got my current job after that year off. I think I just need to transition to something else. Software is clearly not working for me. I think I need to try something pretty different for a few years and maybe I can come back to software doing something a lot different at that point

Or try a different role in the field... Instead of developing, try your hand at a BA role or BI role or a PM role

Re: Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?

#160

Post by calvinv » Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 5:12 PM UTC

grumple wrote: post #105

bouk wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you consider tech brutal?

Do we work in the same field? It’s mentally exhausting. You get into it thinking you’re gonna build cool shit, instead you jump through hoops for business school grads as they come up with shitty ideas and try to apply their shitty high pressure motivation tactics on you.

There’s a lot to how you deal with this, I think developers are eager and they either burn out chasing missing requirements or settle into a slower more considered work flow. If you’re at a company where they shout at you for not delivering something they didn’t ask for or asked for yesterday then you’re at the wrong place