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Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

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Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#131

Post by giantg2 »

tubularhells wrote: post #128
giantg2 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My problem is that I believed the company when it told me things. I ended up working on things the company needed which only hurt my career- basically doing the jobs nobody else wanted. They said they don't outsource and that they don't layoff. They do both now. I spent years on FileNet and Neoxam. There's no market for them. I'm about a year into working with AWS stacks, so maybe I can switch when I get more familia…

Ask your wife if she wants a miserable or a happy husband. I moved for my wife and I didn't regret it. She is willing to move for me too, if it ever comes to that. But most IT jobs are remote now anyway. Look for those opportunities. Don't be scare.

I haven't seen very many remote jobs. Are those mostly at the big tech companies? I've spent my career (and other jobs) at non-tech companies.

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#132

Post by simplerman »

A common theme on this site. I myself have conflicted with this. In my mid-30s, I realized that I need to move into management because I was not able to keep up with new paradigms such as functional programming and DevOps. I didn't want to be stuck in endless cycle of learning on my own time, just so that I can change job to get a pay raise.

But last few years been horrible as a manager. Now in my forties, I realized I am not a good manager. Programming is my hobby and I get to do that as a developer. But as a middle manager, I have no real power, but I am responsible for delivery of product. Moving higher up also seems like too much work and politics. I tried to get a job as developer but I got rejected multiple times mostly due to the fact I am rusty as coder. But I still want to go back to programming. So now I am studying LeetCode in my evenings.

My current plan is:

* Study LeetCode and get a job in FANNG\ * Always be preparing for interviews\ * Switch jobs often, I spent too much time at my current company to climb the ladder\ * Specialize in something such as Java or Python\ * Find a way into consulting firm. I could start focusing on this now, but I want to build up some cash reserves with FAANG salary\ * Become independent consultant\

Once independent consultant, I am hoping I won't have a real boss, I can work with clients and if they are abusive, I can fire them. The hard part is specializing in the right thing and then building reputation and network.

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#133

Post by simplerman »

kamaitachi wrote: post #68

I'm in my mid-50's and coding full-time for a living. Twice in my career, I've found myself in senior management roles (CTO in an EMEA organisation, and Software Eng Manager in a medium sized tech company). In both cases, it's fair to say I wasn't having fun in those roles. I stayed in each for 4-5 years. And in both cases, I left the role to return to a pure coding role (I went freelancing, and eventually ended up a…

How do you find freelance developer roles? I see those as extremely underpaid?

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#134

Post by milesvp »

xupybd wrote: post #95
iamcirou wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi endymi0n, thank you. The first one is a very interesting approach, unfortunately I can't work on side projects right now because a baby is coming in next months so the 'spiral learning' approach could be suitable for me

You have a baby in the next months. Don't worry if your career holds water for a little while. That baby will take more than enough of your energy.

Seriously this. Depending on your baby’s sleeping habits and how they line up with yours, you may be in a fog for the next 2+ years. And babies will take up any free time you’re willing to give them. Now is a good time to coast if you can.

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#135

Post by jeffreyrogers »

tubularhells wrote: post #127
Lapsa wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

can't tell if this is an ad from the get go or not

Yeah, it's a webdev posturing on how he reinvented the wheel three times in a decade. Look at the code he linked, and weep.

I like the stuff he made. I find using htmx much more pleasant than react type programming.

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#136

Post by jeffreyrogers »

gonzo41 wrote: post #38
asdev wrote: post #23

I feel like we are seeing a post like this every week. Contrary to sentiment here, writing CRUD apps for FANG is indeed not the dream and a path of fulfillment.

It is a way to a stack of money. Which may not give you fulfillment but it does you options.

I know a few people who worked at FAANG for a few years and then bought nice houses in the city I live in (they left their FAANG jobs). Money might not bring you fulfillment, but having enough to buy a $500k house in a place you want to live can get on the way.

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#137

Post by trm42 »

nojvek wrote: post #86
bookboy345234 wrote: post #75

> I like coding (that's why I started this job, I also consider myself good at coding) I like to learn and explore new things. Choosing managerial track is far more dangerous than being developer in the context of job secruity. Managerial roles vary from company to company and you can not show what you learned as a manager, since its mostly depends on the team members which you do not have much control. Once you leav…

Good managers are rare. In my experience the best managers deeply understand the business and deeply understood what motivates people and what they’re good at. They are expert match makers of problem -> skill and help bring the best out of people. They are servant leaders. Managers have a lot of leverage. An experienced manager who understands their art is worth their weight in gold.

One old developer colleague once said wisely that if you find a good manager follow them through the job switches if possible.

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#138

Post by mikesabbagh »

I am in my 40s, working as senior SRE at a large firm since 2.5 yrs now, and working some nights and weekends on developing my product. Few months ago, I became tech lead and was given managerial tasks. But this came with a lot of anxiety and stress to the point that i started looking for a new company.

I agree that going up the ranks is not as nice ( i did not make it that high yet). Also dont put all your eggs in the same project. make sure u are also doing something u enjoy

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#139

Post by mtberatwork »

> The problem is that, at same time I feel that coding can't be a lifetime career: what will happen in 10 years from now? Maybe company will prefer younger coders to hire and I will not be able to find a job anymore?

What will happen in 10 years? Who knows? Things change a lot in 10 years and your perspective on things will change too. I think you may be overly stressed about ageism (keyword being "overly"). All of these young engineers will hit their 30s/40s/50s/60s too and the age group distribution will reflect that in the years to come. I'm in my 40s and most engineers I socialize with are my age or older. None have any intentions of becoming managers. Keep a level head on HN, the attitude here is very SV focused and doesn't necessarily provide an accurate depiction of the overall industry.

Re: Ask HN: I feel my career is at a dead end. Any advice on what could I do?

#140

Post by ambivalents »

I know you're asking for practical advice and for that I don't have much to offer. But I do notice a lot of assumptions and judgments in your language which may not be true. There is no such thing as a 'dead end' in a career, that's just a thought you have. Same with the idea that you can't code for the rest of your working life. Or that 35 is old.

These are all just thoughts you have which very well may not be true. Why don't you dig into those thoughts, why you have them, and see if you can think about them differently.

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