Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#1

Post by newcareerwanted » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 9:04 AM UTC

Hi HN,

A little background: I have a bachelor in CS and worked a few years as a developer until I got too bored. Then I discovered investing and spent the last ten years as a self-employed micro cap investor.

Now, having failed as an investor, I'm looking for a new career. Unfortunately, I have no idea what to do next and how to figure it out...

My current approach is to look at all kinds of open positions, but it feels ineffective, like looking for the needle in the haystack, without even knowing how the needle looks like. In parallel I'm relearning about software development as a plan B, however, I'm struggling with motivation problems and self-doubts, and somehow I can't imagine myself as a developer anymore.

Any advice? Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#2

Post by CodingPanda42 » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 12:01 PM UTC

Do you want a new career or a new job?

If you want a career then I'd start backwards: Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as? And then works from there what you need to get there. And likely what you have to do is upskilling somehow before you can even apply, you can probably take a lot of learnings from your past 10 years and apply them to your new role but there are likely a few things you have to learn first.

On the developer point specifically: Can you not imagine yourself as a developer because of self-doubts or because you really don't like that path? If you already didn't like it 10 years ago you might not like it now either but if it's just because of doubts whether you can do it then it's a different story. It's certainly also going to be difficult to get back into a developer role but with the current job market it is probably still easier than most other career options IMO

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#3

Post by newcareerwanted » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 3:04 PM UTC

CodingPanda42 wrote: post #2

Do you want a new career or a new job? If you want a career then I'd start backwards: Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as? And then works from there what you need to get there. And likely what you have to do is upskilling somehow before you can even apply, you can probably take a lot of learnings from your past 10 years and apply them to your new role but there are likely a few things you have t…

Thanks for your answer.

> Do you want a new career or a new job?

Both.

> Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as?

Hm, difficult questions I can only partially answer. One part is definitely to become an (part-time) investor again.

> Can you not imagine yourself as a developer because of self-doubts or because you really don't like that path?

It's a mix of both. I have doubts whether I can do it. And I have difficulty to imagine doing it 100%. What I liked in the past was working at the design level, with paper and pen. But at the two developer jobs I had in the past, this was only a small part of the work. Most of it was coding, which for me is more of a necessary evil. Or to say it in another way: I like designing a house, not building it.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#4

Post by codegeek » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 3:47 PM UTC

You could try to get a Customer facing job as a Technical Business Analyst, Project Manager or even Sales Engineer where you don't have to necessarily write code but you can use your knowledge effectively. Customer facing roles are also very critical and if you become good at it, you have leverage and lot of options for yourself.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#5

Post by niros_valtos » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 5:05 PM UTC

Based on this description, it looks like you are an entrepreneur. If you failed with investing and software development is boring, challenge the perception of people to manual or ineffective tasks that excite you and then figure out how to solve it. For example, how annoying it was to get a taxi before Uber?

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#6

Post by kleer001 » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 5:27 PM UTC

What work have you done already that points to a new focus for your time? Look into that.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#7

Post by sonalgoyal » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 5:29 PM UTC

CodingPanda42 wrote: post #2

Do you want a new career or a new job? If you want a career then I'd start backwards: Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as? And then works from there what you need to get there. And likely what you have to do is upskilling somehow before you can even apply, you can probably take a lot of learnings from your past 10 years and apply them to your new role but there are likely a few things you have t…

This is a great reply !

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#8

Post by mattbrewsbytes » Mon, Oct 18, 2021, 5:33 PM UTC

newcareerwanted wrote: post #3

CodingPanda42 wrote: post #2

Do you want a new career or a new job? If you want a career then I'd start backwards: Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as? And then works from there what you need to get there. And likely what you have to do is upskilling somehow before you can even apply, you can probably take a lot of learnings from your past 10 years and apply them to your new role but there are likely a few things you have t…

Thanks for your answer. > Do you want a new career or a new job? Both. > Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as? Hm, difficult questions I can only partially answer. One part is definitely to become an (part-time) investor again. > Can you not imagine yourself as a developer because of self-doubts or because you really don't like that path? It's a mix of both. I have doubts whether I can do it. And…

Sounds like you want to be a Product Manager - defining what a product does and managing the efforts to get it implemented. Titles might also be project manager but product is usually a key word that an organization is less concerned about typical PM's and more about product delivery vs. IT. Business Analyst might also be a path towards a product manager.

Maybe look for something in the investment space since you have knowledge about that.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#9

Post by tmaly » Tue, Oct 19, 2021, 2:16 AM UTC

newcareerwanted wrote: post #3

CodingPanda42 wrote: post #2

Do you want a new career or a new job? If you want a career then I'd start backwards: Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as? And then works from there what you need to get there. And likely what you have to do is upskilling somehow before you can even apply, you can probably take a lot of learnings from your past 10 years and apply them to your new role but there are likely a few things you have t…

Thanks for your answer. > Do you want a new career or a new job? Both. > Where do you want to be? What can you imagine yourself as? Hm, difficult questions I can only partially answer. One part is definitely to become an (part-time) investor again. > Can you not imagine yourself as a developer because of self-doubts or because you really don't like that path? It's a mix of both. I have doubts whether I can do it. And…

Are you good at writing requirements or doing project management work? There are tons of opportunities in Fintech that need those type of skills. Having some tech background is a huge plus.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find a new career in your early forties?

#10

Post by RemingtonLak » Tue, Oct 19, 2021, 6:19 AM UTC

Hit me up. I feel the same and actually did roughly the same. Are you in the bayarea by any chance? email: lakota gmail

What you and I area looking for in essence is a life coach. I'm not one but fatherless all my life, it seems having someone to bounce ideas and finding purpose may help. Not necessarily that i have an answer for either of us but having no one to talk to doesn't help. Wife is not someone whom this topic is either ideal or would go too well.

Again, I'm not selling you anything but to tell you I feel the same. Just looking for a chat bud who is maybe willing to share each other's burden but also maybe the sounding board will shed some light in the end of the tunnel.

In my 40's w a 2yr toddler and wife, I'm about to be jobless after my contract ends. thank god! but not thankful not knowing what to do next....