Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#51

Post by stevenminhhh » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:37 PM UTC

I just moved from a full-stack engineer position to AI researcher of an R&D lab in a software company.

Honestly, not much of a career change, but given the new position, I can be much more exposed to new technologies, get to try out new things, like IoT and Blockchain as well. Hopefully with the new knowledge I acquired, I can start my own business someday. Mostly since somewhere along the road of coding 8-to-5 as a developer, I want to create something for myself instead of building other's dream.

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#52

Post by pul » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:37 PM UTC

jw1224 wrote: post #39

pul wrote: post #7

Not sure if this is what you mean, but I 'switched' from an ML consultancy to entrepreneurship. I now build and market my own projects ([1], [2]) and try to gain enough ad revenue to replace my former salary. Started 1.5 months ago, and enjoying every minute of it! No longer occupying my mind with corporate power dynamics saves a lot of cognitive bandwidth, but to my surprise it has been replaced. I thought I'd feel…

nslookup.io is great — bookmarked it, I’m sure I’ll be using it in future! Side note, curious how the domain name autocomplete works when searching? My domain wasn’t suggested, but all the other services I tried in my sector all came up. What’s the source for that data?

It's a stale list (checked into git) of the top 1m sites according to alexa.com, back when it was still maintained. Will need to update it to https://tranco-list.eu/ some time.

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#53

Post by bunje » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:37 PM UTC

I did software engineering for 3 years after graduation. Now I teach mathematics in a high school since '20. Software engineering was very stressful for me and I also wanted to sync holidays with my kids. Parents seem to value my background. Pay is low but I have a reasonable amount of extra time to tinker.

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#54

Post by mathieubordere » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:38 PM UTC

throwawayHN378 wrote: post #45

Product Management. I hate it, but I was too stupid to get into FAANG as an SDE and my personality type better matches the role. I love coding and have done it my whole life and for 10 years professionally but at the highest level I’m simply not as smart as other people

You don't have to LOVE your job/profession per se, but hating is certainly not healthy for you, it sounds to me you at least have the choice to pursue a different career.

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#55

Post by pul » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

meowface wrote: post #47

pul wrote: post #7

Not sure if this is what you mean, but I 'switched' from an ML consultancy to entrepreneurship. I now build and market my own projects ([1], [2]) and try to gain enough ad revenue to replace my former salary. Started 1.5 months ago, and enjoying every minute of it! No longer occupying my mind with corporate power dynamics saves a lot of cognitive bandwidth, but to my surprise it has been replaced. I thought I'd feel…

The first site is useful, but the second feels parasitic and slimy to me, sorry.

What would make it more useful, less parasitic and less slimy?

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#56

Post by mauvehaus » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

eropple wrote: post #40

mauvehaus wrote: post #32

I build furniture now[0], but I occasionally hack up code for myself[1]. [0] https://longwalkwoodworking.com [1] https://github.com/longwalkwoodworking

I like your work. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#57

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:40 PM UTC

bunje wrote: post #53

I did software engineering for 3 years after graduation. Now I teach mathematics in a high school since '20. Software engineering was very stressful for me and I also wanted to sync holidays with my kids. Parents seem to value my background. Pay is low but I have a reasonable amount of extra time to tinker.

Never undervalue work-life balance. Good move on your part, I'd say

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#58

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:41 PM UTC

zeeed wrote: post #24

swayvil wrote: post #6

Switched to remodeling houses and landscaping. I switched because this is better. Healthier. Saner. Happier. More in line with my long-term goals and general growth.

If you allow the question, what long-term goals and general growth (goals) did you set yourself to come to this choice?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#59

Post by hotpotamus » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:41 PM UTC

joek1301 wrote: post #8

mariusseufzer wrote: post #3

I could imagine woodworking in the future!

One more down the dev-to-woodworking pipeline [1]. [1]: https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/267#issuecomment-695149...

I'm thinking of making custom Kentucky Long Rifles personally. Tons of handcrafting - really woodworking since most makers use manufactured barrels and/or lockwork, and I believe there's a market for them. From a US Federal perspective, they're not even legally firearms so I don't think you'd have to worry much about red tape.

Re: Ask HN: Developers who switched careers, what are you doing now?

#60

Post by cellis » Sun, Mar 20, 2022, 2:43 PM UTC

throwawayHN378 wrote: post #45

Product Management. I hate it, but I was too stupid to get into FAANG as an SDE and my personality type better matches the role. I love coding and have done it my whole life and for 10 years professionally but at the highest level I’m simply not as smart as other people

Au contraire. “faang” ( with the exception of the “n” ) engineers aren’t on average smarter than gen pop devs. They are simply willing to grind leetcode and put up with a lot more behavioral stressors ( large companies are incredibly difficult to prove impact and all the low hanging fruit is done, so the fights are more bitter because the stakes are lower )