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

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

#61

Post by smugma »

I was a SWE at a FANG. Left to get an MBA, then went back to FANG to do other things. Finance, Operations, Product.

My role now still has me involved in solving problems, and I will still review technical architecture (eg why are you proposing a GraphDB for this highly structured data, how are you going to address the fact that Cassandra is eventually consistent, etc.), but it’s a lot more people and solutions driven. A lot of email, Excel, and Zoom. Very little writing scripts and running queries, which I do once a quarter or so.

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

#62

Post by rubyfan »

I switched from development at startups to a solution architecture role at a Fortune 500 and then eventually to a business executive role at the same Fortune 500. Hated working in big company IT and the business role gave me a significantly larger role in decisions and influence.

Compensation wasn’t really effected one way or another since trajectory has been steady upward. I think that slows down nowish since I didn’t come up in the traditional business and many more senior roles are filled by traditional executives.

Like many people right now I’m evaluating options for better work-life balance and really actually miss learning new domains. The downside of looking at other options is the role is so unique I don’t fit exactly into most roles at other companies. So it’s been hard to get a foot in the door with other companies outside the industry I’m in.

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

#63

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

I was a manager, for many years. I ran a development shop, but did not write paid code. I was good at it, but hated it. I wanted to code all the time.

During that time, I wrote open-source stuff, on the side (unpaid).

Since leaving that job, I am now writing code, more than ever, and still not getting paid.

Not what you're looking for, I know, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

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

#64

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS »

_eht wrote: post #11

Followed Bill Gates' footsteps and bought a section of farmland. I grew up in FFA, and knew I wanted to raise beeves, etc since I was young. After a divorce, I pulled the trigger. Software funded beeves.

Just don't follow entirely in Bill's footsteps. If someone offers you a ride on their private jet to meet some women...say no.

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

#67

Post by meowface »

pul wrote: post #55
meowface wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I'm really not trying to rag on anyone else's projects and detest it when other HN commenters do, but in this case the only honest answer I can think of would be "scrapping the site, domain, and concept and making something else instead".

A slightly related concept I would find interesting would be a way of visualizing and summarizing ISP/AS information in general (without any expectation the user would be particularly interested in their own; though that could be displayed on the landing page, perhaps). For example, an alternative way of presenting what https://bgp.he.net provides (example: https://bgp.he.net/AS33657#_peers, plus all the other tabs).

Providing an easy, quick, simple way to see "what network providers are upstream of this ISP/AS?" could be a useful feature.

Ideally without just being a proxy for bgp.he.net (unless the UI is totally unique and actually presents things in a fundamentally different way), and ideally without any VPN scarevertisements.

Frankly, this is why I've yet to pursue solo entrepreneurship myself. Unless you get really lucky, it seems there's a constant trade-off between "parasitism/skeeviness" and "not being able to afford rent or food". I've got plenty of ideas, but, so far, all either wouldn't provide enough for me to sustain myself, or would be too shady for me to be comfortable with, despite being legal.

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

#68

Post by whiskeyocelot »

Mid-career I went back to school for a PhD in Computer Science, and now I definitely think of myself as a CS researcher rather than an engineer. I still write code occasionally, but it’s no longer a daily activity. I switched because I wanted to better understand the why’s of what I was doing as an engineer (applied ML by the time I got out if the game). I like it a lot! Grad school salary was a rough come down after engineer money, but I was a saver, and I saw it as an investment in my happiness and future career. And I really love what I do now and feel like I have real impact on the world, so it was very much worth it!

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

#69

Post by swayvil »

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?

I'd rather not go into that. Sorry.

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

#70

Post by fmvab »

craftit wrote: post #5

I am wondering if after changing career, would they still read this site, or is it part of what they wanted to get away from?

As someone who’s changed careers, I value HN for the wide variety of intellectual topics and often insightful commentary. I think in recent years it’s actually moved further away from the ‘$N raised by $X from $Y to build A for B’ headlines that I used to hate. It still takes some digging to find stuff I like, but not long. The classic web1 design helps.

Every community on the internet has its problems. Every community has its own circlejerk customs. And n-gate.com is all that needs to be said about HN’s problems (hope he comes back).

I’d be curious to hear from people here about other communities or news aggregators of the same quality or better

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