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

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161–170 of 344 posts

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

#161
post #2

Moved to renewables. Wanted to try and help with climate change and needed new challenges. Solar is a fantastic industry. Lots of room for improvement feels like internet did in thr mid 90s. Just a ton of enthusiasm and a sense you're part of something big and important.

Did the same but as a dev. Created this list for my fellow devs who want to do the same https://github.com/pogopaule/awesome-sustainability-jobs

Thank you so much for this!

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

#162
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.

What is FFA?

Future Farmers of America[0] is common as a high school program especially in agriculture heavy areas in the US. My particular chapter focused on horticulture, dairy farm, and leadership structure. This involved hands on, on location apprenticeships with large animal veterinarians, various crop farms, etc.

When you are older and out of high school it’s sort of like a Linked In/resource.

[0] https://www.ffa.org/about/

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

#163
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.

I wasn't sure so I googled it. You are talking about some kind of cattle ranching? https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/beev... Regardless, congratulations on taking the plunge! I hope it goes well for you!

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

#164
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds horrible haha, each to their own. I used to live like that when I had no money, maybe I’m a bit biased I think I’ll wait till corporates are mandated to reduce waste at scale before I go that far. Ever seen how much waste a single Dominos store makes per day? Can’t recycle greased cardboard

Same here as a student, but I kept that lifestyle since then because I like that simplicity, the amount of money I earn doesn't change anything to that

[deleted]

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

#165
post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't done so myself either, but as the time passes I increasingly become convinced that the only available options for vast majority of population will be to do it now on your own terms or be forced to do it with everyone else later.

I like how as a people, we exploded with technology and capabilities, and now supposedly need to return to living like a cave man. I just hope that people who decide to live that way can cope with the fact that all the rich people and politicians will still live in affluence no matter what

"like a cave man" → I advocate for cherry-picking what's really useful in our modern societies: internet, a laptop, runnable water, electricity, and saving energy and resources for all the rest because we're reaching our limits on this planet. But that's hard to pass this message without making people feel "guilty" (which again is not my point at all)

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

#166
post #159

I went to law school and am currently a biglaw first-year. Trying to switch back to dev though (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29690759 ) Basic reasons for switch: 1) self-taught dev, so felt like I was always playing from behind; 2) wanted to pursue interests I had before going into tech; 3) felt like I wasn't productive in college, and thus wanted to have an intellectual experience. I didn't think at all…

You may want to consider joining or starting company that works on trying to simplify or automate the low skill bs you mention

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

#167

I'm in the process of transitioning out of a FAANG SWE position to be full time in property development. There's not enough houses for people to live in. Most people hate you for "driving up prices" and "gentrifying neighborhoods" - but it leaves me much more satisfied than engineering. After paying ~40% tax for a decade and paying ~3x what the Fed and State spend per Capita over a lifetime - it's nice to see my work…

Always feels weird when someone in the top 1% of earners, making over $500k/yr, complains about taxes.

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

#168

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

Very cool. I assume you are able to make a living selling your pieces? They seem pricey to me but then again you're not in the business to outsell IKEA.

Is shipping a problem or do your customers generally arrange to pick up the pieces themselves?

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

#169

Walked away from 20 years of software development last year. I've been day and swing trading stocks for last 2 years. I'm now trading full time and doing great. I don't miss the daily stand-ups, scrum meetings, planning meetings, "quick chats", one-on-ones with management, weekly department meetings, monthly company meetings, and late night critical support calls one bit!

Good luck to you! I remember back in the late 90's / early 2000's when The Stock Market Only Goes Up, and 1/4 of my software peers quit to "become day traders." Well when the bear market inevitably came, I started seeing them back in scrum meetings... Do your due diligence and and preserve your capital :)

A good day trader is able to shift gears in case of a bear market e.g. knows when to short. Very few days traders are actually good, most lose money and quit after some months.

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

#170

I've been a full time dev since 2000 – 22 years. Right now I'm in training for ordained ministry in a Christian denomination. I came back into regular church worship a few years ago, and then started studying theology through my diocese and found I loved it. Now I'm close to completing a Masters of Divinity at university, and I'm in my third year of training at theological college. Software skills have been much more…

This is both cool and unusual!

I have a question: did you ever get a feeling of what I can only describe as "numinous vertigo" when thinking about software systems? I sometimes get the sense that I'm peering into some basic universal structure, especially if the work has strong ties to theoretical CS or mathematics. It's as if I'm looking at something so fundamental and so meaningful that it ends being an emotional experience. At times, it's even been somewhat overpowering; it reminds me of Stendhal Syndrome in its quality [0].

Most people think it quite strange to have this kind of reaction to software, but computer science isn't really about computers in exactly the same way that geometry isn't about measuring the earth. In both cases, it feels like there's a divine essence.

At any rate, I'm curious if your sense of calling in any way resembles this, or if this feeling is familiar to you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome

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