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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?

#271

Post by livinglist »

spenczar5 wrote: post #268

I was a software engineer for about 10 years. Now I’m a furniture maker and occasional finish carpenter. Worked at Twitch as an early-ish employee, we got acquired by Amazon. Made it to Principal Engineer and just got tired of the sorts of problems that are hardest in software at scale: project management, building consensus, migrating systems. Also got really tired of the wastefulness of software: so much software g…

> Also got really tired of the wastefulness of software: so much software gets thrown out in under 5 years. Stuff that lasts 10 years is considered extraordinary, and 20 years is almost unheard of.

Whenever I think of this while working on my personal open source projects, I become a little bit unmotivated, cuz in the end it will be rendered useless, so why the heck should I spend my time on something that’s not gonna last long….

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

#272

Post by drdunce »

Spent many years in software engineer in London - web dev; ecommerce; mobile dev etc. Picked up a bunch of industry certifications along the way, happy customers, completed projects, but didn't ever manage to get more than average salary.

Moved to academia, got a PhD in machine learning, got a bunch of publications in high ranking outlets, and managed to land an entry level assistant position - but now I'm stuck in the same position, just in academia. My work/life balance is probably a bit better. Still love computer science and will probably keep on, but it's a cruel mistress!

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

#274

Post by closeparen »

sandoze wrote: post #89
robodale wrote: post #71

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!

Here’s the thing. If I could just code without being a slave to a scrum master or being product micromanaged.. I would never leave the industry. I worked five years in mobile gaming when the Apple Store first opened. Released 13 titles, had my hands in a half a dozen others, three teams in two countries, 15 employees at our height (95% remote). Never had a standup, planning meaning, grooming.. etc.

There do exist corporate positions with a high degree of autonomy and as-needed coordination. I have one of them right now. I will be sad to ever let it go.

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

#275

Post by bmitc »

kimsant wrote: post #141
goncaloo wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most developers work on meaningless, "make the rich richer", products anyways

But you can find something meaningful (very easy), or start your own business (easiest moment in history to rise 1million), or teach in a bootcamp... There are 100 options. Wasting a wonderfull mind just because... sad

I think that is a little harsh. A huge amount of tech work is not meaningful. Almost none of what tech companies output is required for a meaningful or happy life. It’s just that humanity is addicted to growth and things and just “doing stuff” thinking it all matters. Just look at the several meaningless companies YC supports.

Some meaningful tech work can be found in healthcare, social work, some portions of national security work, environmental research, teaching, and other places, but they are the exceptions. My definition of meaningful is that it either helps people, in a real way, or furthers knowledge or adds to the expression of humanity (i.e., art).

In my opinion, if someone can siphon off value from the human constructed rivers of the financial markets, and then use that value to live a good life, then I don’t see the problem. Some loose arguments about market liquidity could be made.

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

#276

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

sixstringtheory wrote: post #263
marcrosoft wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? They are the ones that end up paying the most.

Probably because 1) it’s not a surprise. You knew how much the tax would be when you accepted the position and 2) your net take-home is still higher than most. Also note that the nice round figures OP provides are slightly over the top. In 2021, someone earning $1M would pay an effective 33% tax rate, or about $334K. That’s $66K below their stated $400K. The poverty line for a family of 4 is just over $20K. So their…

In California - your total tax on $1M is close to $485k...

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

#277

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

55555 wrote: post #255
micromacrofoot wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because regardless of paying most taxes, they’re still making most money

He’s saying his tax rate is dropping to 12%. So at his level it is possibly easier to make more money by switching to a job/business with a lower tax rate, even if income is somewhat lower. (I’m not sure how he’s getting 12%… LTCG with deductions?)

In real estate your cash flow can be much higher than your taxable income due to depreciation.

Since it's unearned income, you don't have to pay payroll taxes.

And you can also avoid paying capital gains tax on the first $250k in capital gains on a property (after 1 year).

There are a lot of people in speculative markets that pay close to 0 tax in real estate.

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

#278

Post by pogopaule »

PyWoody wrote: post #251
pogopaule wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

This is exactly what I've been looking to find. Thank you for putting it together. You should make a standalone post of it.

ok, will do

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

#279

Post by sprocket »

nouveaux wrote: post #181
sprocket wrote: post #93

I worked full time as a software dev from about 1999 until 2010. It was never really all that fulfilling for me, although I was pretty good at what I did. I was laid off in 2010, and spent the rest of the year milking goats and sheep, and making cheese in France and the UK. When I returned home in late 2010, my wife and I moved to a more rural location, bought a small herd of goats, and started building a cheese plan…

"as we'll have 150+ kids and lambs arrive over a couple of weeks." Holy cow can you give more specs on your farm?

In the grand scale of things, we're pretty small. We milk just under 100 dairy goats, and have about 150 goats total on the farm (the other goats being a couple of breeding bucks, and some kids of various ages that will be milked in future years.)

I'm somewhat smaller than I was two years ago - we scaled back a bit in 2020, as the pandemic seriously killed cash flow for a couple months.

We produce our own sheeps milk too, but on a much smaller scale. We also pick up cows milk from a neighbouring farm. I'm expecting this year to process around 100,000 liters of milk, producing around 10-12 tons of cheese.

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

#280

Post by thisarticle »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #276
sixstringtheory wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because 1) it’s not a surprise. You knew how much the tax would be when you accepted the position and 2) your net take-home is still higher than most. Also note that the nice round figures OP provides are slightly over the top. In 2021, someone earning $1M would pay an effective 33% tax rate, or about $334K. That’s $66K below their stated $400K. The poverty line for a family of 4 is just over $20K. So their…

In California - your total tax on $1M is close to $485k...

How can they possibly survive on ten times the median national income.
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