Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: In mid 40s. What non-tech job can I do?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 127 posts

Re: Ask HN: In mid 40s. What non-tech job can I do?

#81

Post by fakedang »

michepriest wrote: post #66

I started in finance and got into tech. Was a product manager. After my last lay off I decided not to go back to being employed. I’m creating info products (ebooks, online courses, digital products) and doing micro-coaching (unstuckin15.com). I love that I own my own time and can create whatever I’m inspired by. I highly recommend mixing with freelance work in the beginning until your projects cover your income. If y…

Looks like I'm following the same trajectory. Started off my "career" in finance (not even the quantitative kind), then set up a family office, converted it from a long-short shop to a quantitative one with the help of a very technically confident partner, and just "retired" last Friday.

Career in quotes because I cofounded a startup in university which we sold off. Retired in quotes because I'm such a bad coder that the code base has evolved to a level that requires much more competency than I can contribute. I have always thought of becoming a Data Engineer, since it seems super interesting (and relatively slow paced). Also, it was so hard for us to recruit a competent one (we finally did though), but it seems all the DE job listings want people with 5+ years of experience - there just isn't room for companies to take on a junior data engineer apparently :(.

Currently, I spend my time just building stuff to help real problems, something I've done in my spare time the past few years. For example, I just built a very small applet for my city's transport authority, and if the integration goes well, it might be used by around 300k travelers. It's wild, because three years back, I never would have thought that I would be able to have such outsized impact just by learning some front-end code.

Re: Ask HN: In mid 40s. What non-tech job can I do?

#83

Post by markoman »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #18

I've observed several people in my network leave tech and go into financial planning or real estate. I've also seen people go into teaching and/or into endeavors like small scale agriculture and custom furniture. Depends a lot on your personal skills, motivation, location, and savings.

I too have had dreams of leaving tech for those fields, esp. financial planning but they're both sales-oriented & have high wash-out factors.

Going for CFP certification in financial planning could improve one's chances, but the training will take some time & isn't free.

There's a lot of demand for good financial planners, but not sure about real estate sales now that interest rates are on the rise.

Re: Ask HN: In mid 40s. What non-tech job can I do?

#87

Post by dsr_ »

leethomas wrote: post #60
ljf wrote: post #36

There are so many non-technical jobs in tech companies, which are so much better in the hands of someone that understands technology. Consider the skills and knowledge you have, and see where else you can apply them. Often these roles are far less stressful

> Often these roles are far less stressful What did you have in mind specifically? I can’t think of anything myself that doesn’t seem just as or more stressful and with less flexibility.

I know a person who was a technical customer service manager (for a very technical product) and a general-purpose writer.

She now writes the customer-visible bug-fixed notes for a very large, very technical software product (with minor releases on the order of every 4 weeks, and major releases annually). A good bug takes 5-10 minutes to write up in an appropriate, customer-friendly, legally and security-appropriate way.

A bad bug might take hours of tracking down engineers who did the work, claimed they did the work, mis-tagged the bug entry, improperly closed the bug, improperly left the bug open, improperly merged the bug...

But at the end of the day, she isn't responsible for fixing the bug, just documenting it properly. The workday is essentially 9-5. And there's always another bug.

Re: Ask HN: In mid 40s. What non-tech job can I do?

#88

Post by kgodey »

If you're burned out now, you're not a good place to be making decisions about what you should do next. Since you've already planned to take at least a 6 month break, don't start thinking about what to do next for at least 3 months. You'll be able to consider what you want from your work with a clearer mind.

If you've been working for 20 years nonstop, the idea of a break or not knowing what to do is probably utterly alien to you. Take some time to get comfortable with it.

In case my personal experience helps: I worked for a startup for a few years and it was an awful experience, I was totally burned out. I did some interviews immediately after because "I need a job" and it was a terrible experience for both me and my interviewers because I was resentful of everything and everyone. I ended up taking a few months off and realized that I still enjoyed technology, just not the startup and agency environments I'd been in. My career ever since has been focused on non-profit open source projects and it's been great.

Re: Ask HN: In mid 40s. What non-tech job can I do?

#89

Post by jhpaul »

solardev wrote: post #72
loeg wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Expect way less than 1/3 pay, though.

Is it really that bad? Where I live, I earn about $50 an hour as a dev. The McDonald's here pays around $20/hr. Hopefully bike mechanics don't earn less than fast food...?

My perception is that very few specialized hourly jobs start above $20-25, and when I hear business owners talk they seem to feel that's robbery (it isn't).

Without any research or context, I'd expect a first-time bike mechanic job to pay $18-22 depending on the city. The ski shops nearby are advertising ski tech jobs around $16 and calling it "better than competitive pay"

Re: Ask HN: In mid 40s. What non-tech job can I do?

#90

Post by moistly »

solardev wrote: post #73
goostavos wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine the upstart costs are astronomical (especially when weighed against the low returns) here for anything other than personal garden level? Or is that perception wrong? Is it possible to start a new farming operation and be minimally viable / profitable?

Weed?

(Legal) Weed is not hugely profitable, as the over-hyped Canadian weed producers are learning. Consolidations and bankruptcies galore.
Post reply on HN