Laid off from a tech job after 20+ years. Retrained as a teacher, which was something I was also interested in. Lower salary and more hours but both OK. Went back into tech (not FAANG like) after 5 years, partly because I missed out on always working on something new (only so many ways to teach Pythagoras to Year 9 pupils).
Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
81–90 of 463 posts
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#82You could join the resource industry, there's a labor shortage and there's all sort of vocational training. Some jobs require minimal training others more but you can be up and running in as little as 3 months for something relatively skilled. It's a refreshing feeling to have a job where the deliverables are very specific and day to day like you need to move this crap from here to there and that's it, no thinking ab…
You're talking about oil and gas extraction (as an example) right?
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#83I would actually like to be a doctor but it’s not really feasible starting down that route in my 30s
What’s interesting to read about this is I’m a doctor who wants to transition to tech.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#84You could join the resource industry, there's a labor shortage and there's all sort of vocational training. Some jobs require minimal training others more but you can be up and running in as little as 3 months for something relatively skilled. It's a refreshing feeling to have a job where the deliverables are very specific and day to day like you need to move this crap from here to there and that's it, no thinking ab…
> ...join the resource industry... Would you kindly provide some examples? Would this be jobs like welding? I just never heard this term.
Mining? Maybe the poster is Australian?
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#85Dropped out of tech, arguably more by force than choice. My lifestyle, finances, social life, even country of residence (and by extension my love life) were all balanced on top of that little MacBook Pro. Used it for work, used it to socialize, eventually my brain refused to let me mediate my entire life through a computer any longer and I burned out. Now I work at a hotel! Receptionist, barista, waiter, even some ma…
I would guess the one big difference is respect. For some reason, there is no respect for tech workers.
What do you mean by that? Admittedly, I'm not in the US, but it seems to me that tech work is a very respected profession. Especially compared to service work.
The notion that someone would leave the tech world for a job in the service industry because it comes with more respect is absolutely wild to me. That's so far away from my personal experience I honestly can't fit it into my mental model of the world.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, or maybe your experience is actually super different from mine. Either way I'd be very interested in an elaboration.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#86Dropped out of tech, arguably more by force than choice. My lifestyle, finances, social life, even country of residence (and by extension my love life) were all balanced on top of that little MacBook Pro. Used it for work, used it to socialize, eventually my brain refused to let me mediate my entire life through a computer any longer and I burned out. Now I work at a hotel! Receptionist, barista, waiter, even some ma…
I would guess the one big difference is respect. For some reason, there is no respect for tech workers.
Obviously I can’t speak to your experiences, but I definitely got more respect working as a developer than I do as a receptionist.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#87Teaching. I moved from a big tech company to teaching. Teaching is the hardest job I’ve ever done, and requires entire new skills. Teacher pay, depending on where you are, can be real low compared to FAANG money, but damn do I sleep well at night knowing that I help people. There is nothing like watching someone struggle and then suddenly understanding the subject. But seriously, it is a hard job. You learn quickly t…
That's great. Not sure if you teach programming or CS but there is a huge shortage of high school computer science / programming teachers. If you can teach 30 kids programming every year odds are at least 1 or 2 will go on to start a successful tech company someday.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#88You could join the resource industry, there's a labor shortage and there's all sort of vocational training. Some jobs require minimal training others more but you can be up and running in as little as 3 months for something relatively skilled. It's a refreshing feeling to have a job where the deliverables are very specific and day to day like you need to move this crap from here to there and that's it, no thinking ab…
> ...join the resource industry... Would you kindly provide some examples? Would this be jobs like welding? I just never heard this term.
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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#89I used to work in the industry for 9 years, got disillusioned working in tech and I moved to food, I've been working as a cook for the last 2 and a half years, it's something i wanted to do when i left high school and i always kept an avid interest in cooking while I had a tech job. Overall I think it's become more stressful for sure but I have found more meaning to my work, status and finance wise i would say its a…
I would say where I live you get decent respect as a cook or pedicab driver compared to tech - probably because the tech salaries here are absurdly low.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?
#90I used to work as a compiler engineer in the US for several years, before deciding to try starting over at the age of 30, in pure mathematics. I moved from the US to Paris in pursuit of an affordable mathematics education, and spent two years in a Masters program. I did have a considerable amount of savings, but it was very risky nevertheless: if it didn't work out, I'd be out-of-touch with compilers, and it would be…
I like this response very much. I'm in my mid-40s now and worked in many different sectors and positions before ending up in my current career. Even negative experiences, such as washing out as an air traffic controller after 2 years, have been beneficial in my current position. First, they provide some humility and empathy toward people who are struggling and, secondly, they give me alternative lenses toward viewing problems that I'd not have had otherwise. It's one thing to model a logistics problem and another to have driven a tractor trailer or worked as an air traffic controller and understand the practical implications of a solution.