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

Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 463 posts

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#141

Post by freetime2 »

GoToRO wrote: post #120
siva7 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you exactly mean with lack of respect? All the professions i've listed above face issues regarding lack of respect all the time (angry shop customers, angry patients, angry board members, etc.). If you feel undervalued in your current team, i would advise to interview with another company/team. If you feel undervalued in your social life, switching roles/jobs usually won't make the problems go away.

It feels like the first one. Problem is there are not many opportunities here, mainly failed, almost failed projects from the west, that need to be relocated, otherwise they don't have the money to survive. Thanks.

And your boss probably knows there aren’t many other opportunities, and that’s why they think it’s ok to treat you poorly.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#142

Post by gvedem »

GoToRO wrote: post #102
Version467 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'…

(not US) It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on. When I interacted with blue collars, they got more respect from their boss or colleagues. Of course, "working with the public" is different and I would guess the only job that is more toxic than programming.

>It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on

it seems like everyone in this thread saying "tech workers get no respect" actually just work for shit companies...

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#143

Post by nmoon »

droctothorpe wrote: post #15

I tech fast for 25 hours a week. No computer, no cell phone, no television, etc. It's amazing how much this sustains my motivation and enthusiasm. You can "switch" right now, at least 1/7th of the time. Not exactly what you're asking for but immediately actionable.

We call that Shabbat

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#144

Post by epgui »

GoToRO wrote: post #102
Version467 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'…

(not US) It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on. When I interacted with blue collars, they got more respect from their boss or colleagues. Of course, "working with the public" is different and I would guess the only job that is more toxic than programming.

You think nobody listens to engineers? Ha… Try being in life/biomedical sciences.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#145

Post by davewritescode »

walledstance wrote: post #24

Teaching. 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…

This is always something in the back of my head as something I'd like to do if I aged out of tech. I come from a family of teachers and got to see first hand the satisfaction that comes from the job. A few years ago I looked my mom up on one of those rate my teacher websites and was pretty shocked at how many kids she impacted. I always assumed she was good at her job and saw her go above and beyond but seeing it was eye opening.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#146

Post by bovermyer »

GoToRO wrote: post #102
Version467 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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'…

(not US) It seems the whole setup is constructed to make you feel bad, no appreciation for work delivered, every technical argument is seen as an excuse, deadlines have nothing to do with reality an so on. When I interacted with blue collars, they got more respect from their boss or colleagues. Of course, "working with the public" is different and I would guess the only job that is more toxic than programming.

I don't think this is because of tech work. I think this is because of bad management, which is not restricted to tech work. It's probably not even more common in tech work.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#147

Post by bryanlarsen »

In general it's bosses and customers that constitute the difference between a job and a hobby.

If you get extremely lucky, good customers and good bosses can make a job more satisfying than a hobby. You're doing something for the greater good, rather than just for yourself.

But mostly it works the other way. You're working on what your customers and bosses tell you to do rather than what you want to do. Customers and bosses are the reason you dread going in to work.

Very few fields let you make a living without customers or bosses.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#148

Post by sarojmoh1 »

detourdog wrote: post #58

Technology is not the problem the industry is the issue. Find somewhere with a low cost of living and other things you enjoy and do that while thinking about what tech you like for its own sake and try to figure out an entry point. I enjoy working with my hands and making things and what I have decided is that I will pursue the 100 year form factor of a computer. It seems plausibly that nobody really wants to use a p…

Vt pays you 10k to mv there?

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#149

Post by falcolas »

User23 wrote: post #130
mabbo wrote: post #47

The greatest such story I've ever read is this one from a GitHub issue comment: https://github.com/docker/cli/issues/267#issuecomment-695149... > Sorry I missed your comment of many months ago. I no longer build software; I now make furniture out of wood. The hours are long, the pay sucks, and there's always the opportunity to remove my finger with a table saw, but nobody asks me if I can add an RSS feed to a DBMS, s…

> the opportunity to remove my finger with a table saw This is a solved problem. SawStop will reduce the injury from amputation to somewhere between laceration and a pinch.

Even saw stops have bypasses, for when you need to cut a conductive material. And there are many other woodworking tools with the same amputative qualities.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech?

#150

Post by theGnuMe »

werdnapk wrote: post #60
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #5

Get a hobby (woodworking), something physical where you work with your hands (woodworking) and is easy enough to start but has near infinite depth (woodworking). Could be anything.

As I've become older and now own a house, I've really become a lot more interested in most trade work, such as electrician, plumber, construction, mechanic. I love getting my hands dirty and fixing/creating something physical... sure beats sitting in a chair.

Buying a house definitely inspired me to become more handy largely because most of the work is straight forward and it can be cheaper to do some repairs yourself. The caveat here is some can be more expensive cause you do the work twice or three times or hire a pro after you mess up. But that is what we call learning.
Post reply on HN