Ask HN: Has anyone started over outside of tech? • Hacker News Board

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

#311

Post by SamWhited » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 4:54 PM UTC

gavinray wrote: post #178

SamWhited wrote: post #49

Every job I ever had in tech was basically terrible and I was never diagnosed, but I suspect was clinically depressed for the 13 years or so I was in tech. I did not have the savings to do it, but I eventually quit and became a bicycle mechanic. I actually enjoy what I do now, and the work environment doesn't have me constantly jumping back and forth between panic, undirected rage, and extreme listlessness like tech…

Why are you going to lose your house? You bought it while you had tech money and the bicycle mechanic money can't pay for it now? Have you considered doing some consulting or something on the side? So sorry to hear this.

yah, I have the tinniest cheapest house pretty far outside of the city but the mortgage is just too much without roommates (which is how all my coworkers afford apartments), but it's small enough that I really don't want to do that

I've tried to do some consulting work, but never could figure out how to get any clients. Apparently this is a thing people do somehow, but everyone I asked just knew somebody to get their first ones.

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

#312

Post by russnewcomer » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

noeontheend wrote: post #205

I'm currently finishing my second year of what was supposed to be a two year term (but was recently extended to three years) as the organ scholar [1] at one of the larger churches in the U.S. The director of music and I are the only two organists on staff, so I get to play for thousands of people and accompany/conduct a professional choir every week. I left the tech world to do that because I knew I wanted to at leas…

Congratulations on that position! A sibling did a masters' in organ performance, and getting an Organ Scholar position is a solid achievement for an undergrad.

I would not worry too greatly about your skills not being viable, depending on what you are wanting to get back into later. If not in a SV/startup world, there are a lot of tech-adjacent companies who will look at you, see someone with an undergrad in math, a masters in something, and dedication to a technical craft, and strongly consider hiring you. Plus, you have something really interesting to talk about in an interview, and that's not worthless. I know the last time I was looking for a job, I got at least two interviews because of a very interesting previous job overseas (because the interviewers openly said, "you mat not have the typical experience we look for, but you had this job and tell us about that).

And thanks for your gifts to the congregation!

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

#313

Post by subungual » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 4:57 PM UTC

I left tech ~6 years ago to pursue medical school. I'll be graduating and starting residency soon. A significant number of my classmates express regret for choosing medicine, and a lot of them fantasize about pursuing a career in tech, instead. I feel pretty well inoculated against this, having had a varied life and a collection of very different work experiences before med school.

I'm happy with my choice. My work still involves the computer, but I certainly don't spend most of my time on it. I get to interact with a wide variety of people, and sometimes I can make their days and lives a little better. My work is challenging and involves a lot of thinking and dealing with imperfect information. If I want to fold in skills gained from tech work in the future, there is no shortage of opportunities. Leaving tech for medicine was about the worst financial decision I could have made, but I would absolutely do it again. It's been a long road, but it was the right decision, I think.

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

#314

Post by jackhack » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

Spare_account wrote: post #280

staticman2 wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what you think a "luxury" university is- even government run colleges in the U.S. can be expensive. A local 4 year degree at my city's state run university is around 18,000 to 22,000 per year for tuition. And that's without room and board. In comparison a private liberal arts school near me is $65,652 per year for tuition alone. To me the state option is still pretty darn expensive especially if you are…

Does the money for the college fees have to come from cash? University fees (in the UK) can be paid for by a student loan which is paid off once the student starts working. Parents don't have to pay for it

starting one's life with the (emotional/financial) weight of "just" $80,000 to $100,000 in debt is not a good strategy, in my opinion.

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

#315

Post by cmaury » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 5:02 PM UTC

gabereiser wrote: post #253

Not exactly. I'm still in tech but I sold everything and bought a sailboat to sail the world after I got sick and tired of sitting at a desk. I have starlink now which makes it possible (before it was hunting for 4G/5G signals like I was the crocodile hunter) and sailboats can be pretty affordable if you want to sharpen your trade skills. I've "re-kindled" my love for woodworking, fiberglass, diesel engines, electric…

But do you have a YouTube channel? (jk)

Are you working remotely with this set up?

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

#316

Post by tayo42 » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 5:03 PM UTC

siva7 wrote: post #41

It is important to understand that everyone has sometimes escape phantasies (teachers, therapists, baristas, founders, medical doctors, professors, developers, etc., they all do) because something is making them truly unhappy in their day-to-day job and they assume other people happier. Finding about the root cause what makes you unhappy will usually lead to more satisfying results than just running after to become a…

so how do you all make tech tolerable? Bonus points if you work in ops like SRE or something

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

#317

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 5:05 PM UTC

cryptica wrote: post #182

I've been passionate about coding since I was 14; I self-taught myself to code on school library computers during my lunch break, went to uni, was involved in some startups. I still enjoy coding (I'm 32 now) but I hate coding as a day job because I'm forced to do everything in ridiculously inefficient ways. I often think to myself; surely, if they force me to use these insanely wasteful, over-engineered tools, they s…

[deleted]

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

#318

Post by aarghh » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 5:05 PM UTC

mauvehaus wrote: post #171

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…

That's me! It also generated a rather large discussion here and if you want to read how things were going up to that point, I posted a lengthy comment there: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24541964 How am I doing now? Still good, still grateful to be married to somebody who gets good health insurance through their job. Still need to update my website a bit (is that work ever really done?). Still working on the…

You are an inspiration - the chandelier on your website is a thing of joy. I may reach out soon, my wife and I have been talking about a side table that she has very definite ideas about.

(I'm working my way through the Anarchist Design book and thinking about getting started on the stick chairs).

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

#319

Post by ProllyInfamous » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 5:05 PM UTC

carlosjobim wrote: post #206

siva7 wrote: post #41

It is important to understand that everyone has sometimes escape phantasies (teachers, therapists, baristas, founders, medical doctors, professors, developers, etc., they all do) because something is making them truly unhappy in their day-to-day job and they assume other people happier. Finding about the root cause what makes you unhappy will usually lead to more satisfying results than just running after to become a…

Some jobs are just hell, and the reason people stick in those jobs is that they don't know any better. Nobody has shown them other opportunities, they think getting another job and performing it would be difficult. They think their current salaries are OK because they have nothing better to compare with. For those people, the root cause of their misery is the job and all of them would be better off switching careers.

Amen. I am exactly here, just before forty...

I went to college and tried a year of grad school, and then ran off to become an electrician. This is a profitable career but is extremely tough on body; any position within the industry, it is still physical labor. Now, after fifteen years of sacrificing myself "for the big bucks," I am left wondering whether I will be able to fit into a work environment that isn't construction [knowing that I must make this transition].

It is paralyzing fear, and removing this debilitation is hard when people are literally throwing bonkers money at anybody even claiming to be a skilled tradesman, right now — my body is done! The money is good! Whatdo?!

I'm currently "taking time off" and re-exploring a childhood love of computers... learning python, bought a new computer for first time in over a decade... trying to love this all!

And now with all the AI coding and copywriting... UGHHHHH. The timeline, it's just brilliant and perhaps I'll just retire and enjoy a new AI existence =P

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

#320

Post by DamnInteresting » Fri, Mar 03, 2023, 5:06 PM UTC

I taught myself coding during high school in the mid-1990s, built a lot of my own web projects, and I worked for a series of startups. I've loved web dev for over 25 years.

A long-term coding contract recently ended for me, so I have been looking for some new full-stack web dev work. Everything I encounter now is tangled in over-engineered dependency hellscapes. Simple sites that could be vanilla HTML/CSS/JS are instead built and rebuilt on whatever tools and frameworks are currently trendiest. Technology is selected because it is cool instead of appropriate. I don't mind learning new tech if it's useful and fitting, but I loathe the 'disposable skills' of dumping frameworks every 2 years.

I've watched this tendency gradually growing in web dev circles for about a decade, but in just the past few years it's gone bananas. It's so much unnecessary faffing, it's got me looking into other fields for new work.