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Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

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Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#101

Post by misiti3780 »

golgappi wrote: post #97
markerz wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retiring in your 30's? What an age we live in. What an industry we work in.

I work at a startup and I am 25. I have saved up some money and seriously considering retirement by the time I am 30. Not that I have a lot of money saved up. I just have a couple of thousand bucks. Nothing fancy. But to me it is a seed money to try out new things, at an age where making huge mistakes wouldn't result in me being 70 and penniless. There will still be enough time to return back to IT once (if) I fail m…

a couple hundred thousand is not enough to retire at 30 though ....

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#102

Post by donw »

Freelancing is not about having top-tier CS skills or being an amazing designer. Those help, but they aren't what gets you hired.

Companies will hire you because You Are A Likeable Person That Gets Shit Done.

Both of those things matter. If you have zero people skills, you will not close deals. And if you can't Get Shit Done, you will quickly poison your network, which is where the best jobs come from.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#103

Post by mmorett »

golgappi wrote: post #97
markerz wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retiring in your 30's? What an age we live in. What an industry we work in.

I work at a startup and I am 25. I have saved up some money and seriously considering retirement by the time I am 30. Not that I have a lot of money saved up. I just have a couple of thousand bucks. Nothing fancy. But to me it is a seed money to try out new things, at an age where making huge mistakes wouldn't result in me being 70 and penniless. There will still be enough time to return back to IT once (if) I fail m…

A couple of thousand? 9k won't even allow you to retire in Afghanistan.

:-)

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#104

Post by mmorett »

rabbimarshak wrote: post #91
dminor wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sift through projects on Odesk / Elance. You may find some part time work that may provide some supplemental income while at the same time improving your dev skills. You're probably better off taking unemployment and working on some quick projects to spiff up your github account. I experimented with Odesk/Elance for side income and the best job I managed to find was $20/hr.

Ah, the American way: Why work when you can get the same pay from the taxpayers pocket without having to? I rather work at McDonalds for half that @dminor and still have my pride, than to be a burden on society.

Do you expect lawyers or doctors to work for $20/hr? How about plumbers and electricians? But you expect a competent developer to work for $20/hr?

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#106

Post by platz »

golgappi wrote: post #97
markerz wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retiring in your 30's? What an age we live in. What an industry we work in.

I work at a startup and I am 25. I have saved up some money and seriously considering retirement by the time I am 30. Not that I have a lot of money saved up. I just have a couple of thousand bucks. Nothing fancy. But to me it is a seed money to try out new things, at an age where making huge mistakes wouldn't result in me being 70 and penniless. There will still be enough time to return back to IT once (if) I fail m…

You probably need ~1.7 to 2.5 million to retire, and even that's not going to be at 30

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#107

Post by sqyttles »

irascible wrote: post #105

File for funemployment.. drink wine.. make art.

...while reaching out across your personal and professional network. If I were in your situation, which I have been (let go from a development job), I would file for unemployment while searching for another job everywhere you go.

Do everything it takes to prove to other firms that you got the programming skills to pay the bills (as Weird Al would say). Use the funemployment money to sustain life.

I can also tell you what not to do. Do not move back in with your parents if their hometown is small. I did this and I languished.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#108

Post by sqyttles »

mmorett wrote: post #103
golgappi wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at a startup and I am 25. I have saved up some money and seriously considering retirement by the time I am 30. Not that I have a lot of money saved up. I just have a couple of thousand bucks. Nothing fancy. But to me it is a seed money to try out new things, at an age where making huge mistakes wouldn't result in me being 70 and penniless. There will still be enough time to return back to IT once (if) I fail m…

A couple of thousand? 9k won't even allow you to retire in Afghanistan. :-)

Retiring at 30 = being a boring person for your 40s, 50s, etc.

I think a better situation is to be financially secure by your 30s (be completely out of debt, pay off a mortgage, have money for children, etc.) and then have the ability to start companies or work freelance for the rest of your life rather than being a slave to the 9-to-5 grind.

I do like the concept of getting rich slowly and learning slowly. I would love to peruse multiple degrees (I already have two) just out of the love of learning and also meeting other lovers of knowledge.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#109

Post by sqyttles »

evo_9 wrote: post #31
coned88 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the benefit of a startup? Seems like more hours for less pay while always needing to get things done. I fail to see the appeal. They just have lunches and dinners which appeal to people.

Startups are great experience. If you are lucky enough to be a technical co-founder then you get to pick the platform, design the system and generally call all the shots on the tech side. That alone can be quite rewarding. I'd say that was the most compelling reason for me personally. There are a whole litany of standard answers to that question such as greater risk = great reward potential, the ability to choose and…

I've never worked for a start-up in a development role before, but I think I would like it. I am 28, fresh out of grad school and working for a bank currently. I like my coworkers and the work but when I walk by management and I overhear "We're not a development shop," I get disheartened because banks are becoming data centers and have to be in the software game.

Take a look at...

Dwolla: they are out to destroy the Automated Clearing House industry. Bitcoin: banks need to know how to interface with that! Micropayments: same deal. Mobile: OCR for check deposits! Data science/analytics ("big data"): obvious.

Banks that fail to adopt a hacker culture because IT is a "cost center" (despite the fact that all operational units of any business are) will crumble.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#110

Post by fasouto »

misiti3780 wrote: post #101
golgappi wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at a startup and I am 25. I have saved up some money and seriously considering retirement by the time I am 30. Not that I have a lot of money saved up. I just have a couple of thousand bucks. Nothing fancy. But to me it is a seed money to try out new things, at an age where making huge mistakes wouldn't result in me being 70 and penniless. There will still be enough time to return back to IT once (if) I fail m…

a couple hundred thousand is not enough to retire at 30 though ....

He is 25, and he plans to retire at 30, in 5 years he may save another couple thousands more. Let's put on the lower part of the "couple" spectrum and say he have 200.000, in 5 years he will have 400.000 USD. This money is enough to retire early with the 4% rule http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/05/29/how-much-do-i-need...

Maybe you are assuming that he want to live in the states, with the interest of this money he could live easily in Spain, Thailand, Argentina, etc...

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