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

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

#111

Post by jrnichols »

rsync wrote: post #45

I love being a UNIX sysadmin and there is nothing else I've ever wanted to do. However , if I were in your position and didn't want to do this work I think I would either get formally certified as an electrician and do electrical work or I would get certified as a paramedic (not merely EMT/EMR) and work as a firefighter. I think electrician is an easier route - especially if you are not very physically robust - but t…

I'm a current Paramedic that is also fire certified, and was a unix system admin previously for quite a few years. I was a part time EMT while working as a sysadmin, then moved into EMS full time, became a paramedic, and finished fire academy as well.

the pay in fire/ems is not always as high as people think it is, outside of some big cities. getting into a pension firefighter job after age 40 is extremely difficult. Some manage to do it, yes, but it's an uphill battle from the start. In some states where many of the fire jobs are civil service, you cannot even apply after age 36 and the law has upheld this. it's frustrating to say the least.

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

#112

Post by slotrans »

ansy wrote: post #65

Why leave tech? Just imagine what you want to change about your job and find an employer that fits that criteria.

Employers lie.

Every manager out there trying to hire tech employees -- unless they are literally at FAANG et al -- is struggling. All the good talent is being hoovered up by companies paying twice what you can pay. Your company makes something boring so candidates aren't excited. You really, really need someone on your team... so you sell it. You talk about fun tech you're thinking of using as if you were actually using it. You downplay the mountain of tech debt. You pretend your systems aren't constantly on fire. You do everything you can to Close. The. Hire.

I don't know why anyone thinks this will work... maybe it does? Maybe the belief is that once you've got someone on board, and they've changed their insurance and set up their new 401k, and learned everyone's names, that they somehow won't notice that you lied to them? Or perhaps they'll tough it out for a year just to give it a fair shake, even though it's clearly not what they signed up for. I just don't know.

But it happens. It happens ALL THE TIME.

It would be great if we could find employers that are a good fit for what we, as technologists, want to spend our effort working on. But the employers are adversaries in that quest, not allies.

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

#114

Post by nunez »

nextos wrote: post #108
nunez wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much more emphasis required on the "people-oriented"ness of the job. My wife has taught at the high school and community college levels for almost 15 years. Given ten years of her stories and experience (that's how long we've been together; DAMN TIME FLIES!), this is what I have to add: 1. Spend time at /r/professors and /r/teachers in Reddit. Read their stories. Ask questions. Warning: those subs are overwhelmingly…

> Four-year colleges require Ph.Ds for those roles, no exceptions In British academia it is not impossible to get a lecturer position (equivalent to US assistant professor) without a PhD. Simon Peyton Jones, who is famous for his Haskell / GHC work, got one and progressed all the way to full professor. The OP might want to consider this. If one aims at CS positions that are mostly / fully devoted to teaching in not-s…

Yep, totally possible to get to an assistant professor/lecturer without a Ph.D, but they are not considered full-time faculty, will not qualify for tenure track (i.e. can theoretically get fired at any time, but realistically probably not), do not get top pick for courses/course slots (and might not be eligible to teach certain courses despite having the credentials to do so), and, at some schools, are not eligible for the same number of holidays as full-time faculty are.

It makes sense from within. The goal for a majority of Ph.D's is to become a professor at a four-year college and conduct research on government grants (or get tenured so that they can basically get paid to be retired). That can't happen if you have industry vets who can _actually teach these courses, and probably do a better job of it_ taking those spots. So you lock them out of those opportunities entirely and get TAs (for bigger core classes), adjuncts or staff/lecturers to teach everything else.

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

#115

Post by kgodey »

Beaver117 wrote: post #94
kgodey wrote: post #88

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…

Have you sacrified pay to go into that field and how do you deal with that? You may still know people in the startup space, maybe some of them got quite wealthy while you are strolling along with your nonprofit (no offense, I just assume you wouldn't be paid as much). For me this issue is hard to deal with because I used to work at a FAANG, I burned out but don't think I could go back to tech at a tiny fraction of th…

I'm sure I could be making 2-3x what I'm making but my quality of life is at _least_ 10x better so it's worth it. More money is not worth the stress – quality of life is what matters.

I also live in a low cost of living area (small town Ohio) but work remotely, so that helps.

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

#116

Post by chizhik-pyzhik »

hunter-gatherer wrote: post #58
hackyhacky wrote: post #10

I took some time off to teach. Years later, I'm still doing it. I teach computer science and programming. This is a good field to go into, because (a) it applies my knowledge acquired from my earlier life as a developer, and (b) is always in demand. If you want to teach this, you will have no trouble getting a job at a high school, community college, or university. I would also argue it's not, strictly speaking, a te…

I seem to have a different definition of "tech work" than most people here. When I dream of taking a sabatical I think about being a baker or barrista for $10/hour.

I actually did this, I was laid off a few months ago and went to work at a bakery part-time. The shift wasn't crazy early, I was working 6-9am 3 days a week... this was still too early for me, I ended up moving to helping close up and prep for the next day, so 1-3pm or so.

Working at a place like this is totally doable, so many bakeries and cafes are desperate for workers that are more competent than high school kids. The work is busy and technical but much lower stress than resolving on-call incidents.

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

#118

Post by p0d »

I started teaching in further education when I turned 50. I'm really enjoying working with people again as I see it. It has it's own challenges. In saying that, if I contacted a colleague in the evening or the weekend they would assume I was either sick or had to attend a funeral the next day ;-)

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

#119

Post by michepriest »

fakedang wrote: post #81
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…

That sounds amazing! Congratulations

Do you still want to be a data engineer? I wouldn’t let HR “requirements” stop me. There must be a way. 5+ year DEs once had 0 experience

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