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Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#141

Post by fizx »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #137
fizx wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's an over complicated term for a really trivial pattern in development. Yes, but... The objective of most business-oriented programs is to create the One True Function(tm), usually known to developers as a the "application." For everyone's sanity, this should be composed of smaller functions, which are sometimes called "objects." An object is just a function that was created using a specific creation template, u…

Objects and functions are different. An object retains state, a function should be stateless. Objects cannot be evaluated and do not have return values.

I think you forgot the word mutable somewhere. A true Business Application(tm) has no mutable state that is not stored in the database, so all objects are immutable and therefore functions (except those dirty dirty data objects).

    some_object.apply(method_name, param, ...) // sure looks like evaluation to me

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#142

Post by badkangaroo »

Started off as a concept artist for a few years, then started doing particle effects, moved into 3d environment modeling for a few years, and did a few characters, then moved into character modeling for a few years, then animation, then character rigging, then rigging automation through mel script for a few years. then worked as a technical artist for several years, then learned more programming stuff, then wrote a bunch of unreal script for a few projects for a few more years, then learned C# for unity and now i've been writing C# for VR apps for a while...

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#143

Post by ordinaryperson »

ccdev wrote: post #120
ordinaryperson wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you WANT to do (besides make money)? Generally speaking there are 3 broad career paths for developers these days: 1. Senior developer/team lead 2. Management 3. Startup founder / worker ========== Senior dev: ========== PROS: Actually get to build stuff all day. Fun to program the latest and greatest. Be respected as an expert by your peers. Less meeting and paperwork hassle than other roles. CONS: Can be sat…

I'm definitely choosing path 1, which is to become a senior dev. I prefer technical-focused jobs. Learn from mentor programmers, get into teams and learn formal development practices, and then help out programmers less experienced than myself. I've never held a senior title, never led a group, nor even been involved with the process of hiring other programmers. I currently live in Chicago which is pretty good for COL…

In that case, I'd recommend specializing in one particular language/framework/domain.

Whether it's NodeJS, Python, C#, Swift -- pick one and run with it. "General programmer" is fine for management but not great for senior developer.

It seems little odd that at 35 you're still in the $25/hr range. Either you got a late start or maybe there's some soft skills you need to improve (running a meaningful meeting, developing a strong rapport with business partners and management, etc).

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#144

Post by crimsonalucard »

fizx wrote: post #141
crimsonalucard wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Objects and functions are different. An object retains state, a function should be stateless. Objects cannot be evaluated and do not have return values.

I think you forgot the word mutable somewhere. A true Business Application(tm) has no mutable state that is not stored in the database, so all objects are immutable and therefore functions (except those dirty dirty data objects). some_object.apply(method_name, param, ...) // sure looks like evaluation to me

You never mentioned immutable. If objects were immutable then yes you are correct.

I'm not sure what you mean by "true business application" but there is a transient form of mutable state that an object possesses in between processing a request and returning a response that is seperate from the state that the database holds. It is up to you whether you want that transient state to be mutable or not.

An object itself cannot be evaluated. Methods can be evaluated but not the object itself. Is your example referring to a specific language?... because in general objects are not functions.

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#145

Post by lmz »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #138
matte_black wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tough to get hired on fundamentals these days.

A lot of jobs out there only test you on fundamentals. Hackerrank questions allow you to pick whatever language you like.

That usually happens after the CV screening, no?

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#146

Post by [deleted] »

ccdev wrote: post #120
ordinaryperson wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you WANT to do (besides make money)? Generally speaking there are 3 broad career paths for developers these days: 1. Senior developer/team lead 2. Management 3. Startup founder / worker ========== Senior dev: ========== PROS: Actually get to build stuff all day. Fun to program the latest and greatest. Be respected as an expert by your peers. Less meeting and paperwork hassle than other roles. CONS: Can be sat…

I'm definitely choosing path 1, which is to become a senior dev. I prefer technical-focused jobs. Learn from mentor programmers, get into teams and learn formal development practices, and then help out programmers less experienced than myself. I've never held a senior title, never led a group, nor even been involved with the process of hiring other programmers. I currently live in Chicago which is pretty good for COL…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#147

Post by rb808 »

6a68 wrote: post #121
rb808 wrote: post #34

I suspect its not as easy as many people make out. I was a great C++/OO dev for 10 years before I got bored, starting doing management, business focussed roles and more high level devops style work. After 10 years of that I wanted to move back into pure coding. With great experience should be easy right? Wrong. I got a mid-level java/python dev job and it was difficult, I was out of touch and everything was different…

It sounds like you were away from coding for a really long time (10 years!), then you got back into it, picking an area you didn't know much about, expected it to be easy , maybe didn't put in the time outside of work...this approach wouldn't work for anyone, no matter their age. Here's a manager-y question for you: how could you have done things differently when you went back to being an IC, to have had a better tra…

Yeah I could have been smarter, but there aren't that many interesting C++ roles around and the role I took was a horizontal move in the company.

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#148

Post by indemnity »

sshumaker wrote: post #98
southphillyman wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Older devs exist but they tend to be very senior with a lot of responsibility in my experience. Where does that leave the competent but non architect level dev who doesn't want to be responsible for that level of pressure? Maybe a 40 yr old wants to just take a mid level CRUD job for the purposes of keeping up with his mortgage and has no other ambitions beyond that? It seems like being "just a guy" is looked down up…

Is the 40 year old comfortable taking the same salary as an early/mid career dev? Therein lies the rub.

Yep, that’s it entirely. In your 20s it’s super easy to take a lot of risks, what do you have to lose?

When I was 20 I decided over coffee to move to the other side of the world. Had some savings, not a lot but just did it.

Now, at 37, there’s a mortgage to pay and a family to support.

I don’t have the runway to do two or three years of low pay again to switch to another field.

I am aggressive paying that down though, so that I have this option in my 40s.

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#149

Post by indemnity »

samfisher83 wrote: post #47
jpao79 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you know C++ well, definitely recommend taking a look at embedded software/firmware development. If you look at an embedded project using a micro controller the embedded environment is still space constrained by available onboard flash and RAM. If you want to move up the stack and look at a raspberry pi/beaglebone type project, the development environment is very much 'DOS/Unix' command line application based with…

The pay isn't that good. Web is were the money is at.

Truth. In my market, embedded companies are looking for top tier C++ talent but paying 2/3 of what you can pull by being a “backend” guy, and 1/2 of what you can get by having “blockchain” or “AI” on your resume.

Same companies complain how it’s not possible to find local talent, and hence need to be able to hire cheaply from overseas.

Re: Ask HN: Have you successfully done a career do-over, and how did you do it?

#150

Post by w0de0 »

nurettin wrote: post #20

Early 2000s, I was a full time procrastinator, college introvert, MTG/DND geek and homework/thesis freelancer. German government increased fees to a point which I could no more afford it, so I dropped out and found a real job.

If you will forgive me indulging in stereotyping: this is a very German response. Two sentences, brutally honest about the self, logically complete, and subtly amusing.
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