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Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

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Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#21

Post by deanmoriarty »

peterst28 wrote: post #19

There's plenty you can do, but you have to figure out what appeals to you, the tradeoffs, path, etc. I found that the book "Designing your life" really helped me. It encourages talking to people who are already in different fields / roles that interest you. When I did this, sometimes I found myself saying, "yes that sounds amazing." Other times I found myself saying, "ugh that's not what I thought it was at all." Eve…

Sales engineering always sounded great to me as well, and the few times I got a chance to participate in the sales process as a SWE it was always very interesting: meet new people, do work that is challenging but not mentally as draining as being torn apart in a code review, hang out after work with energizing and fun sales folks, ...

Just to collect one random datapoint, do you work for an enterprise-focused tech company? And how much travel do you do outside the pandemic? What would be the “FAANGs” for a SWE turning into a sales engineer?

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#22

Post by nomy99 »

fatnoah wrote: post #18

What kind of Engineering do you do? Depending on your degree, a legal career might be possible. When I'd started college a long time ago, I couldn't decide between Computer Science or pursuing a legal career. I went with CS, I didn't love the CS program, so I switched to Electrical Engineering and eventually got my masters. As it turns out, I ended up in a software career, but about 5 years in, I wondered about the r…

I'm a software engineer. I have an Electrical Engineering degree from an ivy league school (if that matters. Personally I think it doesn't).

I am VERY interested in your comment regarding law. Thank you. Can you give me any references on some firms I can contact?

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#23

Post by nomy99 »

fillskills wrote: post #17

Switched a couple of times. Its hard, initially. Switching fields feels like pulling tooth and and learning how to ride a bike at the same time. Good news is that its over before you know it. It helps if you can believe in your ability to get through the first few months. Definitely talk to someone who has made a similar switch. Just to prepare yourself mentally more than anything else. If you could share which field…

I haven't decided which field I want to go to, but someone here mentioned law. That sounds fascinating to me, and a complete different thing. I am hoping my analytical skills can be used at a firm.

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#24

Post by loosetypes »

peterst28 wrote: post #19

There's plenty you can do, but you have to figure out what appeals to you, the tradeoffs, path, etc. I found that the book "Designing your life" really helped me. It encourages talking to people who are already in different fields / roles that interest you. When I did this, sometimes I found myself saying, "yes that sounds amazing." Other times I found myself saying, "ugh that's not what I thought it was at all." Eve…

Would it be hard to transition from that type of role back into a more product-engineering type position? Do you perceive there as being any stigma of engineering-adjacent roles?

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#25

Post by sthu11182 »

If you have a BS in electrical engineer/comp sci/compE or PhD in biochem, patent law is a field you can get into and have job opportunities either as a prosecutor (writing patents) or as a litigator (trial lawyer arguing in front of a jury and judge). Both have their pluses and minuses. Note, you can get a job in patent law in other engineering/science/non-science fields, but the job opportunities are a harder to find or get the opportunity.

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#26

Post by levi-turner »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #21
peterst28 wrote: post #19

There's plenty you can do, but you have to figure out what appeals to you, the tradeoffs, path, etc. I found that the book "Designing your life" really helped me. It encourages talking to people who are already in different fields / roles that interest you. When I did this, sometimes I found myself saying, "yes that sounds amazing." Other times I found myself saying, "ugh that's not what I thought it was at all." Eve…

Sales engineering always sounded great to me as well, and the few times I got a chance to participate in the sales process as a SWE it was always very interesting: meet new people, do work that is challenging but not mentally as draining as being torn apart in a code review, hang out after work with energizing and fun sales folks, ... Just to collect one random datapoint, do you work for an enterprise-focused tech co…

For another data point..

> Just to collect one random datapoint, do you work for an enterprise-focused tech company?

Yes, B2B company in the enterprise space primarily.

> And how much travel do you do outside the pandemic?

My team's role is a bit odd. Think it as a super technical / strategic overlay team. Rather than being assigned to a set of sales reps or to a region, we're attached to the entire US. As a consequence, we're brought in to help with high-end use cases where an individual sales engineer might see the use case once a quarter at max. We also moonlight on strategic discussions around product strategy.

That being said, pre-pandemic, we'd generally travel on-site with customers 5-10 times a year. Travel for more normal sales engineers is a bit more. Maybe, on average, 1.5 full days every 2 weeks. It'll vary by geography. New York / New Jersey focused folks 'travel' more since there's a higher density of customers. For example, pre-pandemic, I traveled down to NY a few hours by train and stopped by 4 customers 6 hours. This is the first software company that I've worked for but based on chatting with departed colleagues, this varies wildly. Some sales reps are, for lack of a better term, abusive of their engineers' time. Think being told on Monday that you need to fly for 3 hours for a meeting on-site on Wednesday with a marginally qualified prospect (aka it's not clear they want our software or have the budget to purchase it).

Feel free to ask if you have other questions.

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#27

Post by fatnoah »

nomy99 wrote: post #22
fatnoah wrote: post #18

What kind of Engineering do you do? Depending on your degree, a legal career might be possible. When I'd started college a long time ago, I couldn't decide between Computer Science or pursuing a legal career. I went with CS, I didn't love the CS program, so I switched to Electrical Engineering and eventually got my masters. As it turns out, I ended up in a software career, but about 5 years in, I wondered about the r…

I'm a software engineer. I have an Electrical Engineering degree from an ivy league school (if that matters. Personally I think it doesn't). I am VERY interested in your comment regarding law. Thank you. Can you give me any references on some firms I can contact?

The job title is generally called Technology Specialist, Patent Technology Specialist, or something similar. Here's an overview from one firm: https://www.wolfgreenfield.com/careers/technology-specialist...

My experience was a while ago, but having actual work experience and an EE degree made me VERY employable. My firm had about 25 people in this role, and only two of us had work experience, and I was the ONLY one with a degree in something other than bio or chem. The world has changed a bit since then, so YMMV.

With an Engineering degree (CS doesn't count), you'd also be eligible to sit for the Patent Bar and become a registered Patent Agent as well. As for the job itself, it's helping the patent attorneys understand inventions, search for prior art, draft the patents and claims, etc.

It's not a very team oriented job, which is why I left. I did have my own office with a great view and a secretary (patent secretary is a well-paid, specialized job), which was nice.

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#29

Post by dave333 »

After 22 years coding, in 2001 the dotcom bust ejected me into finding an alternate income/career. I explored various options sequentially from getting my used car salesman and real estate licenses without any success - qualified to be a mortgage broker just as the subprime crisis hit. I also worked on trying to set up web commerce trading mostly in used gear from the dotcom bust which just about paid the mortgage for a couple of years. Also gave $20/hr golf lessons via Craigslist and developed some sudoku websites that still earn a modest income from adsense today. Eventually in 2007 I dusted off my resume and got a coding job again and this was a huge relief to have a regular income and health benefits again etc. SO maybe the coding job isn't so bad after all, but you won't see that until you find out how hard it is to make a living in other ways. If you want to move into management it seems to me in retrospect that that is all about getting things done so maybe try and optimize that.

Re: Ask HN: How can I move away from engineering?

#30

Post by deanmoriarty »

levi-turner wrote: post #26
deanmoriarty wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sales engineering always sounded great to me as well, and the few times I got a chance to participate in the sales process as a SWE it was always very interesting: meet new people, do work that is challenging but not mentally as draining as being torn apart in a code review, hang out after work with energizing and fun sales folks, ... Just to collect one random datapoint, do you work for an enterprise-focused tech co…

For another data point.. > Just to collect one random datapoint, do you work for an enterprise-focused tech company? Yes, B2B company in the enterprise space primarily. > And how much travel do you do outside the pandemic? My team's role is a bit odd. Think it as a super technical / strategic overlay team. Rather than being assigned to a set of sales reps or to a region, we're attached to the entire US. As a conseque…

Thanks a bunch!
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