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Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#61
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well he said "My last video" so we can infer that it was very probably either this year or in the last two years, which makes the search way easier

Yes I presume it was almost surely the last two years (this year or the past two years). The commenter replied and said he read the parent's comments to find the soundcloud account and linked that with the poster of the youtube video.

It was this years awards. http://www.oxiff.com/awards/

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#62
I have a comp eng degree but was completely burnt out after graduation. I jumped into digital learning instead; it's ideal for me as it's still "IT" but combined with my other favourite areas, education, product and design. The learning curve wasn't so bad, there are plenty of good WYSIWYG authoring tools with only barebone knowledge of HTML/ CSS/ JS required - although you'll quickly find that that's much less important than the skills to teach and to have a good design eye, for example.

So now, most of my job is to assess training needs, design a programme solution - along with its curriculum, script, storyboard etc - then develop the actual eLearning, test-test-test then launch. So quite similar to a software development cycle - except most often this is a one-man job and shouldn't last more than a couple of months.

Initially I was naive enough to think hey, I got this, but there's a reason why MOOCs generally have high drop-out rates. The bar for eLearning is extremely high. You also have to take account of other limitations, from outdated IT systems to the sizeable number of computer illiterates/ Luddites to the organisation's own conflict of whether the training should look 100% corporate (aka boring) or creative (learners cry hurray!)

But I find that I enjoy navigating through them and finding the right balance. I also learnt a massive amount about how to teach, what good designs mean and how to listen to users. In terms of opportunities - well there's enough I suppose, at least for me I can work on my edtech project - for children, cos hey it's just more fun ;) - with a backup contract work to keep the money going.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#63

Well... I hired a producer, wrote 10 songs, hired a director, filmed 3 music videos and worked harder than I had at any software startup in my life (platform/devops) trying to make it work. Serious long shot, but it's been a ton of fun! Edit: my last video won "Music Video of the Year" at the Oxford International Film Festival. So here's hoping!

Fantastic work!

I'm into photography as a hobby since 10 years. I started movie making this year, it's harder than I thought to make everything right. The post production work is also more challenging than for still photography.

I would be interested if you had any good links to get started and progress? What camera did you use? I'm making a movie about some cities, but it's taking more time than I expected, for something far from the quality I had in mind :-)

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#65
post #34

When my family moved to the Bay Area we owned a home. Rather than sell, we engaged a property manager to rent it out. We had a few years of excellent income from that which essentially paid the PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) on our FHA-financed home (including holding a "reserve" for repairs, vacancy, etc.) plus a (very small) profit. It definitely lit a fire in my belly to switch out. I find softwa…

Personally, I find going into real estate borderline immoral. Competing with people who want to own homes raises prices and makes people spend less on more interesting and intrinsically valuable pieces of the economy. There is some place for it, but right now there is far far too much money and too many people vying to get maximum profit out of a basic human need.

I'm on a similar page as you but I think that 'flipping' houses is okay. The house next door went for sale and we were thinking of buying it but it was a complete dump. Some guy bought it for a "steal" around $600k, fixed everything up, and sold it for around $850k a few months later. The plus (or downside) is that your new neighbor most likely is more financially well off than someone who would buy a cheaper house.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#66
post #62

I have a comp eng degree but was completely burnt out after graduation. I jumped into digital learning instead; it's ideal for me as it's still "IT" but combined with my other favourite areas, education, product and design. The learning curve wasn't so bad, there are plenty of good WYSIWYG authoring tools with only barebone knowledge of HTML/ CSS/ JS required - although you'll quickly find that that's much less impor…

I just made an account here to reply to your account .Could you please elaborate on how you got into digital learning/edtech or how can a fellow software engineer get into digital learning/edtech?

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#67
post #44
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of places do you look to find this kind of stuff? I'm based in Melbourne, so I'm not sure how different it is, but last time I looked into it the work on offer seemed overwhelmingly based around inexperienced devs working on shoddy PHP/Wordpress sites for far below minimum wage.

Upwork and various sites like it have plenty of people making way above minimum wage. You have to spend some time sorting through the nonsense, but it's there. If you're in North America, speak fluent English, and you can actually program, steady jobs in the $20-$30 an hour range are easy to find. (note that if you're a decent developer living in North America, I wouldn't advise working for those rates unless you hav…

Do you have any experience doing this? I've done lots of work in Unity and Android/iOS but mostly making games (70-75%). I looked at upwork and all the posts for game-related material looked terrible. I prefer to not make games but that's what I'm best at right now. Would it still be easy to get into? Or do you recommend getting good at front end, fullstack, or anything else? I do like to learn so that won't be a problem.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#68
post #6

Maybe teach English in Asia or drive an Uber? Or go to trade school to become an electrician or mechanic? Those are the escape routes I daydream about when I'm unhappy at work, anyways :)

Teaching is a difficult job, but I really enjoyed it. If you are from an English speaking country, have a university degree and are under 40 then the JET programme (Japan Teaching Exchange) is a pretty soft landing if you get in. Reputable government job, visa sorted out, travel expenses sorted out, accommodation sorted out and higher than normal wages (which... is not saying much -- it's still pretty low). The probl…

Oh man the JET program is amazing compared to the other teaching jobs in Japan. I was never part of the program but considering what they do for you and the market rate, the pay is still pretty good. Can I ask how you got back into tech afterwards? I taught for a few years in Japan and it was quite hard to land my first programming job after (I'm still in Japan).

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#69

I worked as a software developer for 3 years until RSI struck me. It took me one year of rehab to be in a situation to live normal life. Life decided for me that I can't be a programmmer anymore. I had an engineering degree in Computer Engineering and it was hard for me to convince myself that I can't type anymore. It just wasn't possible physically. So after much furstration I decided to make a change. I went back t…

Have you tried using a different mouse/keyboard or using one of those silicon pads to support your wrist? You could also try to change your posture while sitting.

Re: Ask HN: How did you move from IT/software to something unrelated?

#70

In this thread: lots of stories, but no one (so far) permanently moving out of coding .

It's a good job in a good market for employees. Why switch?

It makes sense that some people burn out due to bad experiences and after recovering come back.

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