
Ask HN: What could I do besides programming? - runtimeerror
I&#x27;ve been a developer for 20 years now, but in recent years I haven&#x27;t gotten much done and I don&#x27;t seem to enjoy programming anymore at all. I like the theory, but once it gets to the gruesome details I can hardly muster the willpower to wade through all the documentation and setup boilerplate.<p>So I wonder if it is time to admit that I am not a developer anymore.<p>I am just not sure what else I could do. Where can I go from programming? I have a family to support so I can not take a low paying job, unfortunately.<p>I have plans to do some writing, but I wouldn&#x27;t count on it earning money in the foreseeable future.<p>Teaching might be another option, but I worry that it would present the same problem as programming to me.
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beekums
Were you involved in the hiring process much? If so, you could definitely do
well as a recruiter. Hiring is a difficult process for many companies and
having a recruiter with a strong engineering background helps create much
better funnels for candidates. You will also have a much easier time getting
responses from potential candidates because you will be able to say more
interesting things about a company's tech in your cold emails instead of the
generic copy/paste templates most engineers get in their inbox.

~~~
runtimeerror
No hiring experience. I would be interested in that, although it seems as if
nobody really knows how to do it.

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gyardley
You usually can't go from a lucrative career where you have a lot of
experience to an unrelated career where you have no experience without taking
a big paycut. If you need to maintain your salary, it'd be much, _much_ easier
to figure out how to fix your burnout.

Failing that, you can possibly maintain your salary with a lateral move to a
role that deals with developers without doing any development directly - most
likely product management. This move is most likely to be successful at the
company you're currently with, because they already know you - it's harder to
change companies _and_ functional roles simultaneously without taking that
salary reduction.

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JSeymourATL
Turns out this is a common problem for programmers long in the tooth.

Former pro-athletes often move into the ranks of coaching or Front Office
Management. The same idea applies to programmers, you can either find a way to
leverage your expertise-- or get out of the game entirely.

Here's a good read, "In search of the fabled elephants' graveyard of software
developers over 40" > [http://www.infoworld.com/article/2617093/it-careers/it-
caree...](http://www.infoworld.com/article/2617093/it-careers/it-careers-
where-do-all-the-old-programmers-go.html)

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yolesaber
If you like the big theoretical approach, you might want to go into an
architect or principal engineer roles. These typically involve higher-level
considerations of systems design, data flow, etc. without delving into the
tedious boilerplate (that's for lowly devs! /s)

Of course if you want to get out of programming altogether, you could try
writing a book about your experiences or whatnot and market it as a career
advice.

Or you could live my dream and go back to school for chemistry and become the
High Priest of LSD

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lsiunsuex
It's never to late to reinvent yourself.

What are some of your hobbies? Sports? Art? Gardening?

Your could coach little league sports or produce art or start a landscaping
company. Wether it brings enough money to support you and your family is a
different issue, but theres no reason you can't plan the transition while your
still a programmer.

You could go back to school and get a law degree or teaching degree.

I was saying just yesterday, if I ever left programming for whatever reason,
I'd start a small remodeling company. I enjoy it that much and it's so far
away from programming, it might rest my mind for a bit.

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brudgers
Suppose there is a 50/50 chance that teaching presents "the same problem as
programming". That's better than the certainty that programming presents "the
same problem as programming". And part of the problem of programming may be
that it's "old hat" while teaching would, even in the worst case, be a novelty
that sucks.

Good luck.

~~~
runtimeerror
True about the odds for myself, but I wouldn't want to be responsible for
destroying some kid's enthusiasm for coding.

Still, I might look into it. Salaries are not that great for teachers, but
maybe sufficient.

~~~
brudgers
My experience around kids is that an adult has to go out to the extremes to
destroy a child's enthusiasm. More common is that the child sensibly decides
that a subject is not for them all on their own.

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AnimalMuppet
> ... but in recent years I haven't gotten much done and I don't seem to enjoy
> programming anymore at all.

Maybe fix the "haven't gotten much done"? You might need to switch jobs to one
where you _can_ get stuff done. That might fix the "don't enjoy programming
anymore" part, too.

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sharemywin
Sales, Training or Recruiting. Doubt you can make the kind of money you do
now, but it's definitely different.

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edimaudo
You can be an consultant as programmer skills like communication, problem
solving are transferable.

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poushkar
You should take some time off if you can afford it. Like, a few months at
least. Try all new things you can think of during this time and you will
definitely find something that interests you enough to switch to.

~~~
haikyuu
that's what i'm about to do for the same problem ... except i have just one
year of experience !

~~~
partisan
I caution you to take such a break so early in your career. There are a lot of
things to be learned at this stage and you can get valuable knowledge from
your experienced colleagues.

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tmaly
How about creating a blog about something non-programming that you love and
improving your writing skills?

Or how about creating an online course through one of the education platforms.

~~~
runtimeerror
I'll definitely try blogging, and I have thought about online courses, too. I
expect it would take a while to make an income from that, though.

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smt88
Developer advocate/outreach? Project manager?

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runtimeerror
Technically a good idea, but difficult since my enthusiasm for programming has
become so low.

~~~
smt88
I think that, viewed the right way, your weariness of programming would be
helpful. You know what burns people out and makes them unhappy, and both of
those jobs involve preventing those things from happening.

As a developer advocate, you really just need to be a people person. You need
to be willing to understand what makes people happy or frustrated and bring
that back to decision-makers at your company. You, of all people, should be
able to relate fairly easily.

~~~
runtimeerror
Possibly, but somehow I would have to convince somebody to let me try.

