
Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do? - binconsole
If you were to quit your developer job today and move away from the tech world for a little while, what job would you do?
======
943_924
Something that's a switch of gears from "deep, isolated knowledge work" to
more action, people, managerial oriented work. Project management, realtor,
small business owner, recruiter.

If I'm tasked with something, it may take me a day or it may take me a week
depending on how well I can _think_ my way to a solution. Maybe it never
comes, maybe I'm spending days searching the same SO answers for a morsel of
insight or inspiration from poorly written documentation to solve a problem.
Drinking coffee, staying up late, maybe it bleeds into personal life, that
urge to keep looking into it to finally put an end to the task and deep
dizsatisfaction.

I'm often jealous of people in other jobs that aren't this way, that are more
"just hustle and do it," where at the end if the day, you either _did the
work_ to progress your position/project/whatever, or you didn't. And if you
just got up in the morning and physically and metaphorically "showed up" for
the job, there was a far lesser chance you'd just stare a screen to no
discernable result for 8 hours and feel a sense that no progress was made.

~~~
throw_this_one
Dude good point. The worst is when I’m stuck on an insignificant issue that is
blocking the entire thing I’m working on.

------
JohnFen
Years ago, the best software engineer I've ever known took a break from
programming and became a long-haul truck driver.

He found it a fantastic experience. He claimed that there is more overlap
between the skills needed between the two than you'd think (and that he met a
surprising number of other truckers who used to be software engineers).

If I decided to change careers, I'd seriously investigate that.

~~~
jimmyvalmer
This sounds like a blatant "grass is greener" mirage. Guys drive trucks
because it's all they can do to support themselves, not for any other reason.
When I fall asleep at my terminal, I get fired. When I fall asleep at the
wheel, I die.

~~~
JohnFen
Nope. "The grass is greener" refers to falsely thinking that something you
don't have is better than what you do have.

This guy drove trucks for three years. I think his assessment of his
experience is not based on an illusion.

He also wasn't saying it was better than software development. He was burnt
out in the software world and drove trucks simply to do something that wasn't
that. After a few years of truck driving, he returned to the software world,
which is what he is still doing today, and speaks positively of both that and
truck driving.

------
amerkhalid
I would love to be a fiction writer.

I am not good at fiction writing at all. But this is something I always
romanticize about. Something about sitting in cafes or home and typing away
seems like a perfect day to me. No need to debug, troubleshoot production
issues, attend meetings, submit TPS reports, etc. Just you and your writing.

~~~
Blakestr
I spent four years in college for English literature. You can do that or you
can just read the book 'Self-editing for Fiction Writers' and do the same
thing in a tenth of the time.

The other thing you could do is to join a writers workshop, in person is
always good but there's no reason why you couldn't join some remote thing. The
caveat is that however big the workshop is you need to read everyone else's
work and comment on it as well, which means if you have a workshop with four
people you typically will need to read something for 4x for every one of your
submissions.

The other thing to consider is whether you want to write fiction that is
necessarily entertaining or literature that is compelling. Those are two
entirely different disciplines.

Then simply write a single page every single day no matter what.

~~~
943_924
What material do you recommend that is on the subject of writing compelling
fiction?

~~~
Blakestr
Generally you need to understand the concept of showing vs. telling which is
described in the very first chapter of that book.

The other thing you just need to do is read the masters. Hemingway, Gabriel
Garcia Marquez. Try to find an example of some compelling fiction for
yourself, something that moves you. then try to find some cliff notes or a
summary regarding that's story's plot. The information is there, but the
emotional reaction, the thing that moves you is missing from the summary.

There is a story called "Litost" by Milan Kindera, that in my opinion does a
very good job of explaining this without breaking the mood of the story
through boring exposition. At its heart the story is simply about a youth in
an affair with an older woman and unrequited love. But real compelling fiction
is not just the story.

It comes from a word without English equivalent. Litost is a state of torment
created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery”

Try to find a copy of the story and read it. I looked for a link but couldn't
find anything. Try to avoid reading literary criticism initially.

------
erkken
I tend to get jealous when I see people working with their hands, prefferably
outside. Sometimes I even observe the guys cleaning the street and thinks,
maybe its not that bad after all?

The times I have done such work (like construction) resulted in a much greater
satisfaction and feeling in my body than after a day in front of the screen
(even though I have been productive). Doing lots of running and gym but it
does not generate the same feeling.

Have lately started to do something about it, maybe switch career totally.

~~~
943_924
Cal Newport mentioned in his last book Digital Minimalsim about the benefits
of learning and accomplishing something with your hands in the real world, and
how it's argued to further energize whatever else you do it, be it digital.

------
tony
\- Psychologist / Counselor / Professor: Huge impact opportunity. Society is
so career and status focused nobody pays attention to emotional needs.

There is opportunity help others understand and express the feelings of _why_
they suffer, instead of acting out in indirect/critical, dysfunctional ways,
which compounds the problems. That is just benefits that can be attained at
ground floor.

Please check out Attachment Theory and Schema Therapy:
[http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/inge_orig...](http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/inge_origins.pdf),
[https://www.guilford.com/excerpts/young.pdf](https://www.guilford.com/excerpts/young.pdf)

\- History professor: Because history rocks.

Aside: Montemayor, an independent history documentary maker, has a documentary
on The Battle of Midway at
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8_vO5zrjo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8_vO5zrjo).
If you would like to support his work he has a Paypal on his channel page!

\- Flipping houses: Upgrade carpentry from tech level 0 to tech level 3 and
get property + credit line

------
wcchandler
I’m currently a sys admin/sys engineer.

I’d become a farmer.

I love growing plants. I love being outside. I love being away from
electronics. It’s perfect for me. If only it paid more... (but I’m working on
that, in 2-3 years I hope to be able to make the transition to full-time
farmer)

------
neuroticfish
Anything but programming. What I would not give to go back and do something
else.

~~~
stephen82
That's my daily phrase lol.

You cannot imagine how much I hate myself for dealing with technology...

~~~
zhdc1
I'm honestly curious, why do it then? Money isn't worth dealing with something
you hate every day.

~~~
stephen82
I'm not currently doing it as I'm unemployed and at my age (near 40) cannot
find something else without previous experience.

edit: obviously my impostor syndrome kicks in lately due to countless factors
and I self-sabotage with every interview out there lol. I just want to go back
in time and slap me in the face for choosing this career -_- I don't want to
spend the rest of my life in front of a screen.

------
stephen82
I can't find the proper words right now, because many folks here share so many
traits with me, which leaves me speechless.

I too want to switch career and do something else, completely different than
technology and as many of you mentioned, I want to deal with handcrafting,
anything that falls under the "art" category, really.

In my opinion, my mind and body tells me that 80% physical activity and 20%
mental / intellectual is the best combination.

That's my ideal concept I believe.

~~~
dhruvkar
Yes! I feel that too.

Recently, I moved from the Bay Area to midwest city where family and some
friends live, and have a 3 week old.

I plan to build a homestead in the coming years, transitioning from an office
job to working on the land -- building/developing land, growing food and
living a simpler, if perhaps more strenuous lifestyle.

~~~
stephen82
Very nice. Get your hands dirty man and enjoy the process!

------
vcoelho
Carpentry, probably anything that required manual labor with some creativity
needed.

------
quickthrower2
I’ve though about being a tradie. Doing some home improvements has been fun
and I can stay focused more easily than on screen work.

Also considering doing some freelance work which although still coding will
involve some sales/contract negotiation type stuff and the chance to charge
more (I’ll keep my job so it’s easy to say no to low ballers!)

You North American coders would say 150/h is meh for freelance work but if I
could get that in my spare time it’d be pretty cool.

------
ariosto
Painter, sculpture, architect (residential homes), musician...

I love being a software engineer but I would love it more if I didn't have to
rely on it for paying living expenses.

------
playing_colours
Sport medicine and diet: I would like to help people get fit, healthier. Plus,
I like learning these topics.

Also, it would be great to have flexibility in work, and ability to be more
outside. I find it so unnatural and sad that we have to sit on our arses and
look at monitors locked within 4 walls for our best healthiest years. I
slightly suffer internally every time, when the weather is great outside.

------
beatgammit
I've thought about starting a financial planning charity to help middle class
and up people get out of debt (low hanging fruit), but I think I'm more likely
to try to become a fireman or something else physical. I just feel so much
more satisfied by doing a bunch of physical work or charitable work than
technical work, so once I don't need income, I'll switch it up.

------
zer0sand0nes
I would have a SurfShop that is connected to a Restaurant & Bar in Hawaii - in
close proximity to the beach. My life would be complete.

------
marapuru
There would be various paths for me to travel. In my student days I did a lot
of bartending (in smaller pubs), loved that work. I found that it's very cool
to treat guests like small projects. As in, keep them happy. The project
always finishes within the same day :-)

------
datenhorst
Some years ago I read a book about a banker who took a summer off to work an
Alpine pasture (ie. a summer farm) without electricity and company. Just him
and 50 cows. I've been dreaming about that ever since.

------
zhdc1
Academia or launching a startup (which is why I quit my job for a research
position in academia - eventually... it took me a couple of years though -
studying high growth startups)

------
clinta
I'd be a machinist. I love watching machinists on youtube turn a hunk of metal
into a useful part. It looks like it has the right mix of problem solving,
thinking and labor.

------
valand
If money is not a concern, being an artist is exciting.

Being a good hacker really helps with creative processes.

------
CameronBarre
I try not to limit myself to having a career.

------
justhw
Coach a soccer team. Takeover a coffee farm in Ethiopia and run some
experiments. Create a small internet holding company.

------
ai_ia
Sailing and working in company that makes sail boats.

Have been learning a lot of sailing and boats from YouTube. Want to give it a
try.

------
softwaredoug
Be a full time stay at home parent. Possibly including being a foster parent.

------
dmitrygr
Run a skydiving dropzone. If done well, it can break even money-wise, and you
meet some pretty awesome people.

------
bsenftner
Lately, the idea of building and operating a solar farm sounds interesting.

------
2rsf
Something done out in the fresh air, still not sure what exactly

------
sergiotapia
Become a carpenter or apiculturist.

I feel like I'm too unplugged from nature.

------
umen
Working in garage like "gas monkey"

------
mvcatsifma
Blacksmith / Expert Sword Maker.

------
hidemyass44
trekking guide. I really want to be the trekking guide

------
29_29
Lay concrete

------
sethammons
Voice actor

------
billconan
painter, artist, cartoonist

------
dlphn___xyz
research

------
pikapikamtf
gigolo

