
Ask HN: Do you know anyone who left the tech world and found happiness? - johnward
I&#x27;ve been working for over 8 years in support&#x2F;consulting roles. I&#x27;ve never found any of the jobs bearable. I really like web development but I can&#x27;t get anyone to take a chance on me even at half of my current salary. I don&#x27;t really have time to do side projects and build up a decent portfolio so I understand why people are skeptical. Any other type jobs I apply for I&#x27;m told that I&#x27;m not qualified or I need a bachelors degree to even be considered.<p>Since I&#x27;ve hated life for the last 8 years I&#x27;ve been thinking about making a drastic change like leaving tech to go work construction or something. Basically my life is already office space so why not? It made Peter Gibbons happy...<p>Do you know anyone who has been in this position that has left tech completely and was better off (at least happier) because of it?
======
wpietri
One thing that took me a long time to learn: when negotiating, make it about
what the other person wants. So, in your case: don't ask people to take
chances on you. Tell them why you're the best person for the job. _Show_ them
why you're the best person for the job. Anything else isn't business, it's
charity.

And if you aren't the best person for the job? You'll have to up your skills
or start with jobs that you are the best person for. Put up a friend's blog
for $20. Find that business down the street that doesn't have a web site and
sell them on doing it for $50. Build a volunteer registration app for your
favorite non-profit for $100.

Related to that, and to your comment about not having the time, I find this
piece from John Scalzi helpful:
[http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/16/writing-find-the-
time-...](http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/16/writing-find-the-time-or-
dont/)

Is the reason you don't have time really that there were zero seconds left in
every single one of the last 365 days? Or is that part of how you're
bullshitting yourself? We all do it, so you shouldn't feel bad about it. Just
spend some time thinking about how you got where you are and what your
priorities are. It's important to recognize (in a kind and respectful fashion
as possible) that the biggest common factor among your last jobs has been you.
Sure, change careers if that's what you really think you need. But don't be
surprised if changing careers doesn't fix the big problems.

~~~
johnward
This is good advise but the problem is that I'm never going to be the best
person for any job. I'm not even the best person for my current position. I
can guarantee had our startup not been acquired I would have never even been
considered form y current job. However, I can do the job and do it pretty
well. The reason I got hired at the startup was that they were desperate for
people with some understand of web dev to meet the demand of consulting
projects they had backed up. I think they really did take a chance with me and
it ended up working out.

~~~
wpietri
I agree with what maerF0x0 says (best applicant), but wanted to add, that it's
partly a marketing thing, a confidence game. If two equally good applicants
present, one with self-esteem issues and one who says, with quiet confidence,
"I know I can solve your problems and that you'll be happy with my work," then
most people will hire the confident person. We're primates; social signal
matter to us.

Also, you should consider whether you're experiencing the Dunning-Kruger
effect. The way that people get good is by having high standards and then
working to live up to them. As Ira Glass says, "Nobody tells this to people
who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we
get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first
couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good,
it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into
the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A
lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do
interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work
doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through
this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you
gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of
work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and
your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out
how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal
to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

Keep fighting. You'll get better.

------
iamthepieman
I've taken second jobs as both a barrista and fitness trainer alongside my
full time tech/software engineering jobs.

In both cases they were lower stress and more rewarding. In the case of
training, i felt like my work had a real impact on people's lives that I never
felt in tech.

My wife and I even dabbled in livestock including raising sheep, pigs and
chickens.

Perhaps the fact that the main purpose of my secondary jobs was not money, but
getting to know people in my community and connecting with them was what made
them lower stress. If I had been reliant on them as a primary source of income
they may have taken on all the headaches of my day job.

I've never liked sitting at a computer all day. I went to college for it, got
a good job right after college and was never able to make nearly as much money
doing anything else.

I'm constantly trying to reduce my possessions and live minimally in the hopes
that I can support myself and my family doing something I enjoy even though it
will almost certainly be for much less money.

~~~
seivan
How is that even possible with the fucked up deadlines most tech work has?

~~~
michaelochurch
What happens if you miss the deadlines? Sometimes, the answer is "really bad
things". Sometimes, it's "absolutely nothing". You have to learn how to judge
that.

To engineers, missing deadlines sounds like this catastrophic error. This is
amplified by our experience in an academic system where deadlines are well-
tested and 95+ percent of students can meet them. The truth, however, is that
most "deadlines" in business are flexible and more tied to some uninformed
speculation on how long something "should" take, not how long it actually will
take.

Some deadlines are hard. In law or government, 12:00 means 12:00 and 12:01 can
mean missing a contract or losing a job. Governments are often legally
forbidden (in the U.S.) from awarding a contract if the proposal comes in one
minute after deadline (anti-corruption laws). Others (most, in software) only
threaten mild embarrassment. Sometimes, you can tell ahead of time that the
deadline will be missed no matter what happens and your job is to deflect
blame.

If there's a career benefit (as in a promotion, a raise, or some other hard
currency that will advance your reputation) in working 70 hours per week to
meet a deadline, then do it. If there isn't, then just stay out of the
critical path of blame.

~~~
iamthepieman
I eliminated a lot of stress when I stopped trying to fix things and make my
job, company and projects align with some perfect ideal I had in my head from
reading too much "Signal v Noise" and HN.

~~~
johnward
Are you trying to say that maybe my expectations are not realistic? I often
wonder if that's the case. Especially when I get replies that no one like
their job. Then I wonder why do people live hating their lives until they
eventually die?

------
ChuckMcM
I know several people who have aligned their lives with what they love to do
and found much more happiness. One switched from tech to law, one from tech to
forestry, and another is a chef at a restaurant. I've also known people who
switched and then switched back because they realized it was more about the
money for them than the happiness.

That said, there is a bit of internal confusion in your message which talks
about specific jobs vs tech and tech qualification. So if your issue is that
you don't have a degree, consider going to school to get one and doing web
development on the side to help fund it.

Finally, look at this question _" I don't really have time to do side projects
and build up a decent portfolio"_ very carefully. What do you do with your
time? Are you putting in 60 - 80 hrs at the office? in what role? What do you
do when you aren't in the office? That can often inform you where your
passions are.

~~~
johnward
"Are you putting in 60 - 80 hrs at the office?" Sometimes. Over the last few
months I've been working nights and weekends due to project demands. My client
is west coast and I'm east coast so they have no problems calling me at 8PM
with issues. I've also been behind on 'mandatory training' so I've been
catching up on that on nights and weekends. I've given up 4 vacation days for
the project also.

I basically work, go to the gym, and sleep. I've been allowed to work remotely
lately which saves me 4 hours of commuting on most days. Lately those 4 hours
have been consumed by client work. I'm also dealing with some health issues
that make it hard for me to stay awake and/or focus. Skipping them gym just
makes the next day much worse so I don't want to consider that right now.

That being said you're right that I _should_ be able to still carve out some
time to do other things.

~~~
a3n
You need a different job, anyjob, that pays you enough to live on but gives
you personal time. What you're doing is not sustainable and they're taking
advantage of you; you're helping them do it.

Find a different job, which is not your goal job, just something to live on
that will give you some breathing space. From _there_ , start your side
projects or whatever else you decide you need to do to up your cred.

Even if you liked what you're doing, you still need to find a different job.

~~~
johnward
I really need to adjust my lifestyle for that to happen. As it is I can barely
afford my house, cars, and student loan debt on my current salary. I've
actually considered bankruptcy but I'm not sure I want to try that.

~~~
a3n
> I really need to adjust my lifestyle for that to happen.

It sounds almost like that's justification for not doing it. Instead, think of
that process as lots of smaller first steps.

------
sprocket
I left full time tech work 3 years ago to start farming and overall, my
quality of life has increase substantially. (Though I often joke that I can't
tell if it's the best-worst decision I've made, or the worst-best decision.)
After having spent 15+ years doing software development, I'd encountered a lot
of disillusionment along the way and felt that I was always building something
ephemeral and that in 9 out of 10 cases, didn't really matter in the bigger
picture of life.

The biggest adjustment was the income disparity between the two - we're
definitely a lot poorer at the bank (though rich at the table). That's
something we've gotten used to though. Many of my hobbies and projects now
involve building things on the farm that end up eventually being used to
produce something we'll sell.

I do still supplement the slower winter months with the odd telecommute
contract, but the plan is to eventually go all in on farming (hopefully by
next year).

~~~
swarthy_io
At one point in time I wanted to farm as well. I read this book by Joel
Salatin (he was in Food Inc.): [http://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Farm-
Entrepreneurs-Enterprise/...](http://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Farm-
Entrepreneurs-
Enterprise/dp/0963810928/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388166647&sr=8-1&keywords=You+Can+Farm)

It is a great book on farming but I find it to be one of the best business
books I've ever read as well. Just wanted to recommend it to you.

~~~
sprocket
I'm a big fan of a lot of Joel's methods. His advice to develop cheap, low
cost, portable infrastructure is what we've been building our farm around. As
an added bonus, the quality of pastured chicken or ducks or eggs or whatever
is unbeatable. We strive to raise only the best quality produce or meat, and
by selling the vast majority direct to our customers we can actually earn a
reasonable living from it.

------
incision
_> "I really like web development but I can't get anyone to take a chance on
me even at half of my current salary. I don't really have time to do side
projects and build up a decent portfolio so I understand why people are
skeptical."_

Find the time.

It seems like you already know how you can carve it out, you just have to
accept the sacrifice[0].

Figure out what's most important to you and start cutting out things that
don't move you closer to that goal. You'll simultaneously start moving in the
direction you want to go and possibly spend less making the possible reduction
in salary easier to swallow.

This is all certainly easier said than done, but it's not like your situation
is terribly unique - I expect it's pretty common experience around HN.

Everyone I know who found happiness leaving or reorienting themselves in tech
did it by preparing rather than simply leaping. Turning hobbies and part-time
projects of passion into careers.

0:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6245844](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6245844)

------
jpiche
My mentor in the business and long-time friend quit tech altogether and now
farms in North Dakota. He is incredibly talented, but after over 10 years
working on computers, he gave it all up for a simpler life working the field.
Being a smart man, he's very successful at that too. From my perspective, I'd
say he's much happier and truly enjoys life.

------
thaumaturgy
Yes. I have.

I started an early career in tech and did well. At 17, I had a full time
position in the data center of a school district, and from there, went to a
special support department for a major corporation.

At 21 or thereabouts I realized I hated the tech industry, and it was making
me bitter and cynical at too young of an age. I wanted to know if I could
start over from scratch and still do alright. So, right about the time of the
dot-com bust, I bailed out and started wandering around.

My jobs after that included ditch digging, climbing instructor, rock gym
manager, outdoor retail, and tree planting.

It's still, overall, the happiest I've ever been.

One of the worst things about tech is that there are so many problems that you
become responsible for, but can't solve. You can't do anything about somebody
else's stupid program. You can't do anything about a bad piece of hardware.
But, if you're digging a ditch, there's no problem you can't solve with a
bigger shovel. :-)

Climbing instructor / rock gym manager was my favorite. It was pretty amazing,
I met a lot of cool people, I picked up a lot of good skills. That's not a
part of my life anymore, but it'll always be a part of me.

Unfortunately, none of those things ever paid a lot. So, some years ago, I
went back into tech and eventually started my own little tech business. I have
more money now, but I'm not happier. But, I still get to revisit my old life
from time to time, and that makes tech a lot more bearable than it was in the
beginning.

So, in short:

> If you want to do it, do it.

> Money might be scarce but you'll survive.

> If you want to go back to tech later, you can. Don't worry about being
> "behind" in the tech industry. You can catch up, it's not hard.

------
moron4hire
Every person I've known to do it, all three of them, has been the happier for
it. These were all computer-science-degreed, top tier consultants. Just
couldn't stand the industry anymore. One woman went off an trained to become a
master clock builder, all off of having taken a tour of one builder's workshop
only a few months prior! She's my hero.

I've considered it. I got halfway there, building museum props for a short
spell. It wasn't enough money so I took the first programming contract that
came my way. I do have to say, life has been much better as a freelancer than
as an employee. It's still not perfect, though that is partly my own fault for
not finding more clients.

I think that's a large part of it: the self determination of working for
yourself. I know some people can't motivate themselves enough to get the work
done on their own. I guess they just find working for someone else a lot
easier than I do. I don't know, I wake up and remind myself of cubicle farms
and it kicks my ass out of bed every morning.

~~~
wpietri
I feel the same way about self-determination. The best thing for me about
freelancing is that if you structure your workload well, you can tell any
single client "no" and still be fine. That knowledge gives me a lot of
negotiating strength, which lets me push back against the sort of plausible-
but-wrong managerial notions that employees just shrug and accept.

------
runjake
I had a coworker/friend who essentially had a mental breakdown at their tech
job during the 90s bubble. After a rather spectacular exit from the work
place, he sold everything he owned (including his home), swore off tech and
moved to the bay area.

He's now a successful jack-of-all-trades machinist/special effects guy for TV
shows and movies everyone in the world has heard of. He is happy. Still hates
computers.

I don't know how old you are, but perhaps instead of a drastic career change,
you should examine what you do in your free time and modify that?

If you're spending all day working on computers, try focusing on something
completely different during your off-times. I do a little woodworking and
other manual grunt labor for fun.

Everyone has their Office Space moments. Mine has been for the past 7 years.
Sometimes, something drastic is needed, and other times small, gradual changes
can help.

~~~
blt
How did your friend get the job? I have some fabrication and machining
experience that I would love to use, but it seems like most shop jobs are
pretty low-paying and uncreative. Working for Hollywood sounds like an
interesting alternative.

------
dschiptsov
I do know a person who did exactly this. Now he is founder and director of a
travel agency (he does what he loves) and he told himself that he never been
happier.

I am still haunted by tech since I've quit my last 9-to-5 tech job years ago.

------
emiliobumachar
Check out Jamie Zawinski's blog:

[http://www.jwz.org/about.html](http://www.jwz.org/about.html)

"Hi, I'm Jamie Zawinski. I'm the proprietor of DNA Lounge, a world famous and
award-winning all ages dance club and live music venue in San Francisco, and
of DNA Pizza, the 24 hour cafe and pizzeria next door.

Prior to that, I worked as a programmer. I was one of the founders of Netscape
and Mozilla.org, and have been involved in the free software and open source
community since the mid-80s. I was the primary developer of Lucid Emacs (now
XEmacs), and probably wrote most of your screen savers."

~~~
minimax
Good idea but keep in mind that jwz probably made serious bank in the Netscape
IPO.

------
sradu
Zach Klein, one of the founders of Vimeo, spends most of his time in nature.
He builds cabins and seems incredibly happy.

From The Startup Kids
([http://thestartupkids.com](http://thestartupkids.com)).

~~~
tannerc
I wonder how making millions affects an individual's ability to relax and
build cabins in the woods.

If Zach were doing the things he is now solely to make a living, how would
that impact his happiness while conducting those activities? Would he
realistically even be able to?

~~~
iamthepieman
I think money, in this case, is a stand in for security. Some individuals have
the mental makeup that allows to have peace and security internally even if an
outsider wouldn't say that about them from their external circumstances.

A person like this takes their security from their faith in themselves, god,
their relationships or their belief in some higher purpose or perhaps in their
own self-delusion.

Having enough can mean enough money, enough love, enough self-actualization.
Money, to me, is the easiest one.

~~~
nnoitra
The question is whether you can become such a person if initially you're not.

------
billyjobob
I don't anyone who is happy, whether they are in tech or not. I've met a few
people who appeared happy because they were able to project a false front, or
hide behind alcohol or Prozac, but once you get to know them and scratch
beneath the surface you find they are as miserable as everyone else. The only
exception was a rich girl I once met. I think her low IQ basically made her
completely unaware of what was going on around her, and with her wealth as a
further shield from the real world she perhaps knew authentic happiness.

------
innertracks
I left tech burned out in 2005. Database admin in healthcare both provider
side and insurance, among other things. I decided to start my own thing
writing about personal development and the such.

Became a home schooling stay at home dad then a divorced home schooling stay
at home dad. Along the way I got a fantastic education in direct response
marketing and entrepreneurship.

Now, I'm getting back into tech. These days I balance the following:
sleep(!!!), teaching and learning Argentine Tango, yoga, kids, eating well,
time with friends, marketing and biz dev for consulting, problem solving with
computers, and writing about spiritual experiences.

I can only do any one of them with enthusiasm because I do all of them.
Happiness has turned out to be what I bring to the table not what is given to
me by an activity or outside experience.

Took me over 40 years to figure this one out. We'll see how it plays out over
the next 40 years.

------
jedderfrank
I really hate working for other people. It's almost always boring, tedious
things that I really don't care about. Making something else your primary job,
and doing development on the side, would probably make you much happier.

My friend, after a string of really crappy dev jobs, quit, moved to Austin,
and is now working as a barista at a coffee shop right across the street. He
isn't making a lot of money, but he is going to a ton of meetups, playing a
lot of video games, and generally having a great time. A lot of his stress is
gone now that he isn't doing something he hates for 40+ hours a week.

If you want to build your portfolio (and make some money) the local business
route is a pretty solid way to go. Lot's of small companies still don't have
websites, and you can make decent money throwing up a few WordPress sites.
They won't cost you a lot of time, or them a lot of money, so they should be
willing to take a chance on you. You may have to physically make some rounds,
but a nice walk around town isn't so bad.

I have no idea what your expenses are, but if it's like most people, you'll
probably have to cut back some. Throwing in a lower-stress, part-time job
would help as well. Then you should have enough time for web development and
side projects.

Last time I did this, I saved up a lot of money, quit my job, and worked for 6
months on my own projects. It was awesome. I only finished a couple of things,
none of which made any serious money, but I had a great time. Freelancing
helped me last a little longer than I would have if I just used my savings.

Next year (end of March, almost here!), I'll be leaving for good. Moving to
the country, starting a farm (that seems to be a lot more common than I
thought, based on this thread), and being a part-time (ha!) farmer and part-
time devloper. I love developing, but I'm not happy working in the tech
industry.

Good luck, and I hope you find something that makes you happy.

------
codezero
You should consider going to college, even a junior college. I worked in
support until 2002 and got laid off post 9/11\. At the time I was uninspired
by the work and I decided to go to college and get a degree in a non CS field.
I ended up researching solar physics and eventually found my way back to
Silicon Valley in a more fulfilling job. Definitely explore, but make sure you
know what it is about your work that you don't like even if you don't know
what you do like and find out where your niche is.

Also, don't let a requirement like a degree stop you from applying. I worked
many jobs in tech that required a degree before I actually had one.

~~~
johnward
I'm considering going back to school but basically my only option is to do
something fully online since I need to work full time. I also find it hard to
justify taking on more student loan debt.

------
seivan
We seem to be in the same situation. Even at a lower salary, I still can't
convince people to let me do design work, but then again it's understandable
as I haven't finished anything as a decent portfolio.

~~~
ryanSrich
Let me know if you want ideas for projects. I know what companies look for in
a design portfolio. Contact info is in my profile.

------
benjaminwootton
I can see the appeal of this.

I've been writing software for 10 years now, but I find development quite
solitary and the corporate world can be a bit of a drag to the extent that it
takes the fun out of coding.

I still love writing code and learning new technologies, but I can scratch
that itch on my own time and find something I feel a bit more passionate about
for the day job.

For me it's going to be entrepreneurship next. If that fails I will look at
retraining in a completely new area.

------
darwinGod
One of ex-colleagues has now been happily trekking in the Himalayas for
6+months,and will most likely might set up some non-tech venture over there
sometime soon. (He has had the rare opportunity to reject offers with
Google/Amazon/Microsoft etc).Am lucky to call him a friend,not just because he
is smart- he is a great source of inspiration for me- for his perspective on
larger things in life - his pursuit of happiness,and guts.

------
slashdotaccount
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Englebart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Englebart)

~~~
dasil003
My friend lived in his guest house, and I can assure you that he went to work
every day well into his 80s.

------
swalkergibson
Have you considered approaching a local non-profit and volunteering to build
their web presence? I am sure they would be happy to have you.

~~~
johnward
This might be stupid but where do you go to find local groups? I don't find
satisfaction in work but maybe I can help some people and in turn help myself.

------
pearjuice
Bill Gates managed to pull it off pretty easily.

~~~
bhaumik
With billions to his name, I don't think it would be too difficult

------
dfraser992
Shortly after the first Internet bubble broke, I quit my horrible job and went
to film school. IT was no longer fulfilling, or was at least a headache, and I
needed to do something different.

After film school, I needed money to pay for film school... so I tried to get
back into IT. San Francisco was still in the doldrums, so it was stressful
trying to find a job and I kept fouling up interviews. I eventually made my
way down to LA and lucked into a good contract job there. But I found myself
really beating myself into the ground - development was taking so much out of
me, I couldn't manage to work on anything else, like screenplays... I was
going through burnout but couldn't see it at the time. The compulsion to do a
good job was taking over and having a great client didn't help.

Fast forward a decade to now, and I am getting completely out of IT now. I've
spent the last 4 years being professionally raped by a full blown sociopath
and the reason I couldn't see it was because I was having to put all my chi /
focus / energy / whatever into doing the work - it was now a serious
compulsion instead of the enjoyable 'get paid for my hobby' thing my career
started out as. And being manipulated didn't help... This process I now see
had started 10 years ago but I, like always, pushed myself to keep on the same
track instead of forcing myself to go through the stress of change. So I've
lost a decade of my life here...

I may be projecting, but "work, gym, sleep" sounds like you are starting to do
what I did. Don't! It's a slippery slope. I wish to heck I'd reached out to HN
like I see all these other people doing and asked for advice... If you still
like web development, great, keep up to date at least out of pure interest,
but it does sound like you need to do something different, if only for awhile.
Changing gears will only help if you are getting habitual in your work life.

Pick something interesting in web development, just one or two things, and
become an expert at it - at some point you'll be able to get paid to do it no
matter if you have a degree or not, just as long as you are prominent in some
fashion in that particular ecosystem. Being a generalist like me is only good
if you like working for small companies and doing everything only "good
enough" versus being the "expert" in one thing for a company. Most companies
only want square pegs they can hammer when they get past a certain size....

I'm guessing you are late 20s, early 30s? It is about now then that people
start asking themselves "what do I want to really do when I'm 40ish?" I didn't
listen to myself unfortunately - procrastination. So if so, you still have the
time to make a mistake without too much consequence - one's life is like the
software design cycle (sort of). If you think your life is like the waterfall
model... every mistake in your 20s will haunt you forever (i.e. the women who
have a checklist for Prince Charming). But life really is more like
evolutionary design or maybe agile... try to view things like that.

------
asdasf
>I really like web development

Odds are you would find it every bit as soul crushing as tech support if you
did get a job doing it. Web development still carries the stigma of "I know
how everything should be, you just do the grunt work of actually writing the
code for me". You constantly deal with bullshit, people insisting on making
the site suck ass because they "have an eye for design" or making things
convoluted and hard to use because "I know people" so who cares about all
those usability studies. And then when the shitty site is a failure, they
pretend it was your fault and that all of the stupid shit they demanded was
your idea. Web development is enjoyable when you are doing it for yourself,
rarely is it tolerable when doing it for someone else. If you want to aspire
to something better, pick a trade. Web development isn't a step up from tech
support, it is just a step sideways.

------
michaelochurch
Yes, but there are a few caveats.

1\. Most of the happiness-finding comes from cutting expenses and complexity,
not from leaving "tech". If you want to live in San Francisco or New York, you
need a high-paying job, and you'll have to worry about security deposits and
commutes. If you'd be happy in New Hampshire or Mexico-- and most people would
be-- you don't.

2\. It takes a fair bit of savings, and some luck. Make sure you have bridges
unburned and contacts so that if your yoga studio fails, you can get back into
technology. I don't think it's the work itself that's bothering you; I think
it's the political nature of technology when you slide in at a low level and
have no credibility.

3\. OP: you, personally, have been bumping along the bottom of tech. It's not
that tech is a horrible place (although people do burn out now and then).
You've just been getting a string of shitty jobs.

4\. Here's a counterintuitive idea, related to #3. You've already gotten over
the hard part, which is getting people to pay you as a freelancer. Double your
rate. Double it again, maybe. You could be getting shitty work because you
charge too little. Perhaps you'll be happier if you charge more and get better
projects. To add to that, you'll have more time (because you'll be doing less
work, most likely) to build your skills and move on to something better.

5\. If #4 fails, include training time (to get the skills to move to better
work) in your billable hours.

~~~
johnward
Re: #4. I'm a consultant for a company. I bill at like $300 an hour and make
something like $40 an hour.

As far as cutting expenses goes that's something I need to work on. I
basically can't take a pay cut because I live paycheck to paycheck. I already
live in one of the lowest cost areas in the country and make 2x average pay in
the area.

~~~
michaelochurch
_Re: #4. I 'm a consultant for a company. I bill at like $300 an hour and make
something like $40 an hour._

That's a hideous pimp cut (86%).

You probably can't work for those clients directly-- I'm sure it's in your
contract-- so what you need to do is ask these people, who are paying $300 for
you and happy to do so, if they can refer you to friends or other businesses
(who might be their own side projects) that might be willing to meet you,
individually, in the $100-150/hour range.

Your contract may prohibit you from cutting out your employer for an existing
client, but says nothing about leads you get while on a job. Given how badly
you're getting screwed, your top priority in each gig should be to get leads
that support your independent consulting efforts.

