
Ask HN: As an experienced engr, how do I change my role? - pivot2data
I have been working in the storage industry as an hardware engineer (system design) for ~8 years. As I look around, I see very few opportunities&#x2F;openings in other companies which need a similar position. How can I pivot at this point in my life? I have python programming experience when it comes to programming. Ideally, I would like to move into a data analytics&#x2F;engineer role. I have been doing some courses on coursera&#x2F;udacity but I am pretty sure that&#x27;s not enough.Here is what I am aiming for
Sys Design Engineer -&gt; validation&#x2F;QA role in data center ops (most involve some analytics) -&gt; full time analytics role.<p>Its hard to find jobs where I can use my experience and get into analytics. Do I need to start all over again? As someone with a family, it would be hard to take a pay cut.<p>Note: 
1. As a system engineer, I do not code at all. I mainly deal with Flash memories - feature design&#x2F;validation.
2. Reason for a change - open my more opportunities for myself in future.
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imhoguy
Storage is backbone of the Internet persistence. Just a few quick ideas below.
I would keep this "storage" label and invest in some higher abstraction level
knowledge like Ceph, GlusterFS, AWS S3. Also SSDs are ousting HDDs nearly in
every on-premises application with hot data. Maybe writing some tooling for
massive storage fitness/performance analytics would help you land a niche/job.
To understand a new role you would need to learn what problems you can solve
for potential employer/customer. Maybe try to apply for eng. position at some
Internet giant companies G, A, FB. They often get interested in smarties in
other fields.

Definitely your career transformation will need a lot of effort and sacrifices
if you stay full-time at old place but it is doable. I wish you best.

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pivot2data
Thanks! Will work on it.

