
Ask HN: Have any former developers successfully changed careers? - leet_thow
I&#x27;ve come to realize that 15 years of experience, a body of work used by hundreds of thousands of people and solid references don&#x27;t count for anything in this industry if you can&#x27;t or refuse to solve puzzles in an interview while a junior developer watches and judges you.<p>I&#x27;m thinking of changing careers and living a peaceful and quiet life. I&#x27;m wondering if anyone has done so and how it turned out for them.
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yohann305
once i was in a bar in South Florida and talked to a random guy. He owned a
small business mowing city lawns and gardening. He was very heavy so in my
mind I couldn't understand how someone that's always working physically
outdoor can be this fat. (sorry there aren't any other word in my small
English vocabulary pool). It turns out when i told him i'm a software
engineer, to my surprise he told me he used to be a DBA and couldn't take this
lifestyle any longer and wanted to be outdoors. He successfully transitioned.

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throwaway2114
I have similar mindset. My manager is helping me transition to leadership
positions but I don't know yet if this is right move for me.

However, I am also looking into software sales. I have introvert personality,
and never done sales before. But I have friends who are about as introvert as
me and they are doing pretty good in it. As a sales engineer, you make mostly
proof of concepts for clients. You might even earn commission at some
companies. Requires a lot of travel.

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tim333
I've got a friend who was a developer and has moved more to landlording -
buying a couple of places on mortgages and renting out. It's gone pretty well.
It's something you kind of build up over time.

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bsg75
This is a question regularly on my mind, and I can say that the traditional
transition to management is not always the solution.

The puzzle mindset, tendency to ignore pragmatic approaches, desire to build
solutions that satisfy the requirements 5 years in the future while ignoring
those of today can make it very difficult.

Without the correct leadership from the very top-down, middle management can
be a daily test of wills, instead of being a role where one makes sure
projects get done.

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leet_thow
Yeah, no way I want to go into middle management if I don't even receive
respect when I come in to interviews for a IC position.

