Ask Slashdot: Life After Software Development? 416
An anonymous reader writes "I've been writing database apps for various industries as the senior developer or tech lead on a given project for most of the past 20 years. The last few years have become particularly taxing as I struggle to reiterate basic concepts to the same technically illiterate managers and stakeholders who keep turning up in charge. While most are knowledgeable about the industries our software is targeting, they just don't get the mechanics of what we do and never will. After so many years, I'm tired of repeating myself. I need a break. I need to walk away from it, and want to look at doing something that doesn't focus heavily on the IT industry day in, day out. Unfortunately, I'm locked to a regional city and I've just spent the majority of my adult life coding, with no other major skills to fall back on. While I'm not keen on remaining in front of a screen, I wouldn't be averse to becoming a tech user and consumer, rather than a creator. Are there similar Slashdotters out there who have made the leap of faith away from tech jobs and into something different? If so, where did you end up? Is there a life after IT for people who are geeks at heart? Apart from staying in my current job, is there any advice for someone who can't really risk the mortgage and kid's education on a whim?"
Write or teach. (Score:5, Informative)
Keep the job (Score:5, Informative)
Been there, done that.
A few years ago I quit a good job because I was tired of the same thing, day in, day out.
Decided to try my hand at different things, collapsed economically, got depressed, felt I was useless and then...
I got me a job (lower paying) as IT Manager again. Guess what, I'm happy because I know what I'm doing, I feel good because I know the ins and outs of the job and it is, frankly, a piece of cake.
So take a vacation, cool off and get back to the good job you have.
Re:Nope. (Score:5, Informative)
You'd be surprised how little it costs to get by.
Not when you have a mortgage and kids, unless you're desperate enough to go the arson route.
Be an adult about it., (Score:5, Informative)
Dude, you're an adult, you're not going to like your job every day, and you're not going to like everyone you work with. I'm working on finishing a project I hate, for a client who is a complete dick right now. But, he's the dick that pays my bills, and I manage to keep the work interesting by doing it different ways, rather than repeating the same thing over and over again.
There's really no way around repeating yourself. It's one of the evils of this industry. The thing I've found that works is talking about things in terms of electricity and plumbing. Some of it doesn't really fit, but it's a metaphor that people can visualize. The problem with explaining software mechanics to people is that there's no pipe to envision, no wire to point to, and the guts of the thing exist in the ether where they're shielded from perception.
Another thing that works is to make yourself less approachable. Not being rude per say, but people won't ask you a lot of questions, if you're not forthright in answering them. Or, if you give them an answer in terms you know they'll never understand. At the company I work for, the team in England is notorious for doing things like that. Even to other programmers. When dealing with technical people, you're asking them, at that point, to rewire something without telling you. But, if you're talking about non technical people, they won't understand a word of it; which means they'll find you less useful for answering questions, which means fewer questions.
If they ask you to do something stupid, do it. If they ask you to do something that will break your product, do it. It's not your job to do the job right. It's your job to do what the idiots in management want you to do, even if they don't understand what they're asking you to do. This isn't art, it's production. And you're not a highly skilled person doing a job. No, you're a very expensive piece of software that delivers what they want. So there's no point in questioning it.
As far as life after software development... there's always entrepreneurialism. You probably know enough to make a fair amount of money doing it. But it's not the kind of thing you can just go out and do. You'll need to find an idea, plan, and execute it. So you've probably got time if you're not in a hurry.
Re:Nope. (Score:4, Informative)
All jobs suck at one level or another. Grow up, suck it up, and keep working. You need to learn to work to live, not live to work.
The same advice I gave a coworker when we were discussing this same topic in -- of all places -- a children's library. I pointed him to this award-winning discussion [simonandschuster.com] of this topic.
I think your kids would also enjoy it, albeit on a different level.
Re:Put it on your resume cover letter (Score:2, Informative)
This is not universal. Startups pay squat until they raise funding, at which time they are often still very small teams moving very quickly, but their compensation package moves from 90% equity to 90% cash. If you want some financial comfort and security, take a job at a promising startup that has recently raised enough money for it to run for a year or two without revenue. You'll get decent equity, more or less market salary, and a job that doesn't totally suck.
You are burned out (Score:2, Informative)
Burn out is what happens when we keep doing the same thing without feeling like we've made a difference. What you are feeling is completely normal and it's not something that you can ignore and work through (without drugs). Those who keep doing something ineffective are less fit than those that try something else. It's the result of behavioral evolution.
I've been where you are (3 years past the burn out point in a testing job), so I know what it's like. Don't trivialize your feelings. Don't act rashly.
The first step is to take stock of your life and see what you really need. Think big and come up with several plans. E.g., what if you sell the house and move into a rental in another city? Can you get rid of one or more cars or downsize? How important is retirement to you? I know quite a few knowledge workers who are doing contracting and consulting into their 60s and 70s for a fat hourly.
The second step is to take stock of your skills and contacts.
* Making a good impression on people means that you are often welcome when they move elsewhere. E.g., my old supervisor, who wrote me a letter of recommendation, moved to a higher-up position in another company. Remember that people know people know people know people.
* Development skills are applicable to a lot of different jobs. You have to be analytical, understand and apply complex concepts, plan well, etc. These skills translate well to many different fields. E.g., one ex-IT worker turned these skills toward catering and did very well because his grasp of logistics and planning meant that he was more dependable and adaptable.
The third step is to learn how to run a business. Your skills could see you being a contractor, a consultant, or running a multi-person business, either in or out of IT. At the least, you can use those skills to fine tune your personal finances to save a little more money.
The fourth, and final, step is to start looking for something that will work for you. Most jobs aren't advertised. Some short-term contracts have an excellent hourly but require travel. A more fulfilling job may pay less. Working 6 months a year at twice your current hourly pays the same and leaves you with 6 months of free time.
Your skills as a developer will do a lot to help you make the transition. This is just another project you need to plan and execute.
Re:Write or teach. (Score:2, Informative)
.NET was released after the bubble burst.
Re:Write or teach. (Score:5, Informative)
Moving in with parents, yup (was Re:Nope.) (Score:4, Informative)
My wife and I were very lucky on this. Her parents, ages 88 and 95, needed in-home care, and were willing to pay for us to move to their town to provide it, as we were nearing retirement, and I was transitioning to full-time tech volunteering. It turned out to be vastly cheaper to live here in Indiana than in Silicon Valley, especially with the jobs gone away in the current recession just after they started coming back from the previous recession. We now live in the inherited house and have a comfortable income, between retirement and inheritance.
The writer is in a very different situation, but also has options outside the conventional I assume that the writer has significant home equity after 20 years, and has some savings and investments socked away, some in tax-deferred retirement accounts. Consider, then, the option of moving somewhere vastly cheaper. Quite comfortable houses in our town are available for as little as $70,000. There is a university town nearby (Indiana University, Bloomington), and we have several colleges and university affiliates right here in Columbus.
If you would like a different challenge among the enclued, you could do much worse than to join my outfit, Sugar Labs (a partner of One Laptop Per Child) working on Free Software for education plus Open Education Resources for millions of children now, and ultimately a billion at a time. Our mission is to end global poverty and its many associated ills, using technology as infrastructure for everything else needed. But there are other options right around here. For example, the OpenMRS Medical Records System is being developed in part nearby in Indianapolis. Your database skills would be perfect for them, and they even pay. ^_^
The schools here are pretty decent, and I and my wife also have experience in homeschooling our son and daughter.
So there really are options. Look around, and ignore the naysayers who claim that it can't be done.