Ask HN: How do I solve my technical inadequacy and make the jump?

3 points by ydrol 7 years ago | 4 comments

I'm going to lay it all out there as I feel like I'm approaching a midlife crisis at 35:

I love technical work and programming, however I have no tertiary education directly related to development. I do dev work outside of work hours for "passion" projects (games related, no illusions of becoming professional) so I believe I could be considered motivated and interested in learning.

I have ~15 years of dev work, however this has always been in a team (currently 5 years) where I am the most technical member. Whilst I have engaged in constant reading and self directed learning, ultimately I don't think I am up to scratch with expected dev experience/ability/knowledge of tools and workflows. I held scrum master certification, however my boss was not on board with enforcing principles (not complaining, it's his call) so I would consider myself a "beginner" here as well.

I am well paid in my current job (location: Sydney, Australia, ~125k + benefits), however I would like to change to a company where there is opportunity to work in a team of/with devs so I can learn.

I am experienced with c#, js, typescript, ms sql and primarily write tools to help internal teams/automate business processes/ease reporting. I don't particularly enjoy web work and my ideal (but not necessity) is to move to statically typed dev work (would love to work with rust or go but I have no professional experience).

I have experience with leading and implementing projects over the APAC region to comply with vendor reporting requirements and automation of business processes.

The truth is I don't know if my skills/experience translate as I have never been part of a truly technical, experienced team. What is an industry recognised way of increasing my technical competence? Should I be looking at some sort of PM role or something?

I am considering going back to university to do a degree in computer science, but if there are alternatives I would love to hear about them.

quickthrower2 7 years ago |

From what you say it sounds like you are a great developer.

It is worth defining your goal because you speak about Scrum Certification and Project Management, and also of studying more CS. So are you looking to get deeper in the tech or move to management type roles?

ydrol 7 years ago | |

When I was younger I wanted to move in to management type roles. However I have never had (or made?) the opportunity so I feel like these are outside of my short to medium term goals. Moving to a company that offers advancement would be an ideal, but in the meantime I feel like I need to make myself a compelling candidate.

I totally understand around difference between pm/dev work though - in a perfect world I want dev work, however I am willing to accept it's not a possibility for me at my age whilst maintaining my current income.

I don't have a technical network for job opportunities (due to non technical teams) and job ads/recruiters seem to filter on technical proficiency.

Another commenter said I should double down on basics and meet end user needs - that's precisely what I do. I get things done, but can I demonstrate technical knowledge or professional experience with language x? Can I define what a singleton is? I'm not so sure.

lolptdr 7 years ago | | |

I want to reiterate the earlier commenter's words: focus. You seem to be spread thin amongst various roles in a typical software/tech company, from product manager/scrum master to developer. Hone your attention to what you really want and if you aren't sure, then start anywhere. You won't know until you try!

I'm not sure if LinkedIn is big in Australia but recruiters in America will scramble to you with offers for possible jobs if you update your profile with the latest tech and frameworks. Your non-standard background definitely will attract interest so give it a go.

nutcracker46 7 years ago |

Double down on basics you have missed in the past, including mathematics and logic. Learn more about what end users need and code to meet those needs.