Ask HN: New career path at middle age

6 points by tumblerz 5 years ago | 10 comments

I know and often newly encounter many 35-50yo Americans with broken career paths and some level of family responsibility. Of those I know well enough to speak for, they are intelligent and diligent but often mired in hopelessness and exhaustion. Despite this, all of them have some time, almost everyday, that is spent on unproductive activity like gaming, drinking, netflix, and so forth.

Having asked around, I think 1000-1500 hours could be salvaged for learning each year, but this time is necessarily outside regular business hours and therefore not suited to many common retraining programs.

How can this demographic best use 1000-1500 hours, in a year, to attain a new career path?

ThrowawayR2 5 years ago |

> "Despite this, all of them have some time, almost everyday, that is spent on unproductive activity like gaming, drinking, netflix, and so forth."

They do this to precisely to try to ameliorate the hopelessness and exhaustion and to recover enough mental energy to face another day without going insane. Humans are not robots.

giantg2 5 years ago | |

I agree. There is an implied assumption in the original post that people have the capacity to use that extra time for learning. If you are mentally drained from work and other personal problems, then the ability to learn during that time may not exist.

muzani 5 years ago | |

These activities are a form of comfort for some, a frustrating addiction for many. I think a lot of people would love to be free of these habits, but don't know where to direct that time or how else to recover energy.

cyberdrunk 5 years ago |

> 1000-1500 hours

This comes down to 3-4 hours of focused effort, every single day of the year, on top of their work and family responsibilities. Have you actually tried living like this even for 6 months? I doubt it's mentally feasible for most of people.

dyingkneepad 5 years ago |

Not spending 1-2 hours of your day on something fun you choose to do (like netflix, drinking, gaming, etc.) will lead to even more hopelessness and exhaustion and burnout. Do you really think these people have the energy to try to learn or do anything productive at all? What is the point of life if you can't afford to do fun things?

I will assume you don't have a family to take care of + a full time job.

adamsea 5 years ago |

See a therapist, volunteer, exercise, journal, or do something to help with one's own mental health and personal growth.

Seems like this issue is why folks choose to spend their time the way they do. It's understandable. But, there's no point in being like "XYZ is the way to go", unless we're talking about someone who is already motivated and already making an effort, but hasn't been able to find something that's right for them.

And I'd bet that's a minority.

Plus of course the answer would depend on individual circumstances.

tumblerz 5 years ago | |

I agree that the issue is "why," but I also know the answer: they cannot ascertain a path forward. I do agree with your general advice, however. Health and involvement in groups are foundational.

As an example, a friend from this age group, but crucially, without a child, powered through a coding camp at 14-16 hours a day for several months and has had, to her, well-paid and fulfilling work since then. But, most would have difficulty carving out that kind of time, while also questioning a successful outcome (edit: in short, opportunity cost comes to be seen as very dear. This certainly does not excuse wasted time, but if you actually do not know where to invest time....).

The truly motivated are indeed a minority, but again, I perceive that as often a product of not seeing a path in the forest: sensing promise in no direction, they wander. Taking the metaphor further, and drawing on my meager SAR training, lost people wander until they needn't or cannot--the tools they need are a map and compass rather than will.

adamsea 5 years ago | | |

Totally. And my apologies if I implied a lack of "will" was the issue - God knows I struggle enough with that.

I think that "the path forward" is a mix of things. Often we have opportunities we have not tested, and, part of the path forward is discovering how to change our habits, environments, or thought patterns.

One of which is reaching out for help.

And sometimes you are absolutely correct; there may be no path. But, people's life circumstances differ so much, and any kind of change like this requires effort, commitment over time, and continuing on past roadblocks, that I doubt "an answer" is the right approach for individual people.

Usually it's the walking of the path that's trickier than ascertaining the path itself. Usually there's at least a glimmer of what might be a path ... except for the darkness within ourselves.

Now, governments, institutions, yes - I do believe our institutions should provide more opportunities for people.

fuzzfactor 5 years ago |

Just not being on Facebook gives probably more than a 1000 hour advantage, and it's been a number of years.

I think it's good to routinely spend at least 1000 hours yearly sharpening skills at work and off duty.

Seems like it can give you a number of possible new career paths if you so choose.