Ask HN: How to pull off a successful career switch?

12 points by krasotkin 4 years ago | 11 comments

I share personal details below if you want to help me in particular, but your personal story or general advice is of course very welcome. I imagine many of us are looking to do something at least a little different.

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My resume doesn't scream competency with any particular technologies. I've just been "the web guy" for marketing teams. I enjoy being a generalist but it seems to be backfiring on me now. I probably couldn't swing it in a front-end role or a back-end role. I've gotten by, by writing mostly HTML and CSS with some snippets of PHP and Bash. Roles tend to be looking for a React specialist or a Laravel expert. When years of experience with a technology come up, the best I can usually say is: "I used that for a thing once."

I'm contemplating taking a break from tech altogether and doing--something with plants? Recently, it occurred to me that technical writing is a possibility. I might be able to stay proximate to my old roles but still do something different for a while. Honestly, getting into an "actual" developer role feels as daunting today as it did when I had no work experience. Is this just a confidence thing? I've enjoyed playing with computers since I was a child, but still the idea that I could even be a developer feels like a delusion. As a kid, I wanted to cobble together a website, not become a PHP dev, so, I learned enough to make my toy projects. Now, I'm 26 and after some professional experience, I feel semi-capable at a lot of things, but I don't think that's what most roles are looking for and I can't blame them.

codingdave 4 years ago |

My recommendation is not letting your resume of today dictate your future career. If you want to be a front-end dev, then figure out a plan to learn the skills you need to get the experience you need to have the career you want. Don't give up on your desires just because there is a learning curve to get there, even if it does feel daunting. Your future self will thank you for having gone through the trouble.

On the other hand, if you really don't like the idea of being a coder and would be making a change even if the learning curve was quick and easy... that is a good reason to go ahead and make a change.

Either way, step one is to decide what you want your next job to be. It is difficult to give good advice at this point because we don't know where you want to land, so all we can give is a generic path of: Identify skills gaps -> learn those skills -> apply for jobs.

the_only_law 4 years ago | |

I’m reminded of another thread from the other day about resume length. As someone with a huge career change on the distant horizon. I don’t know if I hate resume. If I had to guess, majority of my skills in knowledge comes from outside work and is not something

The problem is this just is not sufficient in covering all I’ve learned and done. I’ve been regularly screened out of jobs that I 100% know I can perform, but it’s fair. If you looked at my resume you’d never think I’m qualified, but I’ve picked up so many skills and knowledge from a cumulation of years of just fucking around. At this point the only jobs I can get it’s [equivalent of old job] + more pay.

krasotkin 4 years ago | |

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your advice. My "pipe dream," if you will, is that someone here knows of something I haven't yet even considered and will suggest it. I'm also hoping that people have stories of when they jumped from point A and landed at point B, whatever those were. It's nice to hear those sorts of stories, and maybe I or somebody else here will read their story and it will help.

travisjungroth 4 years ago | | |

I switched from flight instructing to software engineering, with a stint as a waiter in the middle. Six years later I’m at Netflix.

> Honestly, getting into an "actual" developer role feels as daunting today as it did when I had no work experience. Is this just a confidence thing?

Yes. You know more today than you did when you started, so it should be easier. The problem is your rate of progress is low. If after 4 years you feel 10% of the way there, it’s going to feel way worse than 0 years and 0%. Remember that every software engineer knew less at some point than you do now.

You need to do something to dramatically increase your progress. Pick a technology or topic and start making stuff. This stuff is all free. It’s not like you want to be a ship captain and you need a boat. The only thing in your way is your mindset.

On that note, you need to become a different kind of humble. I get this “I’m no good” vibe. You need to replace that with something more neutral and concrete. Something like “I’m a beginner”. It’s the difference between “I’m weak” and “I bench 55lbs”. The latter can change.

Approaching it as a career change is really the way to go. I don’t know if you were just talking about the plants, but it applies if you want to stay in software. Look at it as switching from “software guy in marketing” to “software engineer”. Its a big jump, appreciate it.

Something you might not have thought of: move. That can really get things going. You could get a house in the rural part of a poor country for a few months for real cheap. Bring a few books and a laptop with you, good to go. Start sending out resumes to junior jobs when you have a month or two left. This is how I ended up at Netflix, more or less.

GianFabien 4 years ago |

I have switched careers multiple times. Electrical engineer to computer engineer to systems programmer to systems analyst to business analyst to IT support and then network engineer to academic and now back to programming mechatronic systems.

Although I've never given it much thought, my switching has always been into a field that I became interested in. Applying the principle of adjacent possible, i.e. using my existing skills to provide the foundation for stepping into a new field. In hindsight, the downside is that I probably would have had a more lucrative career by not jumping around. But I had fun and when the fun left, I would start looking for new opportunities.

It might not be obvious, but I tended to work for smallish companies who were ramping up in the area that I got hired to do. Obviously large companies are far more interested in candidates who can prove that they have 5+ years experience doing exactly what they are looking for.

bredren 4 years ago |

If you enjoy web programming, and would like to pursue it as part of your career I have a few suggestions:

- you are correct that many companies would pass on your current background if you went out for an open developer role.

But they pass on many qualified people as well. There is some baseline amount of software engineering knowledge expected by most companies though.

By your own description is likely you don’t have it yet.

- changing careers to something that usually requires so much practice is less of a switch and more of a wiggle.

- The fastest way to wiggling in this direction could be:

   - pick a single web backend language and tech such as Python and Django (which has a lot already included and mature documentation) and start making practice sites about plants or whatever interests you. 
   - do it until you are just competent enough then start applying for contract roles using upwork or other IT hiring platforms. Price low, get a gig and figure out what you have to, going off the clock if necessary. 
    - do this for up to a few years, increasing your rate as you grow. Learn vanilla JavaScript es6+. Learn how to host your own stack on EC2 or digital ocean. 
    - make small contributions to open source projects. Conduct yourself professionally and politely in comment threads about issues you file or PRs you offer
    - prepare for brutality in hiring, it’s a lot like raising money. Often a difficult experience even if you’re great. Apply to many companies, learn what you are looking for and be honest about what you know and don’t.

Your “I used that once for” type stories will eventually become very useful, because it is helpful to have someone who has seen problems manifest in many ways, regardless of how poorly you solved them back in the day.

It is not easy but it can be done. You will have to work for it, but you can be paid decently well up until you convert to a FTE.

Or just do something with plants. If you can make life work and do that, maybe do that.

adingus 4 years ago |

At 26 I made the switch from manufacturing management to coding. I started practicing and just trying to apply my new skills everywhere I could within the job I had, even when using old approaches would have been better. I slowly moved in the direction of coding and now I am a full time dev. There's the cliche phrase "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". Well I say just pick up the hammer and whack things and you eventually find the nail.

krasotkin 4 years ago | |

I'm glad you shared. It's funny as CNC/fabrication is something appealing to me right now. Our stories might end up thematically parallel but reversed.

adingus 4 years ago | | |

The job I was doing was all quality assurance engineering and management so I wasn't actually "making" anything unfortunately. I have played around with CNC machines & lathes and they're quite fun so if you're interested in that then give it a go!

GianFabien 4 years ago | |

As long as it's not your fingernail.

ReallyAdjective 4 years ago |

I switched from physics to full stack dev. Granted, some consider that a small leap but I promise I was terrible when I started.

This is basically "just a confidence thing" with a dash of accepting a pay cut.

My advice:

Code on the weekends, see it's fun.

If it's fun take a bootcamp, or better yet, build your own project.

When they ask for your experience, can your self a junior.

And when they ask for your preferred wage, ask for a low number.

Get paid to learn. The market in Canada is desperate for talent.