Ask Slashdot: Life After Software Development?

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?"

Comments

switch from technical to people skills ...

[swframe]

1) Move up the management chain. Stop moving up when you can't take the bs. You don't code anymore. You are still paid well. You have to reduce your reliance on technical skills and switch to people skills. It is messy. I find it hard because the goals are harder to understand. People don't act in their best interests and so doing something illogical (e.g. not allowing an employee to build a better solution because the current solution is owned by someone with more influence than you have) is the better choice if you want to keep your job. It is really hard to avoid becoming the dilbert manager when a dilbert manager decides your fate.
2) Move into sales or marketing. Again you have to tone down your technical skills in favor of people skills. If you move into writing white papers you can keep some of the technical skills but you will need to understand people well enough to influence them. It takes getting used to. I didn't like it at first but so far it has been easier than coding, a little boring but I feel my work is useful to the company and customers. If you move into technical presales you typically get a bonus but you also have to travel a bit more.

Re:Write or teach.

[JoeMerchant]

He's already demonstrated that he "can", which means he's ineligible to teach.

True this. However, at one point I planned to move the family to a rural area and partially address the lack of technical high school education by teaching there myself. Keys to this plan were:

a) reduced cost of living in the rural area
b) large savings account from life in the big city
c) a high tolerance for illiteracy

this is a town where the waitresses have never seen the word "Croissant" before in their life (yes, they have a Wal-Mart, but that doesn't mean that the townsfolk study the frozen foods aisle and actually learn from what's in it.)

With your existing education, you should be able to start substitute teaching and get a feel for whether or not it's a life you want to pursue for awhile. I'd recommend (based on two parents who taught high school) at least a full year of testing the waters before making a major commitment to the teaching path. By that time, if you like it, the people in the school system should know and like you well enough to give you a good shot at a permanent position. Be sure to check up on whatever B.S. C.E. (bullshit continuing education) requirements will have to be met before you can be honored with a high stress, low pay job teaching a room full of ignorant, arrogant, hormone imbalanced people who are not yet answerable to the adult criminal justice system.

It can be very rewarding, for some people.

Re:Write or teach.

[WaywardGeek]

I'm in a slightly different situation than the original poster. I've probably got a bigger mortgage, country club monthly dues, an Infinity G37 (though I always wanted a red Corvette), and the boat's not entirely cheap. I consider this compensation for living in North Carolina rather than my home turf of Silicon Valley, where I could only afford a crappy condo (which I loved and miss dearly), and where I was unwilling to raise my kids. I started a tiny EDA software company here, filed several patents, wrote some very interesting code, and sold the company last year. It should all be supper cool with no complaints. However, I started losing central vision, much like older people with age related macular degeneration. It turns out I have late onset Stargart's Disease and soon wont be able to read the screen well at all, at least with my eyes. So, keeping a job where I can pay the mortgage and all the other stuff suddenly seems a whole lot more important than it used to.

Here's the weird part. Because of my vision loss, I discovered something I love more than what I devoted my career to. I decided to take on this problem by the horns. I checked out the software for the blind, the best of which is JAWs, and it's impressive, but not good enough. Not only that, being closed source, I can't contribute to making it better. So, I decided to write my own, and was the tech lead for Vinux 3.0, which is Linux for the Vision Impaired. I've also developed algorithms for high speed listening, and just yesterday I found that the latest Audible.com app for Android either includes my code (which is LGPL, and they are more than welcome) or they invented something like it. It's freaking amazing at 3X speed, and it's only problem is they don't have a 4X button. I also built an open source voice last Thanksgiving which I now listen to exclusively, and I do it at 4X speed normally.

So... it turns out I love writing code to help the blind and people with low vision. I have a certain talent for it, and I'm not sure I can even describe the satisfactions it gives me. I love it more than any other creative activity I've ever engaged in. If I could make that the work of the rest of my life, here's no question it's what I'd do. Here's the rub. I get paid a bit more than double than the most highly paid accessibility software geek I know. If I accepted a job doing I what seem to love most, two things would happen. First, my family would go through major changes, as we could not afford my house, much less the country club. Second, I'd wind up working for some poor guy who is also under paid, and probably because he's too dumb to get a better paying job. I'd have to write stupid code determined by government officials or doners, who while well meaning, have little clue about what code people with vision impairments need developed. In short, it would almost certainly suck compared to doing it for free.

So... I'm with the other posters who suggest keeping the stable job, at least while the kids need you. Unlike the original poster, I do love my job. For me it's a matter of choosing between a great job that pays really well, and a job that feeds my soul like none other, but pays student wages. I'm not sure my kids will ever appreciate my sacrifice here... However, my boss seems willing to let me do a Google style 20% thing. That's what I'm doing.