Ask Slashdot: Getting My Wife Back Into Programming After Long Maternity Leave?

An anonymous reader writes: My wife has been on a maternity leave for three years, now. She is starting to think about refreshing her coding skills and looking for a job. Before, she worked as a Java developer for around two years doing mostly Java Enterprise stuff. However, she is not very eager to go back to coding. I think she has the right mental skills to be a developer, but she is just not very passionate about coding or IT in general. On the other hand, it's relatively easier to find a job in IT than starting a new career.

We live in Spain, and with the current economic situation, the market for software developers is not great — but it's definitely better than other jobs. I there anything else she might do, ideally Java (but could be anything IT related) that would be easier and more fun than the typical Java Enterprise stuff, while also giving her a good change to find a decent job? (I'm a Java developer myself with many years of experience but mostly doing boring Java Enterprise stuff.)

Comments

Why force her to do something she doesn't want to?

[krotscheck]

It feels like you're trying to push her into a career she doesn't really want to be in. If I was you, I'd respect her wishes and instead support her while she finds something she's passionate about.

Project Management or Business Analyst

[ranton]

Two great careers for software developers who don't really like writing software are project management and business analyst. Both are very necessary in almost any IT group, and having software development experience will be an asset in both. Analysts that can write SQL and fully understand object modeling are rare and valuable, as are project managers who understand the software development life cycle from the viewpoint of developers.

Pretty much exactly what my wife did

[Anonymous Coward]

My wife was out of the programming workforce for about twenty years, and worried that her FORTRAN skills were no longer needed :-)

I encouraged her to take some Java classes, she liked it a lot, found an interesting job and several years later is loving it.

The thing is, do the research to find an *interesting* job -- yeah, it may be just "Java Enterprise stuff", but if it's an interesting project, and something you believe in, with good people, it's worth doing. My wife's team is a crazy bunch, and she enjoys their interactions (and telling me the wild stories) a lot.

She's been able to learn a lot of useful side technologies (XSLT, Databases, basic web stuff, etc.) so she'll be able to find a new job if the rumors of them moving the project she's on several hundred miles away pan out.

Anyway, with you working, she doesn't have to settle for the "first available" job, look around a lot, interview a bunch (if nothing else, to hone interviewing skills).

Good luck to you both!

"Not eager"

[mi]

However, she is not very eager to go back to coding.

I see another "poster girl" raising awareness of the "pay inequality" in the making...

Re:Why force her to do something she doesn't want

[MightyYar]

I don't know the woman, but calling someone who has been chasing a toddler around for 3 years "lazy" is probably why. It might not be skilled work, but it is exhausting.

Re:Why force her to do something she doesn't want

[Rasperin]

I can't speak for either of those professions, but I stayed home for about 6months with my two toddlers (honestly easier than one because they play together), and trust me, it isn't easy. If you actually parent/clean/cook and don't just screw around watching tv and facebooking all day it is pretty constant physical and mental labor. By the end of my run, I was ready to get back to programming. On top of that it really is a thankless job with criticism when you are having a bad day. At least when you are having a bad day programming, you just open up slashdot and slack for a few hours. Do that when you are at home and the house is trashed. Then it becomes mentally debilitating because it's a job that is never done and if you are consistently doing it 24/7 it all goes to hell.

In regards to coal miner or roofer, again I can't speak to those professions, I can say as a person who worked in construction for 5 years during school, I'd rather be doing that then chasing kids around (if only it was just that).

Oh and nap time is the time to get shit done, it aint rest time. There are no breaks. And when you are the SAHP your the primary care giver and the other person disconnects so instead of working 40hours a week like your spouse you work essentially 7 16hour days.