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A comment on Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now? by throwaway234101 on Saturday July 25, 2020 @08:37PM (#23953480)
> I was working on military prototypes and aerospace projects.

How does one get into that? And is the money better or worse than software? I've been looking at switching to welding and machining for a while now, but the pay in my area isn't great.

The rest doesn't bother me. I even hear my local pastor is a racist now[0]!

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zkL91LzCMc

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Re:Ask HN: Former software engineers, what are you doing now? by ciclista on Saturday July 25, 2020 @09:04PM (#23953618)
Location, location, location. Well, and skillset of course.

I would strongly recommend against it though. The pay is terrible. There was a strong push for a few years to get people into the trades, and there was a strong misrepresentation of what the opportunities are really like.

Keep in mind that government contracts are a race to the bottom. The contracts go to the lowest bidder and since materials, etc. are a given, employee pay has really suffered. Being a machinist is not the path to a middle class life anymore for most people.

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