Re:Ask HN: How to reset expectations with a lower paying job
by blaser-waffle on Wednesday March 16, 2022 @11:19AM
(#30699882)
How'd you do the retraining?
Re:Ask HN: How to reset expectations with a lower paying job
by specproc on Wednesday March 16, 2022 @11:58AM
(#30700427)
Not a normal route. I took a masters degree in public policy at a quant heavy school. I'd coded a lot as a kid, but hadn't done anything beyond VBA since then. Picked up python, and an understanding of stats, network analysis and NLP, loved it. Next job was a small think tank, I did a study or two with the skills I picked up. Applied for a data engineer job on the back of that a few years later and here I am.
My in was ticking enough of the tech skills whilst having a load of domain knowledge.
I'm a pretty junior, inexperienced dev, having retrained a few years back, but I get to play with all the things. Stuff I wouldn't be let near at a large Corp. I find my work very diverse, engaging, and as the go to guy for most things technology, I get a tonne of respect.
I guess it depends where you live and what your commitments are, but a six figure salary is still huge for most people.
If you can cope with the pay cut, why not take the plunge? Worst case scenario, it doesn't pan out: you've still got a FAANG on your CV, and it's a completely acceptable narrative when looking somewhere big again to say you wanted to do something meaningful for a while.