We'd just go back to business as usual: Slow change on a stupidly old tech stack that we keep getting blocked from actually moving away from due to higher-ups getting a bee in their bonnet about the latest great idea they have. As long as my check cashes I DGAF, but having the AI has made it nice.
Yep, laid off at the beginning of August after just over 2 months at the company. They staffed up to "totally redo the front end" and 2 months later cut us all loose, saying that they were not going to do the project after all. Normally I bounce back from things like this no problem, but in this super dry job market even the recruiters have stopped calling me for 3-month contracts that are 4 states away and require me to be on-site.
As an employee I found that the topics varied depending upon the current workload and stress level associated with it. If it was easy, quiet times we'd just shoot the breeze for a few and then call it good. If things were totally nuts they ended up being brainstorming sessions. The in-between times were when I made sure that my supervisor knew what my career goals were and how I was setting about reaching them when time allowed.
As a manager I schedule them once per month with my team and for 30 minutes and don't stress if they run short or long. It is their time to tell me about anything that they need to talk about. Most times we have a short, 15-minute chat and call it good. Last month I had one dev tell me that they were stressed beyond belief, not sleeping well, not eating well, and not happy. I've made sure to keep in touch with that one more often and provide help where I can (lower stress issues, mention company programs, etc.) IMO weekly gets old really fast and the manager should be able to recognize that and adjust accordingly. You do that for new people (like yourself) until they get settled in and are working as expected on code. After that you dial the meetings back gradually until they are as unobtrusive as possible but still within company requirements.
There are a few key points that you are missing that are worth pointing out:
1) Have your resume redone by a professional. You're obviously trainable and dedicated. A good resume will enhance these things. You don't need to pay huge amounts for this service. Good ones start at just about $100.
2) Don't try to apply for jobs that are drastically above your skillset, especially if you are trying to change careers. Skills in knowing what things to put in each spot on internal forms are tough if not impossible to translate to tech or any other industry. Skills in recognizing where processes can be improved or streamlined translate better. Your resume should highlight and omit the right things. Instead, target positions where you have ~80% of the required skills already and are in the process of learning the other 20%.
3) Consider starting a side business. If you look around there are countless small things that can be done on the side for decent money. Some can even be done with only a smartphone. Others just require a computer. This _could_ end up being more lucrative than a degree for the same amount of investment. The one warning here is don't fall for any "get rich quick" schemes. If it sounds too good to be true, it very likely is. Once you decide to do something, realize that it may take time to build up the income stream. 4-6 months is fast. 9-12 months is more common. If you want to make this about the skills that you are trying to learn then all the better.
I'm interested in your side gig suggestion (created an HN acct just to ask, time to quit lurking after all these years). I'm just not seeing any things that can be done. It's probably me, but I sure could use someone making some suggestions to help get started. I have the patience for 9-12 months, but I don't have any insights on what to do or how to figure it out. (my skills include many years of linux, perl, python, and java).
Do you recommend any specific resume service? I was considering doing this but I get overwhelmed by choice. Should I also pay for my linkedIn profile to be updated?
I'm a resume writer (I actually made the first comment on this post and recommending a resume didn't seem appropriate since I hadn't seen what he has). If you click on my profile you'll see details.
And see, that's a fear when I finish this degree in 2.5-3 years. I'll almost be 40, with no experience in a field other than my current one, and a degree competing with 20-22 year old competition that is likely willing to work for less, and work much more, to get experience.
They are actually likely to be paid more. Starting salary, at some of these companies, is crazy[0].
“Senior people are more expensive!” Is a red herring. I was actually told, by recruiters, that I was asking too much, because of my age (I was asking for less than starting salary at most companies).
For myself, I had my retirement set. I was looking for work that interested me, and would have been happy with half of what people with far less experience would have demanded. I just needed to keep the lights on, and have insurance. I wanted to solve difficult problems, and work on a team. That's what I have been doing my entire adult life.
It’s about what is euphemistically called “cultural fit.”
i.e. “young,” in most cases. Look at most "all hands" photos of a lot of tech companies. Smiling young faces abound. There may be one or two greyhairs, but, in my experience, a bit of digging, reveals them to be very high up on the food chain.
In big corporations, with highly-structured process, that’s actually understandable.
In smaller companies, it’s likely corrosive to innovation and flexibility, but everyone wants to set themselves up to copy “the big kids.”
Maybe VCs also feed that. I don’t have experience, working with VCs, but I do know they have outsize influence in the startups they support.
Interesting, fun. Would be a good idea to put a Settings option in the Start menu so that we could change things like bank interest rate (4% is nuts, nearly everything in the US is .01%) and the currency type, among other things.
I'm doing roughly the same thing, but just starting out. The focus is on real estate and business ownership. How long did it take you to get to the RE point?
I reached 100% income replacement for myself in my late 20s. Then I got married and had kids. My spouse and I reached 100% income replacement in our mid-30s.
Glad to see a fellow practitioner. Best wishes on your journey!
I have a rental house that does not cover the mortgage on it. Real estate investing is where I am focusing, but I also have two software projects that I am working on in addition to my regular job. Not a lot gets done on either one these days.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HK6F7LJ2
Beyond that, I'm steadily working my way through Finders Keepers by Stephen King, and then I have a couple of John Scalzi books queued up.