HN user
I found myself in the same boat recently, and looking for jobs/roles which is half business, half tech. I looked into "Solutions Engineer", but a bit afraid I loose my ability to code.
What did you pursue? Any tips?
Forget side projects and all of that crap!
Apply, apply, apply.... Sent out 30+ applications for positions you are somewhat qualified for.
Polish your CV, make clear that you have EXPERIENCE and GETTING THINGS DONE.
When you get an invite to an interview, create a little project in React (or whatever framework they are using), follow best practices and publish it on GitHub.
I am freelancing for quite a bit, and what companies want are peopöe who get the job done and understand their business.
Demonstrate this. Everything else is just the cherry on top.
You can start learning React and Vue, but what you want is understandinh fundamentals about frontend work (which you probably have).
So yeah, apply everywhere until you have a foot in the door and take it from there!
I am about to quit tech (being a programmer) in a couple of weeks. I mostly tell myself it's due to improved mental health.
I always assume that 95% of programmers have some mental disability to do what they do. Nobody with a sane mind can sit in front of a black screen with white text for 8 hours each day solving weird shit.
I started as a CS student and totally sucked at programming, wanted to quit. I finished my Bachelor and started at a StartUp. I totally loved it. I could build things they way I wanted, had a great CTO who helped me along the way.
But of course, you are getting ambitious, so you move on. Next company, higher pay, more complex problems. At some point I switched to freelancing and did 3-6 months gigs for several companies.
Now I taught myself Systems Programming, got a job at a really high paying and interesting company - so it seems.
What I figured out: No matter how high the pay was, the problems were always bigger. I quit a project early despite them paying me 20k a month and I was basically sitting my time up, nobody cared. I couldn't do it.
Now I realize, the ones who are really good at programming have some mental disability which lets them focus on this one thing for hours day in and day out. There is no way you can compete with someone further on the spectrum then you.
Then, what's the point?
You are either wanting to improve, but the better you get, the more challenging the environment. And the problems don't stop. The higher the pay, the more shit you got to eat. That's the whole point.
So you either give up, accept your situation and have a life outside of work, or you switch careers.
My problem is that I just can't seem to find the right company with the right people. Both smart, interesting but also ambitious. You either have super smart introverts who don't want to talk and socilaize, or you have fun people who can't code shit.
I had my first interview at a semi-technical role and boy this was the first time a job interview was fun. People talked, cared about how you present yourself and just didn't want to get as much money out of your mind as possible.
Programming is great, but a too big of a power for smart people not to make use of.
"All" you have to do is watch "How the economic machine works (in 30 minutes)" by Ray Dalio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0
Read his insights and watch his interviews. That's a good basic start. Everything more then that: Nobody really knows.
I have read countless of books, but one thing you have to know:
It is a market - period. Something has value just because another person wants to buy it (at a given price). That's basically all there is. If you think that some asset is worth more in 10 years then it is now - buy it.
The "markets" go heavily up and down currently. That's just because different people price in the current health crisis in different ways.
My point with Transferwise is also: They are not really transferring money. Whereas with BTC, you have a transaction. With Transferwise, they sum up all their transactions and do larger bulk transactions at the end of each month or quarter or whatever.
So with using BTC, you actually have the BTC when it is transferred. The banking system has to cheat itself to keep low fees and fast transaction times. With BTC, you may wait 10-15 minutes. With Fiat, you would usually wait a day or two. But, you can "cheat" your way through the system.
One way I don't get why people won't support BTC: It is a system where everyone can contribute, see every transaction and improve it. The banking system however is old, slow and deeply flawed. And there is no way of improving it. So yeah, even if BTC would be more expensive and slow, I would still use it more often then not, since it's software, and you can fix and improve software.
See, I did the calculations and it was cheaper to use BTC then to use Transferwise. BTC also worked faster for me then transferwise.
Of course, you already need to own Bitcoin. If not, the fees are slightly more expensive, but still cheaper then using "normal Banks".
I personally use Kraken. Deposit money is sometimes within the same day, and selling was never a problem: https://www.kraken.com/features/fee-schedule
I am not tight to them, but for me it's the less concerning option.
I am surprised that there is no mention of Bitcoin. My current project is also in another country (US) and I live in Europe. I am getting paid in BTC, and I pay even less then via Transferwise.
It is cheaper because the company already owns Bitcoin, so it doesn't need to buy them. What I do is:
- Getting BTC transferred to a wallet at an exchange I trust - Sell the BTC ones I receive them and put the money on my bank account
I switch between using Transferwise and BTC. The downsides are obviously that the price can fluctuate quite heavily. But my experience is that I saved a few hundred Euros each year (around 450 Euros) from using BTC instead of Transferwise.
That's not a lot in the grand scheme of things. What I like about a BTC transaction is that I can monitor it, it is even more transparent then Transferwise and I truly "own" the BTC ones sent.
It is a bit sad that I can't use it as much as I would like so I sell around 90% immediately to pay rent, buy stocks etc, and 10% stay there for future gains.