Some of the professional aspirations I've heard recently from unhappy techies: operating a beer-making supply store, starting a video game store, making cabinets/woodworking, and becoming a nurse! Most notably, none of these techies have any interest in becoming consultants and/or using their tech skills in another job. As for me, I'm undecided. I'd like to be a writer, but since I've devoted my life to computers I feel like every last ounce of creativity has been drained from my body and my writing is relegated to ridiculous ranting on web sites. Oh joy. And geez, writing won't pay my mortgage.

Posted by: Jack on August 6, 2002 09:57 PM

 

This is a tough one. A while back I visited an employment agency to see if I could 'cross-step' into a another career. Their answer? "Why would you want to leave the web industry - many people are falling over themselves to get a good job in the web!" But I have considered re-entering the Television or Film industries - but that would mean starting from the bottom of the ladder which I'm not prepared to do at this point in my life... I guess the main issue (for me) is that any career is an option - but will it pay just as well as the web industry?!

Posted by: Zef on August 7, 2002 01:26 AM

 

You know what I've always wanted to do? Be a cartoon voiceover artist. I can do accurate impressions of many cartoons on TV. Scooby Doo, Elmer Fudd, Popeye, Bugs Bunny, the list goes on...

But because I live in India, that dream will probably never come true. :(

My other dream is to own a restaurant. Cooking is my biggest passion next to computers, and I've been cooking since I was 13. In another 5 years, I will make it happen.

Posted by: MadMan on August 7, 2002 01:46 AM

 

Also, not enough management people read Peopleware

Posted by: MadMan on August 7, 2002 01:55 AM

 

I dream about that all the time... One thing that would be great is a job that knows (almost) no deadlines. Where quality comes before speed. I'd love to work in a big bookstore. Or do something else that actually means something to other people. But I have the same problem as Zef: how about the pay? You get used to a certain amount of spending money. And to a certain amount of luxury.

Posted by: Edwinek on August 7, 2002 04:40 AM

 

Are people in IT any more dissatisfied with it than those in other professions? Most people grumble about their jobs.

If someone doesn't enjoy continually refreshing their skills then they're unlikely to be happy in any interesting/creative/challenging job. Maybe people just need to switch to better jobs, perhaps taking a pay cut and/or getting out of big corporations/cities and into smaller companies/towns?
I can certainly understand people getting fed up with sitting in front of a computer all day though, everyone's bound to tire of that at some point.

Posted by: Matt Round on August 7, 2002 04:41 AM

 

Anyone see technology revitalize a career? A dentist in my locale uses Virtual Reality helmets. Allows the patient to go from "whaouerhoaaklkdfj" ...to simply tuning into the dentist perspective (he wears a head cam) of what is going on.

Anyone try to figure out the smartest interview questions asked? It would seem a little more 'infoage'. It would seem the interview process an ideal study of information tactic and counter tactic.

Posted by: (the other)JS on August 7, 2002 08:07 AM

 

You don't get enough postings from women around here.

I would do something totally different - work with kids maybe. Do something where I interact more with other humans, face to face, than I do with a computer monitor.

A friend of mine left the industry to become a baker. A BAKER!! And she is so happy.

I don't contemplate leaving the field because I don't enjoy refreshing my skills. In fact, it's just the opposite; when I am involved in some sort of professional development, or when I am engaged in conversation with someone who is teaching me something new, that's when I think about staying, not leaving. It's the day to day stuff that wears on me; the uncertainty, the lack of compassion, the interaction with management who refuse to put their money where their mouth is.

There will always be a place in this world for bakers. They will never be obsolete. Maybe my friend had the right idea.

Posted by: Rebecca on August 7, 2002 10:24 AM

 

When I want a change, I always aspire to a more artistic realm, like going from interface designer to graphic designer. I have already some experience and it's related.

But after a long and exhautive argument with a client or a programmer about a silly proposition ( I mean REALLY silly ), I dream of going more to the technical side, like programming. If it's working, everybody's happy, end of the discussion.

Posted by: Richard Lehoux on August 7, 2002 11:15 AM

 

Sure, every profession requires skills refreshening, but few are quite as steep as the tech sector, and the medical field.

I'm pretty sure I could be good at holding and twirling one of those signs on a street corner - pointing motorists toward a new housing development that has houses for sale, or promoting $5 pepperoni pizzas - but I draw the line at wearing a gorilla suit.

Posted by: Jack on August 7, 2002 11:22 AM

 

You know I came from a finance background and ended up in the Internet...go figure.

But I am starting to feel as the hype has disappeared that I may have ended up inadvertently pigeon holing myself into a profession with very few options - I am on the business side, not the tech.

So I have been spending much time contemplating what I would do if I chuck it all in and my response would be go back home to Oz and either start a pub/bar or a cafe...but both would need to be by the beach so I could surf at lunch time every day. And in the morning. And in the evening :)

Posted by: JB on August 7, 2002 12:04 PM

 

I have to admit, the amount of time I spend studying and reading does take it's toll from time to time and I do feel anxiety over the "interchangeable" issue. I've managed to set myself apart, but I sometimes wonder if it is enough.

If I could do anything else I wanted to do, I'd move to New Zealand and do something there. Anything, just so long as it was in New Zealand. As to whether I will screw up the courage to make this happen, I dunno.

Posted by: Lydia on August 7, 2002 02:08 PM

 

My burnout causes:

Clients who think they are web designers. I used to be passionate about talking people out of dumb things. Now I may try, but don't get upset when they pull a "I'm paying for it, do it my way."

Another cause: lack of an official web designer certificate. Regular folks should to be able to distinguish between wannabes with a graphical program, and people that hand code when needed, test on multiple browsers, and design with the user in mind.

Posted by: Chad Lundgren on August 7, 2002 07:33 PM

 

Chad, if that's the kind of folks you're dealing with, buy a copy of PrintMaster and print yourself out a nifty-looking certificate. Print several for different awards and accomplishments - just in case your competition has a certificate too. You want your stack to be bigger than his.

When I do commercial design it's through word-of-mouth. The client accepts me as an expert from the get-go. When the client wants something bad it's usually a gut reaction that hasn't been thought through. When I apply logic to their fanciful thoughts they crumble. It usually involves demonstrating how their idea will hurt them and how my idea will help them.

Hmmmm, I wouldn't mind being a movie reviewer... but given the web, I think that's a dying profession.

I'd love to study cave geology. I'm not about to go back to school though.

Posted by: Jack on August 8, 2002 01:38 AM

 

I have been programming for 15 years, and think that if you want to keep your sanity it's better to stay in 'deep tech'. If you can access the users then you have a chance to work directly with them and produce something you can feel proud of (sometimes). However I'm not a teccy snob and I think that the influx of people into the industry over the last five or so years is great, because it helps change the 'Trek Watching, Pizza Sniffing, Desk Sleeping' view of us teccies.

However, I do like the idea of becoming a professional luddite. A 'useful' job like Baker would be great, but I couldn't get up that early.

Or how about a full time WebWorder? Maybe we could get sold on MTV and become a cult?

Posted by: Mac on August 8, 2002 03:43 AM

 

Or how about a full time WebWorder? Maybe we could get sold on MTV and become a cult?

I want to be the person who gets voted off the web site.

Posted by: Jack on August 8, 2002 11:20 AM

 

MadMan: I can relate to your comment about management-types reading Peopleware. Sure, at this point, I'd probably accept a web development job even with a company that hadn't read Peopleware. But, it would be a huge plus if they had.

Posted by: Alex Bischoff on August 8, 2002 11:53 AM

 

Hey Lydia - don't underrate wherever you are already - New Zealand is okay and all, but it ain't that great! We have the same problems here as everyone else in the world - just complicated by too few inhabitants and a lot of sheep! It is isolated and pretty in places, but it isn't the new utopia that it's promotd to be...

If I got out of web-related stuff, I would like to go into publishing. There is something satisfying about a book that the Internet never provides me...

Posted by: Laura on August 8, 2002 05:38 PM