Quote:
Originally Posted by hvert
Sometimes it feels like the tech industry eats people alive and spits them out.
I was going to suggest starting your own company until I saw that you already had! That sounds like a great new challenge -- and when you get bored with it, you can sell it and move on to something new.
I also don't think it's unusual to get bored in a couple years at a programming job. Most of the successful programmers I know stick with a place for a couple of years max and then move on to something new (in tech hubs - it's different in other places with fewer programming jobs).
Have you ever read any of Barbara Sher's stuff on 'Scanners'? You might find some of that stuff interesting. It made me feel better about getting bored with things.
You could probably get your GED and a degree in your sleep, so I don't see any reason not to go for it. Those pieces of paper do make a difference when it comes to scoring interviews 'cold.' It's nice insurance to have -- makes you feel better about taking time off to live off savings 
You may be able to find a program that combines grad and undergrad, which would 'cover up' the timing of your degree. There was a guy in his 50s in my grad program who did that.
I really, really, really don't think anyone would notice the dates of your degrees in a negative way. You took some time off from school to work. There's nothing wrong with that at all. If you have your BA or BS, no one will question whether or not you have a HS diploma.
Can you take a few college courses without enrolling to see if it's something you want to do? Our state university system lets people take 4 courses without registering. |
The tech industry is the most forgiving and unforgiving industry there is. There is no way I could get paid this kind of money with no degree in any other industry. Now many people do get lost in the fringe but that could go for any fast moving niche really. One of the biggest companies I worked for back in 2007 no longer exist and neither do most of their competitors. Most of them sold / merged / rebranded after selling etc. You got a few year window here, and you just make your millions, then its over.
I make a joke at work all the time, we are doing nothing but creating outdated software, in 10 years this still will be a joke. It's funny sometimes just to go back to 2003 and see how I used to do things, the internet was much more simple. All the enterprise stacks were 1/5th of the size they are now, there was hardly any real client side interaction, not to mention a mobile experience.
I absolutely hate the notion of going for an interview "cold", I'm sorry, I just can't live without that "house edge". That's why I say I'm a "cheater", just to be another name with a resume, and to go in there and try to impress managers in an uphill battle? No way
hate it. I've done that a few times and was hired once, didn't like it one bit though, not one bit. A little psychology goes a long way in the hiring process, even if they just heard your name before the interview from another colleague it can change everything.
At tech fairs and conventions, the annoying recruiters that everyone hates? Those are the ones I suck up too, I know they have the H&R department on speed dial, and I know they have probably the manager of the department on speed dial. They just want to sell me, almost like a "slave" in a sense, but their opinion is priceless to a tech manager no matter how everyone says "oh how I hate recruiters".
Plus I know many rare things with very low usage, you would be surprised how many developers who are really good at Ruby never went to college etc, and many times they are top tier pay wise. Things like SAP, hell, they're just happy you know it, since it's quite rare to find unemployed dev's for too long.
This is going to sound horrible, but the idea of a GED almost makes me feel like I accepted failure as well. I really don't look at my high school as I "dropped" out, I never said one day I quit. It's just due to transferring schools and me failing some classes during that depressing moment, and then i was switched schools again due to an address change, I was already 18 and just like "forget this" you know, hard to explain. I really at the time didn't look at it as "dropping out". Looking back on it, I guess it's the same thing, but perspective I guess is key. When I think of how depressed I was back then even compared to now, it just makes me cringe, I was so unhappy.
I could have changed things and turned everything around, but that depression just had a lock on me, it wouldn't let go. I had a few girls who really liked me, and 2 of them were ones I liked too, but my feelings were already so crushed, I couldn't possibly do anything about it. I felt pretty emotionless back then. I kept it from my parents pretty well too. My mother was quite upset, 10k a year in tuition spent for 12 years and this is what she got as thanks? A son who can't even get out of bed. That's something I can never change though.
Funny thing is, I loved academics back then as crazy as it sounds. I loved getting good grades, I liked the feeling. I never found it difficult either, my issue was seriously attendance. Even today when I get depressed, when I do get out of the bed I just want to do scheme. Something about scheme just seems to make me "feel good". Maybe it's the pureness of it, the simplistic way in which it works but with complexity also at your finger tips.
Everyone has a vice I guess, and it's safe to say mine is a tendency to get depression and let it affect me. I think I've been blessed with healthy genes, but that might be one thing that got me. I know everyone gets depressed, and I'm sure so many have to deal with it. That hold it takes on you though is strong sometimes, almost like it's an external force.
I guess I will do the college thing. I will go year round, the idea of taking off summers is just not realistic to me. I will CLEP out of 30 credits or so, or as many as they allow (which I think is 30 for this specific place). Then just stack up 18 or so credit hours per semester and knock it out quick.
Honestly though, I think I'm nearing the end of my work life where I will need to work for anyone else. Even owning a very small small firm which does 200k a year is more profitable than any full time job. I guess many people realize this, hence why there is so many firms.
The degree is more or less because I feel let the education system "down", I guess that's the best way to put it, and I would like to make up for it. Maybe that is the wrong reason to go though.