daijobu Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I was another one who hated solely programming once I got into it. I was programming 8-10 hours a day and then working on a graduate degree in computer science, and it became pretty clear to me that I wasn't cut out for programming all day every day. Thankfully I moved into management after a year, and just had graduate school and bits-and-pieces of programming after that. I was much happier. My sibling has been a programmer for 30+ years now, and they are perfectly happy with that. G5 makes an excellent point here. Often, having solid technical skills can get your foot in the door of some great companies. Maybe you don't love coding, but if you can pay your dues for a year or two, you might be able to spot a lateral opportunity at the same company. And having the technical knowledge allows you to really understand the product you will later market or sell. Or it allows you to spot an opportunity to develop a new product at your own company...and hire other coders to do the work for you! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 My son is a mechanical engineer. He does not enjoy coding. However, his ability to code got his foot in the door at a small niche company that needs their engineers to wear lots of different hats. So some days he is coding, some days he is working on hardware, some days he is talking to customers about their hardware/software needs. He is learning a lot of skills, and, soon, will get to travel to customers all over the world. Best thing? The company is 15 minutes from our house, so he is living in our basement apartment rent free, saving money, and paying off his minimal student loans. And he can do all of this because he took extra computer science classes in college so he could diversify his skills. My DH is an aerospace engineer by education, but develops software for a living. Again, his diversified set of skills--being able to design the wing and build the company software has allowed him to have an amazing job, work from home, and enjoy what he's doing. He spends more time designing apps for his customers than actually programming these days. He has two teams of programmers under him--in India and some in the states. I really think a diversified set of skills is key. I think the jobs our kids will he doing aren't even invented yet. Problem solving skills, flexibility, desire to try anything, and the ability to communicate and get along with a diverse group of people are important. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 But everyone with security clearance into the lab "ignores" the beer/soda, chips and kids on weekends. So you have dads with kids and sometimes babies in tow. The ladies bring their kids too on weekends. It is very gender neutral. The core dumps don't make sense to most kids so no privacy infringement and those were not Federal projects or any other high security project. . I guess I wasn't the only kid in a sleeping bag on the floor of the data center on the night of the big install... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I guess I wasn't the only kid in a sleeping bag on the floor of the data center on the night of the big install... Kid whom I mentioned above had a pack n play in my lab at Georgia Tech when I was a grad student there. All sorts of professors liked to run up and down the hall with him and his dump truck while I worked. 22 years later, that's where he graduated from. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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