I spent 8 years doing Java development, layoffs are coming soon (my second time this year! 😊), I know how hard it is to get a job out there, and I’m tired of Java. So I was wondering if anyone had any advice for pointing my career in a new direction. I’d like there to be some technical aspect to it still, which is why I am posting here instead of elsewhere.
Right now I’m really into Lua, Vue.js, and am considering picking up CompTIA and AWS certifications just to make myself more marketable.
I have good people skills too, so if a career involves talking more than coding I’ll be okay with that. I spent part of this year teaching programming and loved it (but due to the state of the industry many academic businesses are closing down).
Or you know, should I sell my home and just go live in the woods until I die of malnutrition because at this rate we’ll all end up there anyways?
Just to add to the “completely change fields” thing in light of your “move to the woods” option:
I did the move to the woods thing (technically, bald prairie…) and found that there were enough other people out there to still find work. And where I moved to, they were desperate enough for good workers that most employers were willing to train, including picking up the tab for short courses. Some of the jobs were pretty shitty (sometimes literally: I spent a few years cleaning out clogged sewer lines), but, for me, the rest of the lifestyle more than made up for it (we found a place on the shore of a lake).
Although my objective was to just ditch tech, once word of my past got around, I had to beat them off with a stick.
I was probably in a bit of a different place, too. My main objective was to bridge the decade between “I just don’t want to work anymore” and my actual retirement.
Also, my wife might have gained more from the move than I did!
If you explore this route, I recommend looking into service organizations to join in the area. Joining one rapidly turns you from outsider to insider. Mine was volunteer fire and rescue.