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Ask HN: New role for a software developer

2 points by throwaway0308 15y ago

Hi, I 'm a software developer with 6 years of work experience. After working for 6 years as a developer I want to try and do something else. What that might be is not clear to me. At this time I have only two ideas , working as a Pre-Sales engineer or MBA. I 'm still not sold on MBA even though i like the idea of doing so. I 'm not particularly convinced because I would be moving into an unknown territory. If I take the MBA route I would like to work with one of the top consulting firms. And that is what I aspire to do in long term also, work for a consulting firm. Can someone please give me some insight both good/bad about pre-sales engineer & consulting profiles. Any other recommendations would also be great.. Thanks for reading

snambi 15y ago
what do you like to do? Lets say that you have enough money to lead a comfortable life in a place you like. What would you be doing to kill time?
- throwaway0308 15y ago
  I 'm not sure where this is leading to or how does it pertain to my situation??
  - snambi 15y ago
    its very simple. do what you like to do. Suppose, you have all your needs met, such as food, shelter. You will be doing something to engage yourself. That may be what you like to do. btw, even that may change over a period of time. Basically, if you start doing what you love to do, eventually you may start doing that fulltime. When you enjoy doing something, it doesn't feel like work. It is fun. Life should be fun.
hkarthik 15y ago
I'd consider an evangelist role, but this does require having a slightly raised profile in terms of speaking engagements, OSS code, and blog writing. But it's a good alternate path from day to day code writing. Also, I think there's a strong need in the industry or Product Managers and heads of Product who come from a development background. Many of the people currently doing Product Management just sort of fell into it via Sales or Customer Development roles. These individuals are not equipped with the technical knowledge to deliver quality software. If you ever want to start a company, a strong background in Product Management and a few successes under your belt will go a long way.

2 points by throwaway0308 15y ago

snambi 15y ago

what do you like to do? Lets say that you have enough money to lead a comfortable life in a place you like. What would you be doing to kill time?

throwaway0308 15y ago
I 'm not sure where this is leading to or how does it pertain to my situation??
- snambi 15y ago
  its very simple. do what you like to do. Suppose, you have all your needs met, such as food, shelter. You will be doing something to engage yourself. That may be what you like to do. btw, even that may change over a period of time. Basically, if you start doing what you love to do, eventually you may start doing that fulltime. When you enjoy doing something, it doesn't feel like work. It is fun. Life should be fun.

hkarthik 15y ago

I'd consider an evangelist role, but this does require having a slightly raised profile in terms of speaking engagements, OSS code, and blog writing. But it's a good alternate path from day to day code writing. Also, I think there's a strong need in the industry or Product Managers and heads of Product who come from a development background. Many of the people currently doing Product Management just sort of fell into it via Sales or Customer Development roles. These individuals are not equipped with the technical knowledge to deliver quality software. If you ever want to start a company, a strong background in Product Management and a few successes under your belt will go a long way.