4 ms·

Self-employed tradesman pays as much on a per-hour basis as contract dev work and doesn't have to compete with a million people in developing countries willing

Self-employed tradesman pays as much on a per-hour basis as contract dev work and doesn't have to compete with a million people in developing countries willing to work for $20/hr. The project management parts from software development aren't too different either -- it's all tasks, coordinating stakeholders, etc. That's my angle, but there are plenty of other fields too: healthcare (nurses make as much as most SWEs and can live anywhere in the country), government, certain employee tradesmen (electrician, etc.), basically anything that requires some sort of license or training. Life is long, spending a couple years to get 10+ years of good returns is a wise investment. I've never been to the Bay Area, so what I'm about to say may not apply, but look in any middle-class neighborhood: maybe 5% of the people are in tech -- what is everyone else doing? The above is a sampling of careers that have provided people in my neighborhood a comfortable American Dream style of life.

Deprecate9151 3y ago
I want to call this out because I see this advice a lot (and it's also my backup plan). Trade work can be a fantastic way to earn a living, but it is HARD work. It will break your body if you do it for your whole life. There is a reason plenty of people jumped to office work the first chance they got. Don't go into the trades blind, take care of your body, or you'll be like my grandpa and need help uncurling your fingers if you fall asleep making a fist.
- bradfox2 3y ago
  You want a specialized trade. HV Electrician at a utility or something like that. An off the shelf commercial or residential trade sounds like a nightmare, especially in an area with bad weather part of the year. That said, if you can deal with employees of that type as a business owner, you can clean up.
oldandboring 3y ago
> but look in any middle-class neighborhood: maybe 5% of the people are in tech -- what is everyone else doing? This comment is why I love HN. Once you sort through all the kiddos who don't know anything about anything, you get golden nuggets like this. In my middle (almost upper-middle) class neighborhood we have a bunch of doctors and psychologists, a bunch of lawyers, a few retired professionals, a couple professors and.... me in tech.
- soneca 3y ago
  Are the doctors and lawyers your age or older?
  - oldandboring 3y ago
    Some older, some younger, some the same age.
AnotherGoodName 3y ago
>I've never been to the Bay Area, so what I'm about to say may not apply, This is honestly where it is hitting. When I moved to the bay area ~10years ago I asked myself 'why are they paying me usd500k to move here when I could just work from my home country for a fraction of that'. Meanwhile in my home country there's a tech boom. In fact my current big faang company is hiring there and closing jobs here. Can't say I'm surprised except that it took this long for the realization that you don't need to have your staff move to the bay area and thus you don't need to pay bay area wages.
Yhippa 3y ago
This chain and this comment is one of the best things I've read on here in years. It reminded me that a lot of community colleges have workforce programs that I need to look into: https://www.nvcc.edu/academics/programs/index.html https://www.nvcc.edu/academics/programs/index.html
soneca 3y ago
That’s the reality in the US I think, then. Still, I am not convinced those jobs can make you earn reliably more than a software developer. Maybe equally well, but more? And that’s already discounting jobs at FAANG and Brex, that much more than the rest. I live in the Brazil, currently earning ~USD50/hour (at a US company) as a web developer. Not as a contract dev though, I prefer to be employed by a company. Here, neither nurse nor tradesman are well paid jobs, quite the contrary. Rich neighborhoods here have: doctors, lawyers, medium company owners, big company executives. None of them is possible to get to that level of paying within 10 years (medicine is 8 years at least only to have a specialization). An exception might be entrepreneurs, but there is a lot of luck involved.

Deprecate9151 3y ago

I want to call this out because I see this advice a lot (and it's also my backup plan). Trade work can be a fantastic way to earn a living, but it is HARD work. It will break your body if you do it for your whole life. There is a reason plenty of people jumped to office work the first chance they got. Don't go into the trades blind, take care of your body, or you'll be like my grandpa and need help uncurling your fingers if you fall asleep making a fist.

bradfox2 3y ago
You want a specialized trade. HV Electrician at a utility or something like that. An off the shelf commercial or residential trade sounds like a nightmare, especially in an area with bad weather part of the year. That said, if you can deal with employees of that type as a business owner, you can clean up.

oldandboring 3y ago

> but look in any middle-class neighborhood: maybe 5% of the people are in tech -- what is everyone else doing? This comment is why I love HN. Once you sort through all the kiddos who don't know anything about anything, you get golden nuggets like this. In my middle (almost upper-middle) class neighborhood we have a bunch of doctors and psychologists, a bunch of lawyers, a few retired professionals, a couple professors and.... me in tech.

soneca 3y ago
Are the doctors and lawyers your age or older?
- oldandboring 3y ago
  Some older, some younger, some the same age.

AnotherGoodName 3y ago

>I've never been to the Bay Area, so what I'm about to say may not apply, This is honestly where it is hitting. When I moved to the bay area ~10years ago I asked myself 'why are they paying me usd500k to move here when I could just work from my home country for a fraction of that'. Meanwhile in my home country there's a tech boom. In fact my current big faang company is hiring there and closing jobs here. Can't say I'm surprised except that it took this long for the realization that you don't need to have your staff move to the bay area and thus you don't need to pay bay area wages.

Yhippa 3y ago

This chain and this comment is one of the best things I've read on here in years. It reminded me that a lot of community colleges have workforce programs that I need to look into: https://www.nvcc.edu/academics/programs/index.html https://www.nvcc.edu/academics/programs/index.html

soneca 3y ago

That’s the reality in the US I think, then. Still, I am not convinced those jobs can make you earn reliably more than a software developer. Maybe equally well, but more? And that’s already discounting jobs at FAANG and Brex, that much more than the rest. I live in the Brazil, currently earning ~USD50/hour (at a US company) as a web developer. Not as a contract dev though, I prefer to be employed by a company. Here, neither nurse nor tradesman are well paid jobs, quite the contrary. Rich neighborhoods here have: doctors, lawyers, medium company owners, big company executives. None of them is possible to get to that level of paying within 10 years (medicine is 8 years at least only to have a specialization). An exception might be entrepreneurs, but there is a lot of luck involved.