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Ask HN: Software engineering specializations
I often hear(from some relative) about a software engineer who travels the world working as a consultant for big companies. When I hear that I ask them which tasks or job the engineer performs but they never remember.
I'd like to know if the fellow HN folks have some stories or personal experiences about something similar. It'd be nice to know which technologies/specializations could enable an engineer to have this kind of lifestyle.
- smoyer 11y agoI interviewed with a couple of these companies and, in addition to requiring an intense travel schedule, I think I would have found the work very boring. It was mostly ETL and custom systems integration.
- bewe42 11y agoEnterprise Java and the whole convoluted stack around it
- brd 11y agoThe short answer: Anything enterprise-y. SAP, Oracle, CRM solutions, Warehouse systems, Manufacturing systems, etc can all easily lend themselves to travelling the world working for fortune 500 companies Manufacturing and finance related gigs in particular lend well to travel. Finance because reporting is being done on a more and more granular level and oftentimes you need boots on the ground to ensure local branches adhere to correct processes and/or have compatible data. Manufacturing because you'll need to visit plants to better understand their processes since all plants are a little different and the system needs to support those differences.
- giaour 11y agoYou have to specialize in something that is both boring enough to discourage excessive competition and important to companies with a large enough budget to support that kind of engineer.