Comment by grecy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by grecy | Hacker News Reader

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> As a software developer, I can often work from home, and I can go get a cup of coffee more or less whenever I please. However, what happens if you want to scale back or leave the field for a few years? How does that affect your ability to get back into it?

I'm a Software Engineer and I've taken major breaks.

After a year working at the DoD, I spent three years dong whatever I wanted / snowboard instructor / kayak guide, etc.

Then I got a job as a Software Dev for 2 years, no problem at all, got the first job I interviewed for.

Then I took two years off to drive Alaska->Argentina, and generally do whatever I wanted.

After that I again got the first Software Dev job I applied for, and did that for 4 years. Now I'm off again to drive around Africa for at least 2 years.

Granted, I have not "climbed the ladder" like my university friends who have been working all of those years, but I've had absolutely no problem dropping in and out when I please.

I second this. I took a year off doing absolutely no dev work and made wine in southern France and I'm still at 6 figures. Highly recommend the drive from Pretoria, SA to Lusaka, Zambia, it was one of my favorites. The added benefit of time off is that you can reexamine your career aspirations and set a new course if necessary.

I would imagine this gets harder as you age, get more set in your ways, the higher on the career ladder you've climbed, and/or as your required salary increases.

This is what I had in mind when I described career flexibility. The experience for a middle aged person (say, late 30s or older) returning to the workforce full time after scaling back or leaving the workforce for 5+ years to take care of small children (and who still has those obligations for older children) will be very different form relatively young person who has gone back and forth between work and travel. I think the nature of the disruption to career progress is very different.

I think its less about age and more about financial independence; the more monthly obligations you have, and total debt, the harder it is to be flexible in your career choices.

Have a low personal burn rate, save at least 20-50% of your income, and don't live in places with exorbitant living costs (SF, London, NY), and you too can be the master of your destiny.

Graduated in '04. Didn't have a job upon graduation, haven't found one willing to hire an unemployed person since. Everyone in software development is blind to the problems.

Don't call yourself unemployed - you're a freelancer working on various projects (and make sure you put them in github, etc.)

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