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Comment by patio11 | Hacker News Reader

There is nothing wrong with a year or three in industry. You'll be a much better coder, get exposed to problem domains outside the typical purview of twenty-something white and Asian males, build contacts, and improve your soft skills such as how to wear a suit and talk to people older than you outside of the teacher/student relationship. These things are enormously valuable.

If you're worried about getting spoiled by the huge paychecks, I recommend being a Japanese salaryman. We would never dream of inconveniencing you in that fashion. grins Seriously though, if you put $4k a month towards your student loans (or a savings account you solemnly promise not to touch) your $80k salary will feel like, what, $20k or so after the tax differential?

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I wanted to "just try the industry for a year" before going back to school to do a PhD. I have ended up being a "Java Enterprise Douchebag" for years :-(

I strongly advise against trying a normal job. Everything you could learn you could learn faster by simply watching the movie "Office Space".

Agree with your sentiments on enterprise douchbaggery, you are probably undervaluing what you have learned: You still have a chance to learn how to milk the enterprise when roles are reversed.

There is nothing wrong with being in the industry. But I have many friends who planned to go the startup route after "2 years of working to save some many". Most of them wouldn't be able to leave their job now because of their comfort in it (and say what you will, it IS a difference in lifestyle).

That's personal preference.

I lived like a college student for years after graduating with an EE degree. I just don't care much about material things, so for about 3 years I had no car, no furniture except a nice mattress, no expensive clothes, cooked my own meals, etc. Pretty much all my money outside my share of the rent & utilities went into a bank account and paying off student loans.

If you're comfortable living with very little, it's not hard to do. Honestly, if I could sell my house right now I'd totally restructure my life.

You could work at a startup and get some of the same experience, depending on the startup's problem domain. With a small enough startup, you'll wear many hats, and get to make smaller decisions, which would lead to some of the skills you'll end up using when you're running your own show.

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