Need advice about work
Hello!
I need some advice about work. I'm 34 and I have a child. What direction do you think I should be looking in job-wise? Because of AI, I'm not sure whether it's worth staying in IT and on top of that, my department was recently shut down at my company, so I'm out of work.
My goal is to be able to rent a decent place, cover health/medical costs, food obviously and to take my child on holiday at least once yearly (I couldn't affort it before).
I'm based in Europe. Right now I'm actively learning to knit, just in case.
Could you suggest what kind of work you'd recommend so that I can be that "man of the house" for myself and support myself properly? If it matters: I'm celibate and I don't plan to enter into a relationship, but I need to get my child on their feet and I honestly have no idea which way to move.
My salary has always been low, I'm tired of it and I'm responsible for a child. So I'm ready for anything. Ready to learn anything, do anything!
Thank you!
Not sure what you mean by "IT" but once the chaos settles down I firmly believe use of computers and software will increase. That means computer skills will be useful for employment. We're not yet saturated on software - there are so many problems yet unsolved. Everything from fusion energy to that mom & pop shop that really should be able to get a computer to solve their problems but hasn't found the right thing yet. People will be getting themselves into all kinds of trouble with vibe coding/vibe security/etc. which will require an expert to help fix.
It's already an entire department at my agency, and I'm in it - clients come to us with vibecoded projects and are like 'ok now I need to scale it and make it sustainable to be used by my entire company instead of just my team'. These are 250k€+ projects that are starting to come in more and more regularly. My data governance specialism is more than useful still!
Off-topic, but this is finally something that makes putting the currency sign before the number look undeniably better.
Reads better to me. If you think about it, the weird part is that you've trained your brain to read $250k as 250k dollars and not dollars 250k.
Hah, fair enough. I just quickly typed it out. I never know whether I'm supposed to put the sign before or after for which currencies.
It's pretty much a language-by-language thing with the euro sign. I'm not sure if some symbols are currency-specific, but the Euro sign switches depending on the country/language.
Related: Hank Green recently made a video on the Jevons paradox as it applies to AI (33 minutes). And also about our civilization's use of electricity. And also other things.
In general, the Jevons paradox makes me cautiously optimistic about being able to find tech work in the future. Not only are there lots of unsolved software problems remaining, but the pool is growing, and not just because AI creates problems that need to be solved. (I hope.)
Hm, thanks, it actually helped me. The reason I was kind of unsure about it is that there aren't many offers right now in my specific field, so I was kind of upset. But yes, I will keep going then
If you are coming from IT I would also suggest a physical technical trade, anything that uses electronics extensively would probably use some of your current skills.
The caveat I would add is that you may want to reconsider this advice if you either don't enjoy or have low aptitude for physical work, it's not a panacea. I've worked in trade and adjacent jobs my whole working life, I've met plenty of people that I wished weren't doing that kind of work or they wished they weren't.
I can attest that, due to the energy transition, skilled electricians are in super high demand.
Well its a good thing there's a bunch of energy jobs opening up all over the place for... uh... data centers...
Not necessarily, in the Netherlands it's mainly driven by the uptick in EVs, heatpumps and solar panels.
Thnaks for the suggestions, I'll check that out
my brother works in HVAC on the larger side of things (casinos, hotels, malls, airports, etc) and does really well for himself on the project side of things. He got started on the automation side of things --- but yeah, good job in an industry that isn't going away any time soon. Another excellent career is elevator repair --- you typically work indoors, has decent pay, occasional overtime, etc. Both are worth looking into and also benefit from your background in IT.
Its worth noting that elevator repair work pays very well, ( I see the rates we pay our techs) but also it is a more dangerous job and that may or may not be something someone is interested in with a kid.
OP, what about working in IT but for the government or similar more stable entity than perhaps a private company?
Without going into details, cause I'm kind of ashamed of my situation, but there aren't many offers right now in my specific field
Yeah it has its ups and downs
It’s not a lot of information to go on. It really depends on where you are in Europe, and also if you are in a major city or at least close to one. Where I’m at, software development is not quickly being replaced by AI and there’s still vacancies open, although it is becoming less. Being a software dev is still a pretty good job, so I currently don’t see myself abandoning the field yet. What makes you want to switch?
Tradespeople are in high demand here, but what I always wonder is how you would be able to do that kind of work until retirement age. A lot of those jobs are hard on your body.
The reason I'm not a software developer after 10+ years in the industry and instead work in a physical trade is that sitting at a desk for 8+ hours a day poking at a keyboard was horrendous for my body.
Sure, bricklaying is a young person's job but plumbers and electricians and so on are not under the same kind of physical stress.
Yup, the admin time around site work is when everything packs up and I end up at the physio. Also, I have no need for a gym membership.
+1 there is still a living to be made in software, though it is tougher to get in.
I just don't see many offers right now in my field. Plus, I already switched to IT, so it became tough to go further
If you're willing/able to spend time getting training and/or working a low-paid apprentice position for a while, I'd suggest a skilled physical trade. Electrical is not getting replaced by AI any time soon. You can make really good money if you're good at the job. Another bonus being you don't have to sit at a desk for eight hours a day. See also, plumbing, heating/cooling engineering, telecoms, etc. etc.
Deliberately deciding to never have a partner when you have a child and no stable income, is not a smart decision. Rethink the celebacy.
About work, IMO all the anti-AI stuff is pure copium. It's already good enough to replace big chunk of tech jobs and it's only gonna get even better and cheaper in the future. It will never replace everyone, but the remaining jobs will go to the best in the field and to people with connections. Are you the very best? Do you have tech CEOs on speed dial? No? Then you are at EXTREMELY high risk if you remain in IT.
Personally I moved from coding to installing security systems, surveillance systems and home automation. It's physical labor so it's difficult to automate, while not being too hard on the body since I don't have to carry heavy stuff or anything like that.
My bet is basically that robotics is at least a few decades away from being good enough. Maybe I'm wrong but it's a better bet than coding.
I find most of your post to be bad advice since I strongly disagree with regards to AI, but this one stands out. Getting into a relationship you didn't want for financial reasons is a terrible idea and a great way to get stuck in a miserable situation with long-lasting consequences.
Reality doesn't care whether you agree, I'm telling you what's actively happening already. I am not moving profession for the heck of it, I hate it. I'm doing it because I had trouble finding work as a coder. And it's not just me, shittons of people are being cut and finding stable work in the field is getting more difficult by the day. At least here in Europe.
I agree this is the worst thing one can do. Good thing that not what I said. Please make sure to read what people say before replying.
You didn't say why you thought celibacy was a bad idea but mentioned the lack of a stable income. I can charitably see one or two other interpretations but LukeZaz's certainly looks like the shortest stretch.
I'm sure. Most people I've talked to who've bought in to AI hype tend not to listen to what I have to say, so I kept my words to a simple address of it and nothing more. I also get rather tired of having to write up all the many all-too-ignored reasons why AI use is a terrible idea.
All I'll say from here is that you shouldn't mistake current layoffs for an indication of the future. There are many reasons that can happen that do not require AI to be good either now or later.
Maybe you ought to be more careful with your words, because the kindest interpretation I can come up with is that you're telling OP to throw away an important decision they've made – one which I can only assume was made for carefully considered reasons – because of money.
I can scarcely imagine any relationship resulting from that decision that would be anything other than stressful for all involved.
Plus dating with a kid has its own risks and stressors. Every potential partner isn't interested in being a parent. There should simply be more supports for parents so that finances don't even risk pressuring them into those decisions. And maybe OP.has those resources, as they're very location specific.
Either way, I agree with you that it's not good relationship advice nor parenting advice, and definitely not related to the question asked.